Skip to main content

Full text of "A history of Rome, from the earliest times to the establishment of the empire. With chapters on the history of literature and art"

See other formats 


iiilliiie^^ 


'■(,11;.  1,; 


LIBRARY 

OF  THK 

University  of  California. 


GIKX  OF^ 


Accession         '>^i^03  ^ 


Class 


OF  THE 


UNIVERSITY 


Coliseum. 
Meta  Sudans. 

c.  Arch  of  Constantine. 

d.  Arch  of  Titus  and  Velia, 

e.  Mount  Palatine. 

f.  Excavated  level  of    the 

Forum. 

g.  Present  level  of  Forum. 
ft.  Arch  of  Severus. 

1.  Temple  of  Vespasian. 
k.  Temple  of  Saturn. 
I.   Clivus  Capitolinus. 
m.  Capitol. 


ROME. 

BIBD'b-EYB   view    of  TUK   FOBUMFBOM  tub   0A.I'1T0L. 


HISTORY     OF     ROME 


¥ROM    THE    EARLIEST    TIMES    TO    THE    ESTABLISHMENT 
OF    THE    EMPIRE. 


WITH   CHAPTERS    ON   THE   HISTORY   OF  LITERATURE 
AND  ART. 


PY  HENRY  G.  LIDDELL,  D.D., 

DEAN   OF   CHRIST   CIIUKCII,  OXFOED. 


IliLUSTRATED   B 


WOODCUTS. 


NEW  YORK   •:•   ClW^!«S*n    •:•   CHICAGO 

AMERICAN    BOOK    COMPANY 


-< 


k" 


V 


tK 


THE  STUDENT'S  SEHIES. 


BURY'S  HISTORY  OF  ROME.    To  the  Death 

of  Marcus  Aurelius.     Illustrated. 
LODGE'S  MODERN  EUROPE.     %\  60. 
WESTCOTT   A    HORT'S    GREEK    TEXT   OF 

THE  NEW  TESTAMENT.     $1  00. 
MANUAL  OF  ECCLESIASTICAL  HISTORY. 

By  Philip  Smith.     Two  Parts.     Illustrated. 

$1  50  each. 
SKEAT'S    ETYMOLOGICAL     DICTIONARY. 

$1  26. 
THE  STUDENT'S  CLASSICAL  DICTIONARY. 

Illustrated.     $1  S5. 
ANCIENT  HISTORY   OF    THE    EAST.      By 

Philip  Smith.     Illustrated.    $1  25. 
HISTORY    0\     GREECE.      By    Dr.   William 

Smith.     Illustrated.    %\  25. 
COX'S    GENERAL    HISTORY    OF    GREECE. 

With  Maps.     $1  25. 
LIDDELL'S  HISTORY  OF  ROME.    Ill'd.   $1  25. 
MERIVALE'S      GENERAL      HISTORY     OF 

ROME.    With  Maps.    %\  25. 


RAWLINSON'S  ANCIENT  HISTORY,     (l  SSw 

LYELL'S  GEOLOGY.     Illustrated.     %\  25. 

GIBBON'S   DECLINE  AND    FALL    OF  THB 
ROMAN  EMPIRE.     Illustrated.     |1  25. 

HISTORY   OF  FRANCE.     By  the  Rev.  W.  H. 

Jbbvis,  M.A.     Illustrated.     $1  25. 
HUME'S    HISTORY    OF    ENGLAND,      lllns- 

trated.    New  Edition.    $1  60. 

STRICKLAND'S    QUEENS    OF    ENGLAND. 

Illustrated.     %\  26. 
HALLAM'S  MIDDLE  AGES.     $1  25. 
HALLAM'S  CONSTITUTIONAL  HISTORY  OF 

ENGLAND.    $1  25. 
OLD    TESTAMENT    HISTORY.     By    Philip 

Smith.     With  Maps  and  Illustrations.     $185. 

NEW   TESTAMENT    HISTORY.      By   Philip 
Smith.     With  Maps  and  Illustrations.    $1  25. 

LEWIS'S  HISTORY  OF    GERMANY.      With 
Maps  and  Illustrations.     |1  60. 


THE   STUDENT'S   SMALLER  SERIES. 


SCRIPTURE  HISTORY.    Illustrated.    60  cents. 
HISTORY     OF     GREECE.      Illustrated.      60 

cents. 
HISTORY  OF  ROME.    Illustrated.    60  cents. 
COX'S    SCHOOL    HISTORY    OF     GREECE. 

With  Maps.    60  cents. 


HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND.     Illustrated.    60  ct«, 

ANCIENT  HISTORY  OF  THE  EAST.  Illus- 
trated.    60  cents. 

SEEMANN'S  MYTHOLOGY.    Ill'd.     60  cents. 

MERIVALE'S  SCHOOL  HISTORY  OF  ROME. 
With  Eleven  Maps.    75  cents. 


W.   P.    I 


Coin  of  (Jaesar  in  4th  Dictatorship,  p, 


CONTENTS 


INTRODUCTION. 

Shot.  pxqb 

I.  Physical  Geography  of  Italy       1 

II.  Early  Population  of  Italy 14 


BOOK  I. 

ROME  UNDER  THE  KINGS. 
Chap. 

I.  Origin  of  Rome :  Romulus  and  Numa 

II.  Tullus  Hostilius  and  Ancus  Martius,  the  third  and  fourth  kings 

III.  Tarquinius  Priseus  and  Servius  Tullius,  the  fifth  and  sixth  kings 

IV.  Tarquinius  Superbus,  and  the  beginnings  of  the  Republic     . . 
V.  Observations  on  the  history  of  Rome  under  the  kings    . . 


21 
33 

38 
58 
10 


196-450. 


470-449. 


448-406. 


448-391. 
390. 


BOOK   II. 

ROME  UNDER  THE  PATRICIANS. 
Chap. 

VI.  Decline  of  Roman  power  after  the  expulsion  of  the 
Tarquins.  Geographical  sketch  of  the  neighbour- 
hood of  Rome 79 

VII.  The  Tribunate        87 

VIII.  Agrarian  law.      The  election  of  the  Tribunes  trans- 
ferred to  the  Tribes 95 

IX.  "Wars  and  foreign  affairs  from  the  battle  of  Lake  Regil- 

lus  to  the  Decemvirate      101 

X.  Continued  struggle  between  the  Orders.     The  Decem- 
virate    Ill 

XI.  The  Code  of  the  Twelve  Tables 124 

XII.  Sequel  of  the  Decemvirate.    Military  Tribunate.    Gen- 
eral history  to  the  war  with  Veil 128 

XIII.  Wars  since  the  Decemvirate.     Siege  of  Veil       , .     . .  136 

XIV.  The  Gauls      143 

91203 


n 


CONTENTS. 


B.O. 

389-367. 


Chap. 
XV. 


Paob 


Sequel  of  the  Gallic  War.    Licinian  Laws.     Final 
equalization  of  the  two  Orders 152 

XYI.  Sources  of  early  Roman  history 162 


BOOK  III. 


a66-344. 

389-344. 

343-341. 
340-338. 
337-326. 
326-304. 

299-290. 


289-282. 


280-275. 
274-264. 


ROME  CONQUEROR   OF  ITALY,     (b.o.  366—265.) 

XVIL  Sequel  of  the  Licinian  Laws.     Civil  History  to  the 

first  Samnite  War       167 

XVIII.  Wars  from  the  burning  of  Rome  to  the  first  Sam- 
nite War 172. 

XIX.  First  Samnite  War 177 

XX.  Great  Latin  War.     Subjection  of  Latium     . .      . .  194 

XXI.  Events  leading  to  the  Second  Samnite  War         . .  195 
XXII.  The   Great   Samnite  War,  commonly  called  the 

Second 199 

XXIIL  Third  Samnite  War 209 

XXIY.  Civil  History  during  the  time  of  the   Samnite 

Wars 216 

XXY.  Events  between  the  Third  Samnite  War  and  the 

landing  of  Pjnrhus 224 

XXYI.  Pyrrhus  in  Italy      237 

XXYII.  Final  reduction  and  settlement  of  Italy       . .     . .  248 


BOOK  IV. 


ROME   AND   CARTHAGE. 


— 

xxYin. 

263-241. 

XXIX. 

— 

XXX. 

218-216. 

XXXI. 

215-211. 

XXXIL 

210-207. 

xxxin. 

206-202. 

XXXIY. 

— 

XXXV. 



XXXYI. 

— 

XXXYTT. 

Carthage.     Events  leading  to  First  Punic  War  . .  259 

First  Punic  War 267 

Events  between  the  First  and  Second  Punic  Wars  282 

Second  Pumc  War.     First  Period        296 

Second  Punic  War.     Second  Period 321 

Second  Punic  War.     Third  Period        336 

Second  Punic  War.     Fourth  and  last  Period       . .  350 

Government  and  Constitutional  Changes  up  to  the 

close  of  the  Hannibalic  War      369 

The  Provinces  and  Finances 386 

Social  and  Intellectual  Condition  of  the  People.  • 

Manners — Religion — Literature — Art       .        . .  394 


CONTENTS. 


VH 


BOOK  V. 


ROME  AND  THE  CONQUEST  OF  THE  WORLD,     (b.c.  201-132.) 

15.C.  Chap.  Pagb 

—      XXXYIII.  Introductory:  State  of  the  Eastern  World  .,      ..     412 
XXXIX.  First  and  Second  Macedonian  Wars:  Settlement 

of  Greece  by  Flamininus 419 

XL.  War  with  Antiochus,  and  settlement  of  Eastern 

Affairs 432 

XLI.  Wars   in   the   West    contemporaneous  with    the 

Macedonian  and  Syrian  Wars 441 

XLII.  CivU  History  during  the  Macedonian  and  Syrian 
Wars :  Corruption  of  manners :  Senatorial  pre- 
dominance :  Scipio  and  Cato      446 

XLIII.  The  Third  Macedonian  War,  or  War  of  Perseus. .     456 
XLIV.  General  History  between  the  War  with  Perseus 

and  the  last  Wars  with  Greece  and  Carthage  . .     467 

XLV.  The  last  Wars  with  Macedon  and  Greece :  Fall  of 

Corinth 476 

XLVI.  Third  Punic  War :  Fall  of  Carthage     481 

XLVir.  Spanish  Wars:  Fall  of  Numantia 491 

XLVin.  First  Slave-War  in  Sicily       497 

XLIX.  The  condition  of  Rome  and  her  People  at  the  close 

of  the  Period  of  Conquest 502 

L.  Manners  and  Morals :  Literature  and  Art    . .     . .  508 


214-194, 


J)2-188, 


200-177. 


200-169. 


180-168. 
166-150. 

151-146. 

150-146. 
149-133. 
133-131. 


BOOK  VI. 


133. 
133-129. 

128-121. 
120-104. 
105-101. 
103-101. 

100-91. 

00,  89. 
88-86. 
88-84. 
83,  82. 
82-78. 


FIRST  PERIOD  OF  CIVIL  WARS. 

LI.  Tiberius  Gracchus 518 

LII.  Return  and  death  of  Scipio  the  Younger            ..  527 

LIII.  Caius  Gracchus  and  his  times        533 

LIV.  Jugurtha  and  his  times 545 

LV.  The  Cimbrians  and  Teutons [  ggg 

Second  Slave- War  in  Italy ) 

LVI.  From  the'^ixth  Consulship  of  Marius  to  the  death 

of  M.  Livius  Drusus 565 

LVn.  The  Social  War 575 

LVin.  First  Civil  War        " 582 

LIX.  First  Mithridatic  War 593 

LX.  Return  of  Sylla :  Second  Civil  War      601 

LXI.  Sylla's  Dictatorship  and  death       610 


Vlll 


CONTENTS. 


BOOK  VII. 

SECOND   PERIOD   OF  CIYIL  WAR. 

B.C.  Chap.  Pagb 

tS-YO.  LXII.  Revolutionary  attempt    of  Lepidus  :    Sertorius : 

Spartacus:  Consulship  of  Pompey  and  Crassus     620 
T4-61.         LXIII.  Third  or  Great  Mithridatlc  War :  Pompey  in  the 

East 629 

69-61.  LXIV.  From  Consulship  of  Pompey  and  Crassus  to  re- 
turn of  Pompey  from  the  East :  Caesar:  Cicero: 
CatiUne         639 

62-58.  LXV.  Pompey's  return:  First  Triumvirate:  Caesar's  Con- 
sulship :   Clodius 651 

58-50.  LXV  I.  Caesar    in    Gaul :    breach   between   Pompey  and 

Caesar 661 

50-48.         LXVII.  Second  Civil  War    death  of  Pompey 673 

48-44.       LXVIII.  Absolute  rule  of  Caesar 687 

44-42.          LXIX.  From  the  death  of  Caesar  to  the  battle  of  Philippi     703 
41-30.           LXX.  From  the  battle  of  Philippi  to  the  final  establish- 
ment of  Imperial  Monarchy      7 . 

—  LXXI.  State  of  the  Empire :   Literature,  Art,   Manners, 

and  Religious  feeling 731 

Index 752 


Coin  of  Agrippa,  with  head  of  Augustus  on  the  reverse. 


Coin  of  M.  Antony,  with  head  of  Caesar  on  the  obverse. 


LIST   OF   ILLUSTRATIONS. 


Rome. — Bird's-eye  View  of  the  Forum  from  the  Capitol 


Frontispiece. 


Page 
Coin   of  Ca3sar  in  4th   Dictator- 
ship         V 

Coin  of  Agrippa,  with  head  of 

Augustus  on  the  reverse  . .  viii 
Coin  of  M.  Antony,  with  head  of 

Caesar  on  the  obverse  . .  . .  ix 
Coin  with  head  of  Janus  . .  . .  x 
Medal     commemorative    of  the 

foundation  of  Rome  . .  . .  1 
Geological  Map  of  Italy  . .  . .  4,  5 
Ostia  at  the  present  day    . .      . .     13 

Wolf  of  the  Capitol 21 

Lake  of  Alba 33 

Cloaca  Maxima 38 

Map  of  Rome 52 

Plan  of  the  City 54 

Cloaca  of  Marta  in  Tuscany      . .     57 
Tomb  of  the  Tarquins       . .      . .     58 

Bust  of  Niebuhr        70 

View  of  Campagna 79 

Geological  Map  of  Country  round 

Rome       85 

Lake  of  Nemi,  looking  over  the 

Campagna       86 

Tarpeian  Rock 95 

Coin  bearing  the  Dioscuri . .  100 
Tivoh,    looking    over   the   Cam- 
pagna       101 

Castor  and  Pollux Ill 

Coin  of  P.  Porcius  La3ca,  author 

of  the  Law  of  Appeal  . .  . .  123 
Emissary  of  Alban  Lake  . .  . .  136 
Geese  of  the  Capitol  (?)  . .  . .  143 
As,  with  head  of  Janus  .  .  .  .  152 
Reverse     of    As,     with     Ship's 

prow       .  -      161 

1* 


Pagb 

M.  Curtius 167 

Etruscan  Walling      172 

Coin  with  Samnite  Bull  goring 

the   Roman   Wolf,    struck    in 

the  Social  War       177 

Roman  soldiers 1 84 

Terracina    . .      . . 195 

Beneventum  in  Samnium  . .  . .  199 
Tomb  of  Scipio  Barbatus  . .      . .  209 

Appian  Way       216 

The  Island  of  the  Tiber    . .      . .  224 

Coin  of  Epidaurus 236 

Coin  of  Pyrrhus  with   head   of 

Dodonean  Zeus      237 

Brundusium        248 

Coin  of  Carthage,  with  Winged 

Horse      259 

Coin  of  a  Livineius  with  head  of 

Regulus 267 

Coin  of  Metellus  Scipio,  referring 

to  Battle  of  Panormus  . .  . .  281 
Temple   of  Janus  closed,   on   a 

Coin  of  Nero . .   282 

Lake  Trasimene 296 

Plan    illustrating   the   Battle   of 

Lake  Trasimene      ....      . .   306 

Head  of  Marcellus,  on  a  Coin  of 

Marcellinus 321 

Coin  of  an  Acilius,  with  Tri- 
umphal Car 336 

L.  Cornelius  Scipio  Africanus  . .  350 

Lictors         369 

Sella  Curulis      385 

Temple  of  Saturn      386 

Remains  of  Aqueduct  at  Rome  394 
Coin  of  Ptolemy  Philadelphus  . .  412 


ILLUSTRATIONS. 


Page 
Coin  of  Philip  Y.,  King  of  Mace- 
don 419 

Coin  of  the  Quinctian  Gens,  bear- 
ing the  head  of  Flamininus   . .   431 
Coin  of  Antiochus  the  Great     . .  432 
Tomb  of  the  Scipios,  as  restored 

by  Canina       446 

Coin  of  Perseus 456 

Coin  of  Lepidus,  representing 
Paullus  triumphing  over  Per- 
seus and  his  Children    . .      . .   466 

Coin  of  Attains  1 467 

Plan  of  Tyrian  Carthage  . .  . .  485 
Tomb  on  the  Appian  Way  . .  502 
Medallion  of  Terence        . .      . .  508 

Bust  of  Ennius 517 

The  Forum  from  the  Capitol  . .  518 
Tomb  on  the  Appian  "Way  . ,  527 
Walls  of  Rome,  from  the  inside .   533 

Caius  Marius       556 

Coin  of  the  Eight  Italian  Nations, 
joining  in  an  Oath  of  Federa- 
tion, with  the  Legend  Italia. .  575 
Coin  of  the  Two  Allied  Nations 
who  last  held  out,  with  the 
name  of  Papius  in  Oscan  Cha- 
racters      581 


Pa«s 

Coin  of  Mithridates  VI 593 

Coin. — Temple  of  Jupiter  on  Capi- 
tol, and  head  of  Jupiter        . .   601 

Tomb  near  Alba        610 

Cn.  Pompeius  Magnus      . .      . .  629 
Slab  from  arch  of  Titus,  repre- 
senting the   Spoils  of  Jerusa- 
lem borne  in  triumph    . .      . .   638 

M.  Tullius  Cicero        639 

C.  Julius  Caesar 651 

Coin  of  Caesar 660 

Coin  to  commemorate  Conquest 

of  Gaul 661 

Parthian  Coin 072 

Coin  to  commemorate  the  taking 

of  Egypt 673 

M.  Junius  Brutus       687 

Coins  struck  upon  the  death  of 

Cassar      702 

Coins  of  the  Triumvirs      . .      . .   703 
Fine  Coin  of  Antony,  executed 

at  Antioch       "ZIS 

Antony  and  Cleopatra       . .      . .   719 
Figure  Head  of  Roman  Galley, 
dredged  up  near  Actium       . .   730 

Octavian 731 

M.  Vipsanius  Agrippa       . .      . .   751 


Ooin  with  head  of  Janiu. 


HISTORY  OF   ROME 


INTRODUCTION. 


SECTION  I. 


PHYSICAL    GEOGRAPHY    OF    ITALY. 

g  1.  Relation  of  Italy  to  Roman  History.  §  2.  Length  of  Italian  Peninsula. 
§  3.  Breadth.  §  4.  Extent  of  Surface.  §  5.  Reasons  for  considering 
Physical  Structure.  §  6.  Division  of  Italy  into  two  portions.  §  7,  Physical 
Structure  of  upper  portion :  The  Alps,  or  northern  hmits  of  the  valley  of 
the  Po,  §  8.  Upper  Apennines,  or  southern  hmits  of  this  valley.  §  9.  Plam 
of  the  Po  itself  §  10.  Physical  Structure  of  lower  portion  of  Apennine 
range.  §  11.  Its  Southern  flank.  §  12.  Northern  flank.  §  13.  Deduction 
of  geographical  features  of  Italy  from  foregoing  description :  Few  prominent 
Headlands  and  large  Gulfs.  §  14  Few  Islands.  §  15.  No  large  Rivera., 
except  in  the  valley  of  the  Po.  §  16.  No  large  Plains,  except  in  same 
valley.  §  IV.  No  large  Lakes,  except  in  same  valley.  Peculiar  character 
of  Lakes  in  many  parts  of  sub- Apennine  districts.  §  18.  Marshy  character 
of  some  districts.  Methods  of  reclaiming  land  in  modem  times.  §  19.  Cli- 
mate.    §  20.  Productions.     §  21.  Beauty  of  scenery. 

§  1.  The  History  of  Rome  is  properly  the  history  of  a  City,  or 
rather  a  Civic  Community,  which  gradually  extended  its  imperial 
sway,  first  over  all  Italy,  then  over  all  the  countries  bordering 
upon  the  Mediterranean  Sea.  It  was,  according  to  the  common 
reckoning,  nearly  five  centuries  before  the  citizens  of  Rome 
became  lords  of  I-ower  Italy;*  in  little  more  than  another  cen- 
*  V53— 270  8.0. 


2  HISTORY  OF  ROME.  Introd. 

tury  they  had  become  the  sovereign  power  of  the  civilised 
world.*  It  is  difficult,  therefore,  in  attempting  a  geographical 
sketch  for  the  purpose  of  elucidating  Roman  History,  to  deter- 
mine where  we  ought  to  begin  and  where  to  end.  For  during  a 
long  period  we  are  hardly  carried  out  of  sight  of  the  Capitol ; 
and  at  the  close  of  that  period  we  arc  hurried  with  startling 
rapidity  into  the  heart  of  every  country,  from  the  Atlantic  to 
the  mountains  of  Asia  Minor,  from  the  ridges  of  the  Alps  to  the 
plains  that  lie  beneath  Mount  Atlas.  But  since  the  origin  and 
composition  of  the  people  whom  we  call  Romans  depends  upon 
the  early  state  and  population  of  Italy  at  large,  and  since  in 
course  of  time  all  Italians  became  Romans,  it  will  be  well  to 
follow  the  usual  custom,  and  begin  with  a  geographical  sketch  of 
the  Italian  Peninsula. 

§  2.  This  Peninsula,  the  central  one  of  the  three  which  stretch 
boldly  forward  from  the  southern  coasts  of  Europe,  lies  nearly 
between  the  parallels  of  north  latitude  38°  and  46°.  Its  length 
therefore,  measured  along  a  meridian  arc,  ought  to  be  about  550 
miles.  But  since,  unlike  the  other  two  Mediterranean  Peninsulas, 
it  runs  in  a  direction  nearly  diagonal  to  the  hues  of  latitude  and 
longitude,  its  real  length,  measured  from  Mont  Blanc  to  Cape 
Spartivento,  is  somewhat  more  than  700  miles. 

§  3.  To  estimate  the  breadth  of  this  long  and  singularly- 
shaped  Peninsula,  it  may  conveniently  be  divided  into  two 
parts  by  a  line  drawn  across  from  the  mouths  of  the  Po  to  the 
northern  point  of  Etruria.  Below  this  line  the  average  breadth 
of  the  leg  of  Italy  docs  not  much  exceed  100  miles.  Above  this 
line,  both  coasts  trend  rapidly  outwards,  so  that  the  upper  portion 
forms  an  irregularly-shaped  figure,  which  lies  across  the  top  of 
the  leg,  being  bounded  on  the  north  and  west  by  the  Alpine 
range  from  Illyria  to  the  mouth  of  the  Var,  on  the  south  by  the 
imaginary  line  before  drawn,  ar.d  on  the  east  by  the  head  of  the 
Adriatic  Sea.  The  length  of  this  figure  from  east  to  west  is  not 
less  than  350  miles;  while  from  north  to  south  it  measures,  on 
the  average,  about  120  miles. 

§  4.  The  SURFACE  of  the  whole  Peninsula,  including  both  the 
leg  of  Italy  and  the  irregular  figure  at  the  top,  is  estimated  at 
about  90,000  square  miles,  or  an  area  nearly  equal  to  the  surface 
of  Great  Britain  and  Ireland. 

But  a  very  large  proportion  of  this  surface  is  unproductive, 
and  a  great  part  even  incapable  of  tillage. 

§  5.  The  reason  of  this  difference  between  the  actual  extent 
of  the  Peninsula  and  its  productive  surface  is  to  be  found  in  its 
PHYSICAL  STRUCTURE,  which  is  SO  remarkable  as  to  invite  an 
*  263—233  B.O. 


SfcCT.  L  PHYSICAL  GEOGRAPHY  OP  ITALY.  8 

attempt  to  describe  it  in  the  shortest  and  simplest  manner  com- 
patible with  clearness.  The  Physical  Geography  of  a  country  is 
-.ndeed  the  key  to  a  great  portion  of  its  History,  and  explains  the 
very  fact  of  its  existence.  For  example,  mountains  which  lift 
their  heads  above  the  waves  and  storms  form  the  indestructible 
core  of  some  countries  destined  by  Providence  to  play  a  large 
part  in  the  history  of  the  world,  while  others  are  spread  out  in 
broad  and  swelling  plains  equally  indestructible.  The  hard  lime- 
stone of  the  Apennine  range  has  alone  enabled  the  long  and 
sL'nder  Italian  Peninsula  to  be  the  cradle  of  those  political,  social, 
and  ecclesiastical  institutions  which  are  inseparably  attached  to 
the  name  of  Rome.  If  the  masses  thrown  into  that  singular 
shape  had  been  composed  of  soft  or  loose  materials,  they  had 
been  swept  away  by  the  joint  action  of  wind  and  water,  and  the 
names  of  Italy  and  of  Rome  had  been  unknown. 

§  6.  For  the  purpose  of  description  we  must  again  divide 
Italy  into  two  portions,  as  before,  for  the  purpose  of  measure- 
ment.* The  former  portion  consists  of  the  enormous  valley 
enclosed  between  the  Alps  on  the  north  and  the  upper  range  of 
the  Apennines  on  the  south ;  a  valley  which  may  be  represented 
as  an  irregular  triangle,  having  its  base  upon  the  Adriatic,  and 
gradually  thinning  off  towards  the  Maritime  Alps.  The  latter 
portion  is  formed  by  that  lower  part  of  the  Apennine  range  which 
runs  down  the  whole  leg  of  Italy. 

§  7.  In  the  former  portion  a  gigantic  ridge  of  Granite  rocks 
has  burst  through  the  superincumbent  formations,  and  sweeps 
in  an  irregular  curve  from  the  Tyrol  to  the  Gulf  of  Genoa.  On 
the  southern  flank  of  this  Granite  ridge  reclines  an  enormous 
mass  of  the  most  Ancient  Limestone,  of  that  kind  which  has 
been  called  the  Jura  Formation.  Appearing  first  near  the  Lago 
Maggiore,  it  attains  its  greatest  breadth  between  Verona  and 
Belluno,  and  then  again  thins  off  towards  the  Tyrol.  This 
Ancient  Limestone  dips  towards  the  south,  and  disappears  be- 
neath a  thin  and  broken  edge  of  the  more  Recent  Limestone 
rocks,  which  are  analogous  to  what  is  called  the  Chalk  Formation 
in  England  and  France,  though  in  Italy  the  Chalk  itself  is  nowhere 
found.f  Thus,  from  the  Lago  Maggiore  eastward,  the  great  valley 
of  the  Po  is  skirted  on  the  north  by  the  two  Limestone  systems, 
with  the  Granite  coming  from  beneath  them.  But  westward, 
from  the  Lago  Maggiore  to  the  Maritime  Alps,  the  Limestones 
disappear  altogether,  and  the  alluvial  plain  abuts  upon  the  pri- 
maeval Granite  itself. 

*  In  the  map  over  the  leaf  the  division  is,  by  the  requirement  of  the 
printer,  made  considerably  lower  down. 

f  Creta  is  not  chalk,  but  a  tenacious  white  earth,  much  the  same  as  argiUa. 


HISTORY  OF  ROME, 


Intror 


10 


12 


14 


GEOLOGICAL   MAP 


ITALY 


§  8.  The  southern  boundary  of  this  great  valley  now  remains 
to  be  examined.  It  is  formed,  as  we  have  said,  by  the  upper 
part  of  the  Apennine  range,  which  strikes  nearly  across  Italy 
from  above  Genoa  to  the  sources  of  the  Rubicon  and  the  Tiber. 
From  beneath  the  southern  edge  of  the  alluvial  plain  first  appears 
a  band  of  the  Tertiary  rocks,  which  hardly  show  themselves  on 
its  northern  edge.  From  below  them  again  emerges  in  immense 
proportions  the  more  Recent  Limestone,  which  here  covers  the 
Jura  formation,  and  forms  the  ientire  surface  of  that  part  of  the 
Apennines.  The  Granite,  unable  to  burst  its  way  through,  has 
contented  itself  with  upheaving  the  superincumbent  mass  of 
Limestone,  while  the  Tertiary  strata  have  been  broken  up  and 
almost  sv/ept  away. 

§  9.  In  the  vast  sweeping  hollow  or  basin  embraced  by  the  north- 
ern and  southern  elevation  of  the  Limestone  mountains,  that  is, 
in  the  space  between  the  Alps  and  Apennmes,  lies  the  great  allu- 


Sect.  I. 


PHYSICAL  GEOaRAPHY  OF  ITALY. 


vial  plain  formed  by  the  atoms  washed  down  through  all  time  by 
the  thousand  streams  which  descend  from  the  Alps  upon  the 
north  and  west,  and  from  the  Apennines  on  the  south,  all  at 
length  combining  their  waters  in  the  mighty  stream  of  the  Eri- 
danus.  These  waters,  charged  with  particles  of  every  kind  of 
rock  through  which  they  flow,  from  the  Granite  to  the  Tertiary, 
form  a  soil  hardly  equalled  in  the  world  for  natural  richness. 
Near  the  mountains,  indeed,  where  the  streams  descend  from  the 
gorges,  the  whole  surface  is  often  covered  with  barren  gravel ; 
especially  on  the  Apennine  side,  where  the  mountains  are  nearer 
and  the  descent  more  rapid.  But  as  we  advance  into  the  centre 
of  the  plain,  the  gravel  becomes  finer  and  finer,  till  at 'length 
nothing  is  left  but  that  fine  and  impalpable  garden  mould,  which 
appears  probably  in  the  greatest  perfection  in  the  fertile  district 
between  Lodi  and  Cremona. 


12 


14 


16 


>P^"-. 


££?«> 


^«ii.Ai»ua«T^'  ^^   '^^^    ^ 


iTiE 


§  lOr  We  now  turn  to  the  leg  of 
Italy,  which  consists  of  the  lower 
range  of  Apennines,  with  its  manifold 
branches  and  off'shoots.  Near  the 
sources  of  the  Rubicon  and  Tiber  the 
more  Recent  Limestone  has  suff'ered 
a  violent  disruption,  and  falls  off  right 
and  left,  so  as  to  display  a  huge  mass 
of  the  Ancient  Limestone.  The  two 
formations,  the  Ancient  flanked  on 
both  sides  by  the  more  Recent,  edged 
by  narrow  bands  of  Tertiary  remains,  continue  their  coursa 
flowing  down   the  leg  of  Italy,  gradually  inclining  towards  the 


Q  HISTORY  OF  ROME.  Introd. 

instep,*  till  at  the  point  where  the  gulf  of  Tarentum  threatens 
to  penetrate  to  the  Sicilian  sea,  the  wild  country  of  the  Bruttii 
rises  in  primaeval  Granite. 

§  11.  A  line  drawn  from  Ancona  to  Cape  Argentaro  gives  the 
greatest  breadth  of  these  Limestone  formations;  and  a  little 
lower  down,  a  fragment  of  the  more  Recent  kind,  left  like  an 
island  upon  the  uplifted  shoulders  of  the  Ancient,  presents  the 
loftiest  mountain  of  the  Apennine  range,  Monte  Corno  or  the  Gran 
Sasso  d'ltalia,  which  attains  an  elevation  of  nearly  10,000  English 
feet.  On  the  southern  coast,  from  above  the  lake  of  Bolsena  in 
Tuscany  to  the  beautiful  bay  of  Salerno,  the  regular  geological 
series  is  broken  up  by  a  large  tract  of  comparatively  recent  Vol- 
canic country,  which  is  interrupted  between  Latium  and  Cam- 
pania by  Ancient  Limestone  hills. 

§  12.  On  the  northern  flank  of  the  Limestone  range  appears  a 
belt  of  Tertiary  formation,  which  spreads  out  wider,  as  the  Lime- 
stone inclines  towards  the  south,  till  it  attains  its  greatest 
breadth  along  the  western  and  northern  sides  of  the  gulf  of 
Tarentum.  But  the  Limestone  formations,  after  sinking  towards 
the  Adriatic,  again  appear  in  the  isolated  eminence  of  Mount 
Garganus,  the  spur  of  Italy,  and  along  the  heel  from  Canusium 
to  the  lapygian  headland. 

§  13.  This  description  of  the  physical  structure  of  the  Italian 
Peninsula  will  enable  us  to  comprehend,  by  a  very  brief  glance,  its 
chief  GEOGRAPHICAL  fcaturcs.  Deep  gulfs  and  inlets  are  not  to 
be  expected;  for  these  are  only  found  when  mountain  chains  jut 
out  into  the  sea,  and  maintain  themselves  as  headlands,  while 
the  lower  land  between  is  eaten  and  washed  away  by  the  cease- 
less action  of  the  waves.  Such  phenomena  are  presented  by 
Greece,  and  by  the  western  coasts  of  Scotland,  Wales,  and  Ire- 
land. But  in  Italy  there  is  but  one  uniform  mountain-chain. 
On  the  northern  or  Adriatic  slope  of  the  Apennines,  indeed,  a 
number  of  gorges  open  to  the  sea  in  a  direction  transverse  to 
the  main  line  of  the  mountains.  But  the  projecting  spurs  which 
form  these  gorges  are  not  considerable  in  height;  and  on  the 
southern  or  Mediterranean  side  the  main  range  sinks  towards 
the  sea  in  subordinate  or  secondary  ranges,  more  or  less  parallel 
to  the  principal  chain,  and  therefore  seldom  admitting  of  abrupt 
headlands  with  deep  embrasures  between.  *  There  is,  however,  one 
exception  which  proves  the  rule.  We  have  above  shown  that  at 
the  foot  of  Italy,  tlie  Limestone  range  forks  oft"  into  two  great 
branches,  one  running  towards  the  toe  of  the  Peninsula,  the  other 

*  There  is,  however,  one  complete  gap  or  severance  in  the  chain,  which  iii 
nearly  marked  by  a  line  drawn  from  Capua  to  Venusia. 


Sect.  L  PHYSICAL  GEOGRAPHY  OF  ITALY.  t 

forming  the  heel.  The  softer  Tertiary  formations  between 
these  two  ranges  have  fallen  a  prey  to  the  devouring  waves. 
Here  they  have  scooped  out  the  great  gulf  of  Tarentum,  a 
vast  expanse  of  sea,  measuring  from  point  to  point  no  less  than 
80  miles. 

But  except  this  great  gulf,  the  coasts  of  the  Peninsula  are 
indented  by  comparatively  gentle  curves.  On  the  northern  side 
the  single  inequality  is  presented  by  the  projecting  mass  of 
Mount  Garganus,  which  forms  with  the  lower  coast  what  is  now 
called  the  bay  of  Manfredonia.  On  the  sole  of  the  foot,  below 
the  gulf  of  Tarentum,  we  find  the  bay  of  Squillace  (Sinus  Scyla- 
cius).  After  passing  the  straits  of  Messina,  first  occurs  the  bay 
of  St.  Eufemia  (Sinus  Vibonensis),  which  is  separated  from  that 
of  Squillace  by  a  mass  of  granitic  rocks  less  than  twenty  miles  in 
breadth.  A  little  higher  up  we  come  to  a  wide  sweep  in  the 
coast,  known  by  the  name  of  the  bay  of  Policastro. 

That  part  of  the  southern  coast  which  is  most  irregular  deserves 
particular  attention  from  the  student  of  Roman  History.  Be- 
tween the  point  where  ancient  Lucania  borders  on  Campania, 
and  that  at  which  Latium  begins,  a  distance  of  about  120  miles, 
the  coast-line  is  broken  into  three  fine  bays,  the  bay  of  P^estum, 
or  Salerno  on  the  south,  the  bay  of  Gaeta  on  the  north,  and  be- 
tween them  the  smallest  but  most  famous  and  most  beautiful  of 
the  three— the  bay  of  Cuma  or  Naples.  From  Cape  Circello 
(Circeii)^  which  forms  the  northern  horn  of  the  bay  of  Gaeta,  the 
coast-line  runs  onward  to  Genoa,  unbroken  save  by  the  headlands 
of  Argentaro  and  Piombino  in  Tuscany.  But  these  do  not  project 
far  enough  to  form  any  recess  worthy  to  be  named.  Nor  is  the 
little  bay  of  Spezzia,  just  north  of  Tuscany,  deserving  of  mention 
as  a  geographical  feature. 

§  14.  The  same  circumstance  which  prevents  Italy  from 
abounding  in  deep  bays  and  bold  headlands,  also  prevents  its 
coasts  from  being  studded  with  islands,  which  are  but  relics  of 
projecting  mountain-chains.  If  we  omit  Sicily,  which  is  in  fact 
a  continuation  of  the  Peninsula  separated  by  a  channel  of  two  or 
three  miles  broad,  and  the  Lipari  islands,  which  are  due  to  the 
volcanic  action  still  at  work  beneath  Etna  and  Vesuvius,  the 
islands  of  Italy  are  insignificant.  Caprea3  (Capri)  on  the  one 
hand,  Prochyta  (Procida)  and  Ischia  on  the  other,  are  but  frag- 
ments of  the  two  headlands  that  form  the  bay  of  Naples.  Igilium 
(Giglio)  and  Ilva  (Elba)  stand  in  a  similar  relation  to  the  head- 
lands of  Argentaro  and  Piombino.  Besides  these  may  be  named 
Pontise  (Ponza),  Pandataria,  with  a.  few  more  barren  rocks  ofi"  the 
bay  of  Gaeta,  and  a  few  even  less  important  on  the  coast  of 
Tuscany. 


8  HISTORY  OF  ROME.  Inteou 

§  15.  Except  in  Northern  Italy,  which  abounds  in  noble  rivers, 
as  above  described,  the  narrowness  of  the  Peninsula  forbids  the 
existence  of  really  large  streams.  Yet  the  Apennine  range,  which 
forms  on  its  southern  side  long  parallel  valleys,  enables  numerous 
torrents  and  rills  which  descend  towards  the  south  to  swell  into 
rivers  of  not  inconsiderable  size.  Such  especially  are  the  Arno  and 
Tib^r,  which  rise  nearly  at  the  point  where  the  ancient  limestone 
breaks  through  the  more  modern.  Their  waters  are  separated 
by  the  hills  which  terminate  in  the  headlands  of  Argentaro 
and  Piombino,  so  that  the  Arno  flows  northward,  and  enters 
the  sea  on  the  northern  frontier  of  Tuscany,  after  a  course  of 
about  120  miles;  while  the  Tiber  runs  in  a  general  southerly 
direction,  receiving  the  waters  of  the  Clanis  from  the  west,  and 
those  of  the  Nar  (Nera)  and  Velinus  from  the  east,  till  its  course 
is  abruptly  turned  by  the  Sabine  limestone  hills.  The  entire 
length  of  its  channel  is  about  180  miles.  These  two  well-known 
rivers,  with  their  affluents,  drain  the  whole  of  Etruria,  the  Sabine 
country,  and  the  Campagna  of  Rome. 

Similar  in  their  course,  but  on  a  smaller  scale,  are  the  Anio, 
(Teverone)  and  the  Liris.  They  both  rise  in  the  ^quian  hills, 
the  Anio  flowing  northward  to  swell  the  stream  of  the  Tiber  a 
little  above  Rome :  the  Liris,  joined  by  the  Trerus  (Sacco)  from 
the  west,  running  southward  so  as  to  drain  southern  Latium  and 
Northern  Campania,  till  it  turns  abruptly  towards  the  sea,  and 
enters  it  about  the  middle  of  the  bay  of  Gaeta,  after  a  course  of 
about  80  miles. 

The  Vulturnus  and  the  Calor  run  down  opposite  valleys  from 
the  north  and  south  of  the  Samnite  territory,  till  they  join  their 
streams  on  the  frontier  of  Campania,  and  fall  into  the  bay  of 
Gaeta  only  a  short  distance  below  the  Liris.  Each  of  these 
streams  measure  from  their  sources  to  their  united  mouth  not 
less  than  100  miles. 

The  only  other  notable  river  on  the  southern  coast  is  the 
Silarus  (Sele),  which  descends  by  a  channel  of  about  60  miles 
from  the  central  Apennines  of  Lucania  into  the  bay  of  Paestum 
or  Salerno.  After  this  comes  the  foot  of  Italy,  in  which  the 
mountains  come  down  so  close  to  the  sea  that  from  the  mouth 
of  the  Silarus  down  to  the  lower  angle  of  the  gulf  of  Tarentum, 
the  streams  are  but  short  and  rapid  torrents.  Of  these  it  is  said 
that  no  less  than  eighty  may  be  enumerated  between  Paestum 
and  the  straits  of  Messina. 

The  gulf  of  Tarentum  in  its  middle  portion  is  skirted  by  a 
lower  tertiary  bed,  and  has  some  streams  of  importance.  The 
Bradanus  and  Casuentus  (Basento)  enter  the  gulf  within  four 
miles  of  each  other,  after  a  course  of  about  60  miles.     The  Aciris 


Sect.  L  PHYSICAL  GEOGRAPHY  OP  ITALY.  9 

(Agri)  is  to  the  south  of  these.  The  Siris  (Smno)  notable  as 
the  scene  of  the  first  battle  between  Pyrrhus  and  the  Romans,  is 
a  mere  torrent,  as  is  the  Galesus  upon  which  Tarentum  stands. 

The  northern  or  Adriatic  coast  is  almost  devoid  of  lateral 
valleys,  such  as  are  found  on  the  other  coast,  and  therefore  has 
few  considerable  streams.  The  Aufidus  (Ofanto)  in  Apulia,  re- 
nowned in  Roman  history,  from  the  fact  that  the  fatal  battle  of 
Cannae  took  place  upon  its  banks,  rises  on  the  opposite  side  of  the 
same  range  as  the  Calor,  and  runs  a  course  of  about  80  miles. 
The  Sagrus  (Sangro)  stands  in  the  same  relation  to  the  Vulturnus, 
and  conveys  the  waters  of  the  Fucine  lake  from  the  ^quian 
hills  through  Samnium,  by  a  nearly  similar  length  of  channel. 
But  the  largest  river  of  this  side  is  the  Aternus,  which  finds  its 
way  from  the  Sabine  hills  into  a  short  valley  parallel  to  the 
main  range,  and  thus  prolongs  its  course.  It  is  joined  by  a 
number  of  smaller  streams,  and  attains  a  considerable  volume  of 
water  before  it  reaches  the  sea  at  the  point  where  the  Marru- 
cinian  coast  abuts  on  that  of  Picenum. 

The  whole  coast  from  Mount  Garganus  northward  is  ploughed 
by  numberless  torrents  which  descend  in  rapid  course  down 
steep  mountain  gorges.  Of  these  we  need  but  name  the  JEsis 
between  Picenum  and  Umbria ;  the  Metaurus,  in  Umbria,  famous 
for  the  defeat  of  Hasdrubal;  the  Rubicon,  which  formed  the 
boundary  of  Roman  Italy  on  the  northern  side,  as  did  the  Macra 
(Magra)  on  the  opposite  coast. 

§  16.  The  limestone  mountain  track  that  occupies  the  whole 
narrow  Peninsula  from  the  great  valley  of  the  Po  downwards  is 
often  too  steep,  bare,  and  rugged,  to  be  capable  of  cultivation. 
There  are,  however,  many  rich  plains  of  limited  extent,  among 
which  Campania  ranks  first ;  and  many  narrow  but  fertile  valleys, 
in  which  nature  rewards  the  smallest  labour  with  bountiful 
returns.  In  the  continental  dominions  of  the  modern  kingdom 
of  Naples,  consisting  of  about  half  the  leg  of  Italy,  it  is  calcu- 
lated that  little  more  than  one  half  of  the  land  is  at  present  under 
cultivation.  In  the  Estates  of  the  Church,  and  on  the  sea-coast 
of  Tuscany,  the  proportion  is  even  less. 

§  17.  In  speaking  of  Lakes,  we  must  resume  our  twofold  divi- 
sion of  the  Peninsula.  On  the  Alpine  slopes  of  the  great  valley 
of  the  Po,  the  Granitic  and  Ancient  Limestone  rocks  break  into 
vast  chasms  at  right  angles  to  their  general  direction,  in  which 
the  waters  of  the  rivers  that  flow  downwards  to  join  the  Po 
accumulate  and  form  those  lakes  so  well  known  to  all  lovers  of 
natural  beauty.  Such  are  the  lake  Benacus  (Lago  di  Garda) 
formed  by  the  waters  of  the  Mincius,  Larius  (Lago  di  Como)  by 
those  of  the  Adda,  Verbanus  (Lago  Maggiore)  by  those  of  the 

1* 


10  HISTORY  OF  ROME.  xntkod. 

Ticino,  not  to  mention  the  lakes  of  Lugano,  Orta,  and  others, 
.jmaller,  but  hardly  less  beautiful. 

But  Apennine  Italy,  considering  the  great  extent  of  its  moun- 
tain districts,  does  not  present  many  considerable  lakes.  Nor 
are  these  formed  by  the  accumulated  waters  of  rivers  flowing 
through  them,  like  the  lakes  of  northern  Italy  or  Switzerland. 
For  the  most  part,  like  the  lakes  of  Greece,  they  have  no  visible 
outlet,  but  lose  their  waters  partly  by  evaporation,  partly  by 
underground  fissures  and  channels.  The  Fucine  lake  in  the 
^:|uian  hills  feeds  the  Sangro,  and  lake  Bradanus  in  the  south 
feeds  the  river  of  the  same  name.  But  the  celebrated  lake  of 
Trasimene  in  Etruria,  and  the  numerous  lakes  of  the  volcanic 
district,  as  the  "  great  Volsinian  Mere,"  the  lakes  of  Alba,  Nemi, 
Amsanctus,  and  others,  have  no  visible  outlet.  These,  in  fact, 
are  the  craters  of  extinct  volcanoes.  Roman  history  contains 
legends  which  relate  to  the  artificial  tapping  of  some  of  these 
caldrons ;  and  some  of  the  tunnels  cut  through  their  rocky  basins 
still  remain. 

§  18.  The  abundance  of  water  which  is  poured  over  the  hills^ 
has  a  great  disposition  to  accumulate  in  marshy  swamps  in 
the  low  districts  towards  the  sea.  Such  is  the  case  along  the 
lower  course  of  the  Po,  on  the  coast-lands  of  Tuscany,  and  in  the 
lower  part  of  the  Campagna  of  Rome.  Mantua,  which  stands  a 
little  above  the  junction  of  the  Mincio  with  the  Po,  is  surrounded 
by  marshes ;  and  the  whole  coast  between  Venice  and  Ravenna 
is  a  swamp. 

To  keep  the  Po  and  its  tributaries  within  their  channel,  the 
Lombards  of  the  Middle  Ages  raised  embankments  on  either  side 
of  the  stream.  But  the  rivers  being  charged  with  mud  are  obliged 
by  these  embankments  to  deposit  the  whole  within  their  chan- 
nels, and  the  quantity  thus  deposited  is  so  great  that  it  is  neces- 
sary to  raise  these  embankments  continually;  and  thus  in  the 
course  of  centuries  the  bottoms  of  the  rivers  have  been  elevated 
considerably  above  the  plains;  so  that  the  streams  of  Lombardy 
in  their  lower  course  are  in  fact  carried  along  huge  earthen  aque- 
ducts. In  time,  human  industry  will  not  be  equal  to  raise  these 
embankments  in  sufficient  strength,  and  a  deluge  will  ensue  more 
fearful  than  those  which  the  poet  of  Mantua  seems  to  have  wit- 
nessed in  his  own  time.* 

*  "  Non  sic  aggeribus  ruptis,  quum  spumeus  amnis 
Exiit,  oppositasque  evicit  gurgite  moles, 
Fertur  in  arva  furens  cumulo,  camposque  per  omnes 
Cum  staV)ulis  armeuta  tulit." 

ViRO.,  Aen.  ii.  496;  cf.  Georg.  i.  322,  sq. 
While  this  unskilful  mode  of  preventing  the  overflowing  of  t;ho  Pp  was 


Sect.  I.  PHYSICAL  GEOGRAPHY  OP  ITALY.  11 

§  19.  The  Climate  of  Italy,  like  its  physical  structure,  is  ex- 
tremely different  in  the  northern  and  in  the  southern  part  of  the 
Peninsula.  In  the  valley  of  the  Po  tEe  winters  are  often  extremely 
severe,  so  that  towards  the  close  of  the  last  century  all  the  olive- 
trees  in  that  district  were  killed  by  the  frost.  On  the  south  of 
the  Apennines  the  climate  is  much  milder  in  the  winter,  though 
in  spring  the  winds  are  often  very  cold.  Snow  is  rarely  seen  in 
the  Campagna  di  Roma,  or  in  the  neighbourhood  of  Naples  at 
the  present  day;  though  in  the  times  of  the  ancients  it  seems 
to  have  been  not  uncommon. 

Italy  is  in  general  a  healthy  country.  The  men  are  active, 
vigorous,  and  well-grown  ;'  the  women,  in  their  youth,  handsome. 
Some  parts,  however,  are  afflicted  by  pestilential  air  (malaria), 
especially  the  lower  part  of  Tuscany,  and  the  Campagna  di  Roma, 
of  which  countries  a  more  particular  account  will  be  found  in  a 
later  page.  Parts  of  Calabria  also  are  extremely  unhealthy,  and 
all  the  southern  side  of  the  Apennines  suffers  from  the  south 
wind,  called  the  Sirocco,  which  comes  charged  with  suffocating 
heat  from  the  plains  of  Africa. 

§  20.  The  productions  are  those  of  the  temperate  zone  in 
their  highest  perfection.  Wherever  there  is  a  sufficiency  of  soil 
and  water,  as  in  the  valleys  leading  to  the  plain  of  Lombardy, 
or  descending  to  the  sea  from  either  side  of  the  Apennines,  grain 
of  all  kinds  is  produced  in  great  abundance.  In  ancient  days, 
the  plain  of  Lombardy,  now  so  highly  cultivated,  was  thickly 
covered  with  oak  forests,  that  furnished  food  to  countless 
herds  of  swine.  Many  parts  of  the  Apennines  are  still  well 
clothed  with  chestnut  trees,  and  the  inhabitants  of  the  upland 
valleys  live  on  their  fruit  during  the  winter.  But  modern 
ingenuity  and  industry  have  reclaimed  many  of  these  districts 
by  the  help  of  artificial  irrigation.*     On  the  southern  slopes  of 

followed  in  the  north,  a  most  ingenious  method  has  been  pursued  in  redeeming 
from  the  Aruo  those  marshes  in  which  Hannibal  was  attacked  by  ophthalmia, 
and  lost  part  of  his  army.  The  philosopher  Torricelli  (about  1550  a.d.) 
suggested  that  the  stream  should  be  allowed  freely  to  flood  the  surface  within 
certain  Umits,  and  to  deposit  within  these  limits  its  fertilizing  mud.  This 
experiment  has  been  tried  with  signal  success.  Strong  embankments  are 
formed,  with  sluices  and  flood-gates,  to  admit  the  river  at  will  over  a  confined 
surface.  Here  all  its  deposit  is  spread ;  and  after  a  number  of  years  the 
pestilent  marshes  of  the  Upper  Amo  (the  Val  Chiana)  have  been  raised  by  a 
depth  of  not  less  than  eight  feet  of  fertile  alluvial  soil.  "When  one  district 
had  been  raised,  the  same  process  was  repeated  with  that  next  adjoining,  and 
80  the  whole  surface  of  the  marshes  has  been  raised.  The  same  plan  is  now 
being  pursued  with  the  marshes  formed  by  the  Ombrone  in  the  Maremma  of 
Tuscany, 

*  "  The  woods  have  been  cleared,  and  a  skilful  system  of  irrigation  imparts 
fertility  to  the  district.     Not  less  than  one-fifth  of  the  whole  productive  area 


12  HISTORY  OF  ROME.  Introd. 

the  Apennines  olives  flourish ;  and  the  vine  is  cultivated 
largely  in  all  parts  of  the  Peninsula.  For  this  last  pui-pose 
the  sunny  terraces  of  the  limestone  mountains  are  especially 
suited.  But  want  of  care  in  the  treatment  of  the  plant,  or  rather 
in  the  manufacture  of  the  wine,  makes  the  wines  of  Italy  very 
inferior  in  quality  to  those  of  France  or  the  Spanish  Peninsula, 
though  in  ancient  times  the  vineyards  of  northern  Campania 
enjoyed  a  high  reputation.  Every  schoolboy  knows  the  names 
of  the  Massic  and  Falernian  hills,  of  the  Calene  and  Formian 
vineyards.  In  the  southern  parts  the  date-palm  is  found  in 
gardens,  though  this  and  other  tropical  plants  are  not  natural  to 
the  climate,  as  they  are  in  the  south  of  the  Spanish  Peninsula, 
which  lies  about  two  degrees  nearer  to  the  region  of  the  vertical 
sun.  The  plains  of  Apulia,  where  the  tertiary  strata  sink  to- 
wards the  gulf  of  Tarentum,  were  chiefly  given  up  to  pasturage — 
a  custom  which  continues  to  the  present  day.  This  is  connected 
with  historical  facts,  to  which  we  shall  have  to  call  attention 
hereafter. 

§  21.  The  natural  beauty  of  Italy  is  too  well  known  to  need 
many  words  here.  The  lovers  of  the  sublime  will  find  no  more 
magnificent  mountain-passes  than  those  which  descend  through 
the  Alps  to  the  plains  of  Lombardy.  In  the  valley  of  the  Dora 
Baltea,  from  its  source  under  Mont  Blanc  to  Aosta  and  Ivrea, 
all  the  grandeur  of  Switzerland  is  to  be  found,  enriched  by  the 
colours  and  warmth  of  a  southern  sky;  the  cold  green  and  gray  of 
the  central  chain  here  passes  into  gold  and  purple.  In  the  same 
district  is  found  the  most  charming  lake  scenery  in  the  world, 
where  the  sunny  hills  and  warm  hues  of  Italy  are  backed  by 
the  snowy  range  of  the  towering  Alps.  Those  who  prefer  rich 
culture  may  gratify  their  utmost  desires  in  the  lower  vale  of  the 

of  Lombardy  is  irrigated  at  the  present  day.  But  nearer  the  mountains, 
nearly  all  the  land  is  watered ;  between  the  Ticino  and  the  Adda  not  less  than 
9-lOths;  between  the  Adda  and  the  Ogho,  about  2-lOths;  between  the  Oglio 
and  the  Adige,  about  l-7th  or  l-8th." — Capt.  Baird  Smith's  Irrig.  of  Italy, 
i.  p.  205. 

This  irrigation  is  almost  entirely  modern.      The  practice  was  known  to 
antiquity,  as  appears  from  Yirgil's  well-known  line  (Eel.  iii.  11): — 
"  Claudite  jam  rivos,  pueri,  sat  prata  biberunt." 

But  that  it  was  rude  appears  from  the  beautiful  description  in  Georg.  i. 
106,  sqq.  :— 

"  Deinde  satis  fluvium  indueit,  rivosque  sequentes : 

Et  quum  exustus  ager  morientibus  aestuat  herbis, 

Ecce  supercilio  clivosi  tramitis  undam 

Elicit :  ilia  cadens  raucum  per  levia  murmur 

Saxa  ciet,  scatebrisque  arentia  temperat  arva." 
It  may,  indeed,  be  observed,  that  this  description  is  partly  borrowed  from 
Iliad  <t>.  257,  sqq. 


Sect.  I. 


PHYSICAL  GEOGRAPHY  OF  ITALY. 


13 


Po  about  Lodi  and  Cremona,  or  across  the  Apennines  in  the 
valley  of  the  Arno  and  in  Campania.  If  we  follow  the  southern 
coast,  probably  the  world  presents  no  lovelier  passages  than 
meet  the  traveller's  eye  as  he  skirts  the  Maritime  Alps  where 
they  overhang  the  sea  cornice-like,  between  Nice  and  Genoa; 
or  below  Campania,  where  the  limestone  of  the  Apennines, 
broken  by  volcanic  eruptions,  strikes  out  into  the  sea  between 
the  bays  of  Naples  and  Salerno,  The  Romans,  who  became 
Jords  of  all  Italy  and  of  the  civilised  world,  sprung  up  in  one 
of  the  least  enviable  portions  of  the  whole  Peninsula.  The 
attractions  of  Modern  Rome  are  less  of  nature  than  of  associa- 
tion. The  traveller  would  little  care  to  linger  on  the  banks  of 
the  Tiber,  if  it  were  stripped  of  its  buildings  and  its  history. 


Ostia  at  the  present  day. 


SECTION  II. 

EARLY    POPULATION    OF    ITALY. 

§  1.  Constart  invasions  of  Italy,  notwithstanding  Alpine  barrier.  §  2,  Its 
subdivision  among  numerous  tribes.  §  3.  Signification  of  the  name  Italy 
in  Roman  times.  §  4.  Roman  Italy  occupied  by  at  least  six  distinct  races. 
§  5.  Pelasgians.  §  6.  Opicans  or  Oscans.  §  7.  Umbrians.  §  8.  Sabel- 
lians.  §  9.  Etruscans.  §  10.  Greeks.  §  11.  Romans  a  compound  race. 
§  12.  Evidence  of  Tradition.  §  13,  Evidence  of  Language: — Roman  language 
akin  to  the  Greek  in  structure,  being  probably  Pelagian,  mixed  with  Oscan, 
with  Sabine  vocabulary  added.  §  14.  Comparison  between  Romans  and 
English  in  respect  to  origin.     §  15.  Sources  of  early  Roman  History. 

§  I.  It  is  a  common  remark,  that  mountains  are  the  chief 
boundaries  of  countries,  and  that  races  of  men  are  found  in  their 
purest  state  when  they  are  separated  by  these  barriers  from  ad- 
mixture with  other  tribes.  Italy  forms  an  exception  to  this  rule. 
It  was  not  so  much  the  "  fatal  gift  of  beauty,"  of  which  the  poet 
speaks,*  as  the  richness  of  its  northern  plain,  that  attracted  suc- 
cessive tribes  of  invaders  over  the  Alps.  From  the  earliest  dawn 
of  historic  knowledge,  we  hear  of  one  tribe  after  another  sweep- 
ing like  waves  over  the  Peninsula,  each  forcing  its  predecessor  on- 
ward, till  there  arose  a  power  strong  enough  to  drive  back  the 
current,  and  bar  aggression  for  many  an  age.  This  power  was 
the  Roman  Empire,  which  forced  the  Gauls  to  remain  on  the 
northern  side  of  the  Apennines,  and  preserved  Italy  untouched 
by  the  foot  of  the  foreigner  for  centuries.  No  sooner  was  this 
power  weakened,  than  the  incursions  again  began ;  and  at  the 
present  day  the  fairest  provinces  of  the  Peninsula  are  subject  to 
foreign  rule. 

§  2.  But  if  the  northern  barriers  of  the  Peninsula  failed  to 
check  the  lust  of  invaders,  its  long  straggling  shape  intersected 
by  mountains  from  top  to  bottom,  materially  assisted  in  break- 
ing it  up  into  a  number  of  different  nations.  Except  during  the 
strength  of  the  Roman  Empire  Italy  has  always  been  parcelled 
out  into  a  number  of  small  states.  In  the  earliest  times  it  was 
shared  among  a  number  of  tribes  differing  in  race  and  language. 
Great  pains  have  been  taken  to  investigate  the  origin  and 
character  of  these  primaeval  nations.  But  the  success  has  not 
been  great,  and  it  is  not  our  purpose  to  dwell  on  intricate  ques- 

*  The  stanzas  of  Filicaja  are  well  known  from  their  version  in  Ohilde  Harold, 
"Italia,  oh  ItaUa!  would  thou  wert  less  lovely,  or  more  powerful,"  &c. 


Sect.  IL  EARLY  POPULATION  OF  ITALY.  15 

tions  of  this  kind.  We  will  here  only  give  results  so  far  as  they 
seem  to  be  established. 

§  3.  It  is  well  known  that  it  was  not  till  the  close  of  the  Re- 
public, or  rather  the  beginning  of  the  Empire,  that  the  name  of 
Italy  was  employed,  as  we  now  employ  it,  to  designate  the  whole 
Peninsula,  from  the  Alps  to  the  straits  of  Messina.  The  term 
Italia,  borrowed  from  the  name  of  a  primaeval  tribe  who  occupied 
the  southern  portion  of  the  land,  was  gradually  adopted  as  a 
generic  title  in  the  same  obscure  manner  in  which  most  of  the 
countries  of  Europe,  or  (we  might  say)  the  Continents  of  the  world 
have  received  their  appellations.  In  the  remotest  times  the  name 
only  included  Lower  Calabria  :*  from  these  narrow  limits  it  grad- 
ually spread  upwards,  till  about  the  time  of  the  Punic  Wars,  its 
northern  boundary  ascended  the  little  river  Rubicon  (between 
Umbria  and  Cisalpine  Gaul),  then  followed  the  ridge  of  the  Apen- 
nines westward  to  the  source  of  the  Macra,  and  was  carried  down 
the  bed  of  that  small  stream  to  the  Gulf  of  Genoa. 

When  we  speak  of  Italy,  therefore,  in  the  Roman  sense  of  the 
word,  we  must  dismiss  from  our  thoughts  all  that  fertile  country 
which  was  at  Rome  entitled  the  provincial  district  of  Gallia  Cis- 
alpina  and  Liguria,  and  which  was  nearly  equivalent  to  the  terri- 
tory now  subject  to  the  crowns  of  Sardinia  and  Austria,  with  the 
Duchies  of  Parma  and  Modena,  and  the  upper  portion  of  the 
States  of  the  Church.  It  will  be  seen  that  this  political  division 
nearly  coincides  with  the  physical  divisions  noticed  in  the  fore- 
going chapter. 

§  4.  But  under  Roman  rule  even  this  narrower  Italy  wanted 
that  unity  of  race  and  language  which,  in  spite  of  political  sever- 
ance, we  are  accustomed  to  attribute  to  the  name.  Within  the 
boundaries  just  indicated  there  were  at  least  six  distinct  races, 
some  no  doubt  more  widely  separated,  but  all  marked  by  strong 
national  characteristics.  These  were  the  Pelasgians,  the  Oscans, 
the  Sabellians,  the  Umbrians,  the  Etrurians,  and  the  Greeks. 

§  5.  It  is  certain  that  in  primitive  times  the  coasts  and  lower 
valleys  of  Italy  were  peopled  by  tribes  that  had  crossed  over 
from  the  opposite  shores  of  Greece  and  Epirus.  These  tribes 
belonged  to  that  ancient  stock  called  the  Pelasgian,  of  which  so 
much  has  been  written  and  so  little  is  known.  The  names  that 
remained  in  Southern  Italy  were  all  of  a  Pelasgian  or  half-Hellenic 
character.  Such  were,  in  the  heel  of  Italy,  the  Bauni^ns  and 
Peucetians  (reputed  to  be  of  Arcadian  origin),  the  Messapians  and 
Sallentines ;  to  the  south  of  the  Gulf  of  Tarentnm,  the  Chaonians 
(who  are  also  found  in  Epirus) ;  and  in  the  toe  the  Qi^notrians,  who 

*  Properly  only  the  toe  of  Italy,  from  the  Bay  of  Squillace  to  that  of 
S.  Eufemia  (the  Sinus  Scylacius  to  the  S.  Lameticus),  Arist.  Polit.  vii.  10- 


16  HISTORY  OF  ROME.  Inteod. 

once  gave  name  to  all  Southern  Italy.*  Such  also  were  the 
Siculians  and  other  tribes  along  the  coast  from  Etruria  to  Cam- 
pania, who  were  driven  out  by  the  invading  Oscan  and  Sabellian 
nations.! 

§  6.  The  Oscan  or  Opican  race  was  at  one  time  very  widely 
spread  over  the  south.  The  Auruncans  of  Lower  Latium  belonged 
to  this  race,  as  also  the  Ausonians,  who  once  gave  name  to  Cen- 
tral Italy,J;  and  probably  also  the  Volscians  and  the  JEquians.  In 
Campania  the  Oscan  language  was  preserved  to  a  late  period  in 
Roman  History,  and  inscriptions  still  remain  which  can  be  inter- 
preted by  those  familiar  with  Latin. 

§  7.  The  Umbrians  at  one  time  possessed  dominion  over  great 
part  of  Central  Italy.  Inscriptions  in  their  language  also  remain, 
and  manifestly  show  that  they  spoke  a  tongue  not  alien  to  the 
Latin.  The  irruption  of  the  Sabellian  and  of  the  Etruscan  nations 
was  probably  the  caiise  which  broke  the  power  of  the  Umbrians, 
and  drove  them  back  to  a  scanty  territory  between  the  ^sis,  the 
Rubicon,  and  the  Tiber. 

§  8.  The  greatest  of  the  Italian  nations  was  the  Sabellian.  Un- 
der this  name  we  include  the  Sabines,  who  are  said  by  tradition 
to  have  been  the  progenitors  of  the  whole  race,  the  Samnites, 
the  Picenians,  Vestinians,  Marsians,  Marrucinians,  Pelignians,  and 
Frentanians.  This  race  seems  to  have  been  naturally  given  to  a 
pastoral  life,  and  therefore  fixed  their  early  settlements  in  the 
upland  valleys  of  the  Apennines.  Pushing  gradually  along 
this  central  range,  they  penetrated  downwards  towards  the 
Gulf  of  Tarentum;  and  as  their  population  became  too  dense 
to  find  support  in  their  native  hills,  bands  of  warrior  youths 
issued  forth  to  settle  in  the  richer  plains  below.  Thus  they 
mingled  with  the  Opican  and  Pelasgian  races  of  the  south,  and 
formed  new  tribes,  known  by  the  names  of  Apulians,  Lucanians, 
and  Campanians.  These  more  recent  tribes,  in  turn,  threatened 
the  great  Greek  colonies  on  the  coast,  of  which  we  shall  speak 
presently. 

§  9.  We  now  come  to  the  Etruscans,  the  most  singular  people 
of  the  Peninsula.  This  people  called  themselves  Rasena.,  or 
Rasenna — a  name  that  reminds  us  of  the  Etruscan  surnames 
Porsenna,  Vibenna,   Sisenna.      At  one  time  they  possessed  not 

*  "  Terra  antiqua,  potens  armis  atque  ubere  glebae ; 

(Enotri  colu6re  viri :  nunc  fama  minores 
Italiam  dixisse  ducis  de  nomine  gentem." — Yirg.,  Am.  i.  532. 
f  For  a  clear  and  intelligible  account  of  the  Pelasgians,  see  Dr.  Smith's 
Rlst.  of  Greece,  p.  14, 

X  Virgil,  &c.  Aristotle  {Politic.  viL  10)  says  that  the  Opicans  were  for- 
merly cailod  Ausones. 


Sect.  II.  EARLY  POPULATION  OF  ITALY.  17 

only  the  country  known  to  the  Romans  as  Etruria  (that  is,  the 
country  bounded  by  the  Macra,  the  central  Apennine  ridge,  and 
the  Tiber),  but  also  occupied  a  large  portion  of  Liguria  and  Cis- 
alpine Gaul  ;*  and  perhaps  they  had  settlements  in  Campania.f 
In  early  times  they  possessed  a  powerful  navy,  and  in  the  primi- 
tive Gredk  legends  they  are  represented  as  infesting  the  Mediter- 
ranean with  their  piratical  galleys.J  They  seem  to  have  been 
driven  out  of  their  Trans- Apennine  possession  by  early  invasions 
of  the  Gauls;  and  their  naval  power  never  recovered  the  blow 
which  it  received  in  the  year  480  b.c,  when  Gelo  King  of  Syra- 
cuse defeated  their  navy,  combined  with  that  of  Carthage,  on  the 
same  day  on  which  the  battle  of  Salamis  crippled  the  power  of 
Persia. 

But  who  this  people  were,  or  whence  they  came,  baffles  con- 
jecture. It  may  be  assumed  as  certain,  that  the  Pelasgic  settlers 
came  in  by  sea  from  the  western  coasts  of  Epirus,  which  are 
distant  from  Italy  less  than  fifty  miles ;  and  that  the  Opican,  Um- 
brian,  and  Sabellian  races  came  in  from  the  north  by  land.  But 
with  respect  to  the  Etruscans  all  is  doubtful.  One  well-known 
legend  represents  them  as  Lydians,  who  fled  by  sea  from  Asia 
Minor  to  avoid  the  terrible  presence  of  famine.  Another  indi- 
cates that  they  came  down  over  the  Alps,  and  the  origin  of  their 
name  Rasena  is  traced  in  Rsetia.  On  the  former  supposition, 
Etruria  was  their  earliest  settlement,  and,  pushing  northward, 
they  conquered  the  plain  of  the  Po ;  on  the  latter,  they  first  took 
possession  of  this  fertile  plain,  and  then  spread  southward  over  the 
Apennines. 

Their  language,  if  it  could  be  interpreted,  might  help  to  solve 
the  riddle.  But  though  we  have  numerous  inscriptions  in  their 
tombs,  though  the  characters  in  which  these  inscriptions  are  writ- 
ten bear  close  affinity  to  the  letters  of  the  Greek  and  Roman  alpha- 
bets, the  tongue  of  this  remarkable  people  has  as  yet  baffled  the 
deftest  eff'orts  of  philology. 

§  10.  Of  the  Greek  settlements  that  studded  the  coast  of 
Lower   Italy,    and   gave   to   that   district   the   name    of    Magna 

*  Allusion  is  made  to  this  in  Yirgil  {Aen.  x.  198-206)  where  the  Etruscan 
chief  Ocnus,  the  son  of  Manto,  is  said  to  have  founded  Mantua  ("ihuros  ma- 
trisque  dedit  tibi,  Mantua,  nomen"),  and  to  have  brought  his  troops  from  the 
Lago  di  Garda : — 

"  Quos  patre  Benaco  velatus  arundine  glauca 
Mincius  infesta  ducebat  in  aequora  pinu." 

f  Capua,  according  to  tradition,  was  named  from  Capys,  an  Etruscan 
chief. 

X  See  the  pretty  Hymn  to  Dionysos,  attributed  to  Homer,  in  which  Etruscan 
pirates  take  the  god  prisoner,  and  are  punished  in  a  strange  fashion  for  their 
audacity. 


18  HISTORY  OF  ROME.  Introd- 

Graecia,  little  need  here  be  said.  They  were  not  planted  till  after 
the  foundation  of  Rome.  Many  of  them,  indeed,  attained  to 
great  power  and  splendour ;  and  the  native  Osco-Pelasgian  popu- 
lation of  the  south  became  their  subjects  or  their  serfs.  Sybaris 
alone,  in  the  course  of  two  centuries,  is  said  to  have  become  mis- 
tress of  four  nations  and  twenty-five  towns,  and  to  have  been  able 
to  raise  a  civic  force  of  300,000  men.  Croton,  her  rival,  was  even 
larger.*  Greek  cities  appear  as  far  north  as  Campania,  where 
Naples  still  preserves  in  a  corrupt  form  her  Hellenic  name, 
Neapolis.  The  Greek  remains  discovered  at  Canusium  (Canosi) 
in  the  heart  of  Apulia,  attest  the  extent  of  Hellenic  dominion. 
But  the  Greeks  seem  to  have  held  aloof  from  mixture  with  the 
native  Italians,  whom  they  considered  as  barbarians.  Rome  is  not 
mentioned  by  any  Greek  writer  before  the  time  of  Aristotle  (about 
340  B.C.) 

§  11.  From  the  foregoing  sketch  it  will  appear  that  Latium 
formed  a  kind  of  focus,  in  which  all  the  different  races  that  in  past 
centuries  had  been  thronging  into  ^taly  converged.  The  Etrus- 
cans bordered  on  Latium  to  the  west ;  the  Sabines,  with  the  Um- 
brians  behind  them,  to  the  north ;  the  ^Equians  and  Volscians, 
Oscan  tribes,  to  the  north-east  and  east ;  while  Pelasgian  com- 
munities are  to  be  traced  upon  the  coast-lands.  We  should  then 
expect  beforehand  to  meet  with  a  people  formed  by  a  commixture 
of  divers  tribes ;  and  this  expectation  is  confirmed  both  by  ancient 
Tradition  and  by  the  investigations  of  modern  scholars  into  the 
construction  of  the  Latin  Language. 

§  12.  Tradition  tells  us  that  the  Aborigines  of  Latium  mingled 
in  early  times  with  a  people  calling  themselves  Siculians ;  that 
these  Siculians,  being  conquered  and  partly  expelled  from  Italy, 
took  refuge  in  the  island,  which  was  afterwards  called  Sicily  from 
them,  but  was  at  that  time  peopled  by  a  tribe  named  Sicanians ; 
that  the  conquering  people  were  named  Sacr^ians,  and  had  them- 
selves been  forced  down  from  the  Sabine  valleys  in  the  neighbour- 
hood of  Reate  by  Sabellian  invaders ;  and  that  from  this  mixture 
of  Aborigines,  Siculians,  and  Sacranians  arose  the  people  known 
afterwards  by  the  name  of  Latins. 

Where  all  is  uncertain,  conjecture  is  easy.  It  might  be  alleged 
that  the  Aborigines  and  Siculians,  both  of  them,  or  at  least  the 
latter,  were  Pelasgians,  and  that  the  Sacranians  were  Oscan.  All 
such  conjectures  must  remain  unproved.  But  they  all  bear  wit- 
ness to  the  compound  nature  of  the  Latin  nation. 

§  13.  An  examination  of  Language  leads  us  a  little  further. 

(1.)  The  Latin  language  contains  a  very  large  number  of  words 

*  See  more  in  Dr.  Smith's  History  of  Greece,  pp.  120-123. 


Sect.  II.  EARLY  POPULATION  OF  ITALY.  19 

closely  resembling  the  Greek  ;  and,  what  is  particularly  to  be 
observed,  the  grammatical  inflexion  of  the  nouns  and  verbs, 
with  all  that  may  be  called  the  framework  of  the  language, 
closely  resembles  that  ancient  dialect  of  the  Hellenic  called 
^olic.  But  it  is  not  to  be  supposed  that  these  roots  and  forms 
were  borrowed  from  the  Greek ;  for  these  same  roots  and  forms 
are  found  in  Sanscrit,  the  ancient  language  of  India.  In  many 
of  its  forms,  ii^deed,  Latin  more  nearly  resembles  Sanscrit  than 
Greek.  It  must  be  inferred,  then,  that  these  languages  all 
branched  off  from  one  stock.  And  it  may  be  afhrmed  that  the 
form  under  which  this  original  language  first  appeared  in  Latium 
was  Pelasgian  or  half-IIellenic. 

(2.)  Though  the  framework  and  a  large  portion  of  the  vocabu- 
lary resembles  the  Greek,  there  is  also  a  large  portion  which  is 
totally  foreign  to  the  Greek.  This  foreign  element  was  certainly 
not  Etruscan ;  for  if  so,  we  should  find  many  words  in  the 
Etruscan  inscriptions  agreeing  with  words  in  Latin;  whereas,  in 
fact,  we  find  hardly  any.  But  in  the  Oscan  inscriptions  we  find 
words  much  resembling  the  Greek ;  and  it  may  be  inferred  that 
the  Oscan  races  had  so  largely  blended  with  the  Pelasgian,  that 
the  original  Latin  tongue  was  a  mixture  of  the  two. 

(3.)  It  is  certain  that  the  nation  we  call  Roman  was  more  than 
half  Sabellian.  Traditional  history,  as  we  shall  see,  attributes 
the  conquest  of  Rome  to  a  Sabine  tribe.  Some  of  her  kings 
were  Sabine ;  the  name  borne  by  her  citizens  was  Sabine  ; 
her  religion  was  Sabine;  most  of  her  institutions  in  war  and 
peace  were  Sabine  ;  and  therefore  it  may  be  concluded  that  the 
language  of  the  Roman  people  diff'ered  from  that  of  Latium 
Proper  by  its  Sabine  elements,  though  this  difi'erence  died  out 
again  as  the  Latin  communities  were  gradually  absorbed  into  the 
territory  of  Rome. 

§  14.  This,  then,  is  the  summary  of  what  we  know.  Tradition 
represents  Italy  as  peopled  by  a  number  of  different  races,  and 
Rome  as  partaking  more  or  less  of  the  peculiarities  of  each  race. 
Philology  confirms  this  representation,  and  attempts  to  establish 
some  definite  relations  between  these  races.  The  result  is 
meagre,  because  the  materials  for  a  judgment  are  meagre.  But  it 
IS  at  least  certain,  that  the  Roman  people  and  its  language  were 
formed  by  a  composition  almost  as  manifold  and  heterogeneous 
as  the  people  and  language  of  England.  The  original  Celtic 
population-  of  our  island  gave  way  before  the  mixed  Saxon, 
Anglian,  and  Danish  tribes,  which  poured  into  it  from  the  north. 
Anglo-Saxon,  not  without  a  dash  of  Celtic,  became  the  common 
lano;uage  of  the  people.  Norman  conquerors,  Danes  by  origin,  and 
Frenchmen  by  habit,  gradually  adopted  the  language  of  the  con' 


20  HISTORY  OF  ROME.  Ihteod. 

quered  people,  infusing  into  it  a  large  vocabulary  of  French  or 
rather  Latin  terms  ;  but  still  the  grammatical  structure,  the  bone 
and  sinew  of  the  language,  remained  and  remains  Anglo-Saxon. 
So  in  Latium,  it  may  be  assumed,  that  the  original  inhabitants,  a 
mixture  of  Pelasgians  and  Oscans,  spoke  a  tongue  which  was  the 
parent  of  the  later  Latin ;  that  the  Sabine  conquerors  of  Rome 
gradually  adopted  this  Latin  language,  infusing  into  it  a  large 
vocabulary  of  their  own.  Other  infusions  may  have  occurred, 
both  before  and  after ;  but  the  organic  structure  still  remained 
the  same,  and  is  identified  with  the  structure  of  the  Greek  and  its 
kindred  tongues. 

§  15.  We  will  now  pass  on  to  the  Legends,  in  which  is  preserved 
the  early  History  of  Rome,  reserving  for  a  later  page  all  attempts 
to  estimate  how  far  these  Legends  are  mere  fictions,  and  how  far 
they  may  be  regarded  as  actual  events.  It  may  be  observed  that 
no  people  is  so  rich  in  legendary  history  as  the  Romans.  Their 
patriotic  pride  preserved  the  stories  of  their  ancestors  from  gene- 
ration to  generation,  till  they  were,  so  to  say,  embalmed  by  poets 
who  lived  in  the  times  of  the  Punic  wars.  These  poems,  indeed, 
have,  with  the  exception  of  a  few  fragments,  perished ;  but  wc 
learn  from  Cicero  how  highly  they  were  esteemed  in  his  day,  and 
in  the  epic  poem  of  Virgil,  with  the  scarcely  less  poetic  prose  of 
Livy's  early  history,  they  still  liv^.  From  these  great  writers 
chiefly  are  derived  those  famous  Legends,  which  are  now  to  be 
recounted  for  the  hundredth  time. 


Wolf  of  the  CapitoL 

BOOK    I. 

ROME  UNDER  THE  KINGS. 


CHAPTER    I. 

ORIGIN    OF    ROME  :      ROMULUS    AND    NUMA. 

1.  Belief  of  the  Romans  that  they  were  sprung  from  the  East.  §  2.  Legend 
of  ^neas.  §  3.  Legend  of  Ascanius.  §.  4.  Legend  of  Rea  Silvia,  and 
birth  of  the  Twins.-  §  5.  Legend  of  recognition  of  Twins  by  Numitor. 
§  6.  Legend  of  the  quarrel  of  Romulus  and  Remus.  Variations  in 
Legends,  §  7.  Romulus  founds  Rome,  Uncertainty  of  dates,  §  8,  Asylum. 
Rape  of  Sabines.  §  9.  War  with  Sabines.  Legends  of  Tarpeia,  of  Janus, 
of  Sabine  women.  §  10,  Peace  between  Romans  and  Sabines,  Romulus 
AND  Titus  Tatius  joint  Kings.  §  11.  Legend  of  Caeles  Vibenna  and 
Etruscan  settlers  at  Rome.  Four  of  Seven  Hills  now  occupied.  §  12. 
Death  of  Titus  Tatius  Reign  and  death  of  Romulus.  §  13.  Institutions 
attributed  to  Romulus:  (1)  Social;  (2)  Political;  (3)  Military,  §  14. 
Interregnum :  Numa  Pompilius,  a  Sabine,  second  king  of  Rome.  §  1 5. 
Religious  institutions  attributed  to  Numa.  §  16.  His  love  of  agriculture. 
§  17.  Other  institutions. 

i  1.  It  was  the  pride   of  the  Romans  to  believe  that  they  were 
lescended  from  the  ancient  nations  to  the  East  of  the  Mediter- 


22  ROME  UNDER  THE  KINGS.  Book  I 

ranean  Sea.  All  their  early  legends  point  to  Greece  and  Troy. 
How  far  the  Pelasgian  origin  of  the  nation  may  account  for  this 
belief  may  be  conjectured,  but  cannot  be  determined.  It  may, 
however,  be  assumed  that  the  Arcadian  Evander  and  his  followers, 
whom  the  legends  represent  as  the  first  settlers  on  the  Palatine 
Hill,  were  Pelasgians ;  and  it  is  more  than  probable  that  the 
Trojan  ^neas  and  his  followers,  who  are  believed  to  have 
coalesced  with  the  Arcadians  of  the  Palatine,  were  likewise 
Pelasgians.  With  this  preface  we  proceed  to  the  Legends 
themselves. 

§  2.  Virgil  has  told  the  tale  of  the  flight  of  JEneas,  and  every 
one  knows  how  he  escaped  from  the  flames  of  Troy  bearing  his 
father  Anchises  on  his  shoulders,  and  leading  his  boy  Ascanius  by 
the  hand  to  seek  a  new  home  in  Hesperia,  the  Land  of  Promise 
in  the  West.  His  piety  or  reverential  aff"ection*  was  not  confined 
to  his  own  family.  He  rescued  also  the  gods  of  his  father's  house- 
hold from  the  flames,  and  he  was  rewarded  by  the  favour  of  Hea- 
ven. Mercury  or  Hermes  guided  his  steps  from  the  burning  city ; 
the  star  of  his  mother  Vemis  led  him  safely  to  the  shores  of  the 
western  land. 

Nor  did  the  protection  of  the  gods  desert  him  when  he  had 
reached  the  long-sought  shores  of  Italy.  Omens  and  signs  told 
him  that  he  had  reached  the  promised  land,  and  that  Latium  was 
to  be  the  cradle  of  the  new  people  which  was  to  spring  from  the 
loins  of  the  Trojan  settlers.  A  white  sow  farrowed  on  the  coast, 
and  gave  birth  to  the  prodigious  number  of  thirty  young. 

But  before  the  Trojans  could  obtain  a  fixed  settlement,  it  was 
needful  to  come  to  terms  with  the  people  of  the  country.  These 
were  the  Aborigines  or  children  of  the  soil.f  Their  King's  name 
was  Latinus,  and  their  chief  city  Laurentum.  They  treated  the 
new  comers  kindly,  and  Latinus  gave  his  daughter  Lavinia  in 
marriage  to  JEneas,  who  therefore  gave  to  the  town  which  he 
built  on  the  spot  where  the  white  sow  had  farrowed  the  name  of 
Lavinium. 

This  agreement,  however,  had  not  come  to  pass  without  blood- 
shed. Lavinia  had  been  betrothed  to  Turnus,  the  young  chief 
of  the  Rutulians  of  Ardea.  He,  wrathful  with  disappointment, 
made  war  upon  the  strangers.  JEneas  sought  the  aid  of  Evander 
the  Arcadian,  who  had  founded  a  city  on  the  Palatine  Hill,  which 
afterwards  became  Rome  ;  he  was  also  befriended  by  the  Etruscans 
of  Caere,  who  had  revolted  against  their  barbarous  chief  Mezen- 
tius,    "  the  despiser  of  the   gods."     The  Trojans  prevailed,  and 

*  Lat.  pietas,  a  feeling  of  reverence  and  love  towards  parents  and  gods, 
f  Some  authors  spell  the  word  Aberrigines,  as  if  from  aberro,  to  wander 
%way^ 


Ohai-.  1  ROMULUS.  23 

Turnus  fell.  But  tliree  years  after  a  new  war  arose  ;*  and  ^neas 
disappeared  amid  the  waters  of  the  Numicius,  a  small  river  be- 
tween Lavinium  and  Ardea.  It  was  said  that  the  gods  had 
taken  him,  and  a  temple  was  raised  to  him  on  the  spot,  in  which 
he  was  worshipped  under  the  name  of  Jupiter  Indiges,  or  the 
"  God  of  the  country."! 

§  3.  Ascanius,  who  was  also  called  liilus,  from  the  youthful 
down  J;  upon  his  cheeks,  was  warned  by  signs  from  Heaven  that 
Lavinium  was  not  to  be  the  abiding  place  of  the  new  people. 
After  thirty  years,  therefore,  as  foretokened  by  the  sign  of  the 
thirty  young  swine,  he  removed  to  the  ridge  of  a  hill  about  fifteen 
miles  to  the  south-east  of  Rome,  and  here  he  built  a  new  city, 
which  was  afterwards  famous  under  the  name  of  Alba  Longa,  or 
"the  Long  White  City."||  In  time  this  city  became  the  capital  of 
Latium,  and  all  the  Latin  tribes  came  up  to  worship  at  the  Tem- 
ple of  Jupiter  Latiaris  on  the  top  of  the  Alban  Mount.  Their 
chiefs  also  used  to  meet  for  the  discussion  of  matters  of  state  in 
the  sacred  grove  by  the  spring  of  Ferentina  on  the  side  of  the 
same  mount. 

Ascanius  was  succeeded  by  a  son  of  ^neas  and  Lavinia,  named 
Silvius,^  and  the  eleven  Kings  of  Alba  who  succeeded  all  bore 
the  surname  of  Silvius. 

§  4.  The  last  of  these  Kings,  named  Procas,  left  two  sons,  Nu- 
mitor  and  Amulius.  Amulius,  the  younger,  seized  the  inheritance 
of  his  elder  brother  Numitor,  who  coveted  not  the  crowuo  But 
he  had  a  son  and  a  daughter,  who  might  hereafter  be  troublesome 
to  the  usurper.  The  son  was  put  to  death  by  Amulius ;  the 
daughter,  Rea  Silvia  by  name,**  was  dedicated  to  the  service  of 

*  "  Bellum  ingens  geret  Italia,  populosque  feroces 

Contundet,  moresque  viris  et  mcenia  ponet, 
Tertia  dum  Latio  regnantem  viderit  sestas, 

Terwaque  transierint  Rutulis  hiberna  subactis." — ViRG.,  Aen.  i.  263, 
f  Hence  Virgil  {Aen.  vii.  242)  speaks  of  vada  sacra  Numici,  although  he 
ends  his  poem  with  the  death  of  Turnus. 

X  lovloq.  Here,  as  in  many  other  of  the  Roman  legends,  Greek  influence 
is  discernible. 

II     "At  puer  Ascanius,  cui  nunc  cognomen  liilo, 
Triginta  magnos  volvendis  raensibus  orbes 
Imperio  explebit,  regnumque  ab  sede  Lavini 
Transferet,  et  Longam  multa  vi  muniet  Albam," — YiRG.,  Aen.  i.  2*71. 

•"f "  Primus  ad  auras 

^therias  liah  eommixtus  sanguine  surgit 

Silvius,  Albanum  nomen,  tua  postuma  proles." — Aen.  vi.  761. 

*  *  She  is  commonly  confounded  with  Ilia.  But  Ilia  was  a  daughter  of 
./Eneas ;  and  here  we  recognise  a  double  legend, — one  in  which  the  vestal 
priestess  was  sister  of  liilus,  one  in  which  she  was  twelve  generations  in 
descent  from  him* 


24  ROME  UNDER  THE  KINGS.  Book  l 

Vesta,  which  compelled  her  to  live  and  die  unwedded.  But 
destiny  is  stronger  than  the  will  of  man.  The  sacred  Virgin  of 
Vesta  was  found  to  be  with  child  by  the  god  Mars,  and  she  bore 
two  boys  at  a  birth.  The  punishment  of  a  vestal  virgin  for  incon- 
tinence was  dreadful :  the  law  ordained  that  she  should  be  buried 
alive.  Amulius  spared  not  his  niece.  The  Twins  he  ordered  to 
be  thrown  into  the  Tiber.  It  chanced  that  at  that  time  the  river 
had  overflowed  his  banks,  and  spread  shallow  pools  over  the  ground 
afterwards  famous  as  the  Roman  Forum.  The  shoal  water  shrank 
before  the  fated  founder  of  Rome,  and  the  Twins  were  left  on  dry 
ground  near  a  wild  fig-tree,  which  was  long  preserved  with  care- 
ful reverence  under  the  name  of  the  Ficus  Ruminalis.  Here 
they  grew  to  boyhood,  being  suckled  by  a  wolf  and  fed  by  the 
care  of  a  woodpecker,  creatures  held  sacred  among  the  Latins.* 
Thus  marvellously  preserved,  they  were  Pound  by  Faustulus,  the 
herdsman  of  Amulius,  who  took  them  home  to  his  wife  Acca 
Laurentia.  So  the  Twins  grew  up  with  the  herdsman's  children 
in  his  cot  upon  the  Palatine,  and  were  known  by  the  names  of 
Romulus  and  Remus. 

§  5.  The  Twins  were  distinguished  among  the  young  shepherds 
Uy  their  nobler  form  and  bolder  spirit.  It  chanced  that  the 
herdsmen  of  Amulius,  who  dwelt  on  the  Palatine  Hill,  were  at 
feud  with  the  herdsmen  of  Numitor,  who  fed  their  flocks  upon 
the  Aventine.  The  latter  took  Remus  prisoner  by  an  ambush, 
and  brought  him  before  Numitor,  their  master,  who  admired  the 
stately  figure  of  the  youth,  and  recognised  in  his  features  that 
which  called  back  to  his  mind  the  memory  of  his  unhappy 
daughter.  Soon  after  Romulus  came  up  to  ransom  his  brother, 
and  his  appearance  confirmed  Numitor  in  his  suspicions.  The 
accounts  given  of  them  by  their  foster-father  Faustulus  revealed 
to  the  youths  their  true  descent.  With  prompt  energy  they 
attacked  Amulius  in  his  palace  at  Alba  and  slew  him  there. 
Numitor,  their  good  grandsire,  was  restored  to  the  throne  of  the 
Silvii,  his  fathers. 

§  6.  Three  hundred  years  had  now  passed  since  the  foundation 
of  Alba ;  and  the  Twins,  led  by  omens  and  auguries,  determined 
to  quit  the  city  of  Ascanius  and  build  a  new  town  on  the  bank 
of  the  Tiber  where  they  had  been   bred.f     Now  as  they  knew 

*  "  Lacte  quia  Infantes  nescit  crevisse  Forino, 

Et  Picum  expositis  sfepe  tulisse  cibum  ?" 
Ovid,  Fasti^  iii.  54. — Picus  (the  Woodpecker)  was  a  Latin  god,  being  father 
of  Turnus,  and  grandsire  of  Latinus,  Virg,,  Aen.  vii.  45-49. 
f  "  Hie  jam  tercentum  totos  regnabitur  annos 

Gente  sub  Hectorea,  donee  regina  sacerdos 
.    Marte  gravis  gemiaam  partu  dabit  Iha  prolem. 


Chat.  I.  ROMULUS.  25 

not  which  of  the  two  was  the  elder,  a  dispute  arose  with 
respect  to  the  place  and  name  of  the  projected  city.  Romulus 
wished  to  build  upon  the  Palatine,  Remus  on  the  Aventine.  To 
settle  this  question,  they  resolved  to  appeal  to  the  gods.  They 
were  to  watch,  each  on  their  chosen  hill,  from  sunrise  to  sunset, 
and  from  sunset  again  to  sunrise,  and  whoever  was  favoured  by 
an  ominous  flight  of  birds  was  to  be  the  founder.  Remus  first 
saw  six  vultures  on  his  left.  But  at  the  moment  that  his  mes- 
senger announced  this  success  to  Romulus,  there  appeared  to 
Romulus  a  flight  of  twelve.  Which,  then,  had  the  advantage, — 
Remus  who  saw  first,  or  Romulus  who  saw  most  ?  The  quarrel 
was  renewed,  and  in  the  fray  Remus  was  slain  by  a  chance  blow. 

Another  legend  says  that  Romulus  began  to  build  the  city  on 
the  Palatine,  when  Remus  scornfully  leapt  over  the  narrow 
trench,  and  Romulus  in  wrath  slew  him.  Another  attributes 
the  fatal  act  not  to  the  brother,  but  to  Celer,  the  friend  of 
Romulus.  And  lastly,  according  to  another  legend  still,  there 
were  two  cities, — Rome,  built  by  Romulus  on  the  Palatine,  and 
Remuria  by  Remus,  not  on  the  Aventine,  but  on  a  hill  three 
miles  south  of  Rome.* 

§  1.  Young  Romulus  was  now  left  alone  to  build  his  city  on 
the  Palatine.  He  carried  a  wall  along  the  edge  of  the  hill  all 
round,  and  ordained  that  a  space  should  be  left  inside  and  out- 
side the  walls  clear  of  all  buildings.  This  space  was  accounted 
holy  ground,  and  was  called  the  Pomoerium ;  and  the  beginning 
of  the  great  city  of  the  Tiber,  was  called  Roma  Quadrata,  or 
Square  Rome,  to  distinguish  it  from  that  which  inclosed  all  the 
seven  hills  within  the  circuit  of  its  walls.f 

The  common  date  for  the  foundation  of  Rome  is  753  before 
the  Christian  era. J; 

Inde  lupse  fulvo  nutricis  tegmine  Isetus 
Eomulus  excipiet  gentem,  et  Mavortia  condet 
Moenia,  Romanosque  suo  de  nomine  dicet." — ViRG.,  Aen.  i.  272. 
^neas  therefore  reigned   3   years ;    Ascanius  3  X    10   =  30  ;    the  Silvii 
3X100  =  300.     See  above,  §§  2  and  3.     The  number  3  was  also  the  number 
which  guided  Romulus  in  framing  his  institutions.    See  below,  note  on  Chapt. 
iii.  §  3. 

*  Remus  himself  is  often  called  the  founder  of  Rome. — Propert.,  ii.  1,  23; 
iv.  1,  9,  &c.  It  will  be  observed  that  all  these  Legends  are  ignorant  of  the 
Legend  of  Evander's  city  upon  the  Palatine,  which  is  adopted  by  Virgil. 

f  There  was,  however,  according  to  ancient  authors,  a  Septimontium  even 
in  this  primaeval  Rome. 

X  This  is  the  date  of  Yarro,  which  is  followed  by  most  authors.  Cato 
placed  it  332  years  after  the  fall  of  Troy,  i.  e.  in  752  B.C.  Polybius  and 
others  in  750  B.C.  Cincius  Alimentus,  a  Roman  annalist  contemporary  witb 
Hannibal,  as  late  as  729  b.c. 

2  .         . 


26  ROME  UNDER  THE  KINGS.  Book  I. 

§  8.  The  walls  were  built  and  the  city  ready,  but  men  were 
wanting  to  people  it.  To  supply  this  want  Romulus  set  apart 
a  place  within  the  walls  as  a  sanctuary  or  refuge  for  those  who 
had  shed  blood,  for  slaves  who  had  run  away  from  their  masters, 
and  the  like.  Hence  the  city  of  Romulus  was  called  by  the  Greek 
name  of  the  Asylum. 

But  though  by  this  means  men  were  supplied  in  plenty,  they 
lacked  wives,  and  the  neighbouring  cities  held  them  unworthy  to 
receive  their  daughters  in  marriage.  Romulus  therefore  deter- 
mined to  compass  by  foul  means  what  he  could  not  obtain  by 
fair.  He  invited  the  people  of  the  Sabines  and  neighbouring 
Latin  towns  to  witness  the  Consualia,  or  games  to  be  celebrated 
in  honour  of  the  god  Consus ;  and  when  they  were  intent  upon 
the  show,  a  number  of  Roman  youths  rushed  in  and  seized  all 
the  marriageable  maidens  on  whom  they  could  lay  hands.  This 
was  the  famous  Rape  of  the  Sabine  Women. 

§  9.  The  kindness  of  their  Roman  husbands  soon  reconciled 
the  women  thus  strangely  wedded  to  their  lot  :  but  their 
parents  and  kinsfolk  took  up  arms  to  avenge  the  insult  they  had 
•cceived.  First  came  the  men  of  Csenina,  Crustumerium,  and 
Vntemnse  ;  but  Romulus  defeated  them  all,  and  slew  Acron, 
chief  of  the  men  of  Csenina,  in  single  combat,  and  offered  up  his 
arms  as  a  trophy  to  Jupiter  Feretrius.  Trophies  thus  won  by 
the  leader  of  one  army  from  the  leader  of  another  were  called 
spolia  opima,  and  were  only  gained  on  two  other  occasions  in  the 
whole  course  of  Roman  history. 

The  war  with  the  Sabines  of  Cures  was  more  serious.  They 
came  with  a  large  force  under  their  chief,  Titus  Tatius  by 
name,  and  advanced  to  the  foot  of  what  was  then  called  the 
Saturnian  Hill,  the  same  that  afterwards  became  famous  under 
the  name  of  the  Capitoline.  The  southern  portion  of  this  hill 
was  called  the  Tarpeian,*  and  here  Romulus  had  made  a  cita- 
del, which  he  committed  to  the  care  of  his  faithful  follower 
Tarpeius.  But  Tarpeius  had  a  daughter,  the  fair  Tarpeia,  less 
faithful  than  her  sire,  and  she  promised  to  admit  the  Sabines 
into  the  citadel  "  if  they  would  give  her  what  they  wore  upon 
their  left  arms,"  by  which  she  meant  their  golden  armlets.  She 
opened  the  gates ;  but  the  Sabine  soldiers  threw  upon  her  the 
heavy  shields  which  they  also  "  wore  upon  their  left  arms,"  and 
was  crushed  to  death, — a  meet  reward  for  treachery. 

The  Romans  and  Sabines  now  lay  over  against  each  other,  the 
former  on  the  Palatine,  the  latter  on  the  Saturnian  Hill,  with  a 

*  The  lower  part  was  the  Tarpeian  Hill  or  Capitol,  and  the  upper  was 
the  Arx.  The  depression  between  these  two  eminences  was  called  Inter* 
wontium, 


Chap.  I.  ROMULUS.  27 

swampy  valley  between  them,  the  same  in  which  the  Twins  had 
been  exposed,  the  same  which  afterwards  became  so  famous  as 
the  Forum  of  Rome.  Here  they  fought  many  battles.  Once 
the  Sabines  had  forced  their  way  up  to  the  very  Pomoerium  of 
the  Palatine,  when,  behold  !  the  gates  burst  open,  and  the 
god  Janus  poured  forth  a  flood  of  water  and  swept  away 
the  foe. 

Another  time,  Mettus  Curtius,  a  brave  Sabine,  forced  his  horse 
through  the  swamp  and  pressed  the  Romans  hard.  Romulus 
invoked  the  aid  of  Jupiter  Stator,  or  the  Stayer  of  Flight,  and 
rallied  his  Romans.  Still  the  battle  raged  fiercely,  when  the 
Sabine  women,  who  were  the  cause  of  the  war,  rushed  down  from 
the  Palatine  with  dishevelled  hair  and  threw  themselves  between 
their  Roman  husbands  and  their  Sabine  kinsmen.  Then  a  peace 
was  made ;  and  in  memory  of  the  service  done  by  the  Sabine 
matrons,  a  festival  called  the  Matronalia  was  celebrated  on  the 
Calends  of  March,  which  was  at  that  time  the  flrst  day  of  the 
new  year.* 

§  10.  By  the  peace  then  made  it  was  agreed  that  the  people 
of  Rome  and  Cures  should  be  united  into  one  community.  Ro- 
mulus and  his  Romans  were  to  continue  in  the  possession  of  the 
Palatine  Hill,  while  Titus  and  his  Sabines  were  to  occupy  the 
Quirinal.f  The  Saturnian  Hill  or  Citadel  was  left  in  possession 
of  the  Sabines.  The  two  kings  were  to  retain  joint  authority, 
and  to  debate  on  matters  concerning  the  whole  community, 
the  Burgesses  of  both  nations  were  to  assemble  at  the  upper 
end  of  the  valley  which  afterwards  became  the  Forum,  whencQ 
this  place  was  called  the  Comitium  or  Meeting-place-  More^ 
over  it  is  to  be  noted  that  Romulus  assumed  the  Sabme  names 
of  Quirinus,!  and  all  the  Burgesses  or  Citizens  were  cabed  bji 
the  Sabine  title  of  Quirites  or    Men  of  the  Spear, ||  facts  which 

*  Therefore  Horace  amuses  himself  with  the  wonder  whiol?  his  friends 
would  feel  at  seeing  him,  a  bachelor,  preparing  for  festivities  on  the  day  of 
the  matron's  feast : — 

"  Martiis  ccdebs  quid  agam  Kalendis,"  &c. —  Od.  iii.  8,  1. 
Compare  Ovid,  Fasti,  iii.  170,  sqq. 

f  "  Hunc  igitur  ....  veteres  donarunt  sede  Sabini, 

Inque  ^wmwaK  constituere  jugo." — Ovro,  Fast\  vi.  217. 

X  " narravit  Tatium  forteraque  Quirinum, 

Binaque  cum  populis  regna  coisse  suis." — Ibid.  93. 
H  From  Quiris,  Sabine  for  a  spear.     Others  derived  these  nair»€b  iV^iii  th© 
town  of  Cures.     Ovid  {Fasti,  ii.  475)  notes  both  derivations:^^ 
"  Sive  quod  hasta  Quiris  priscis  est  dicta  Sabinia> 
Seu  quia  Romanis  junxerat  ille  GuresP 
See  below,  Chapt.  iv.  §  8. 


28  ROME  UNDER  THE  KINGS  Book  I. 

plainly  proved  that  in  the  union  the  Sabines  had  the  lion's  share 
^f  the  spoil. 

§  11.  At  this  time  the  Etruscans  were  powerful  by  land  and 
sea.  They  had,  as  the  legend  relates,  taken  part  in  the  wars  be- 
tween ^neas  and  the  Rutulians ;  and  another  legend  mentions 
that  Caeles  Vibenna,  one  of  their  chiefs,  had  settled  on  the  hill 
which  lies  to  the  south-east  of  the  Palatine,  and  that  from  him 
this  hill  received  the  name  of  Cselian.  This  Caeles  is  said  to 
have  assisted  Romulus  in  his  war  againt  the  Sabines,  and  when 
peace  was  made,  his  followers  were  allowed  to  become  members 
of  the  new  community.  Thus  four  of  the  seven  hills  were  com- 
bined into  one  city,  the  Palatine,  Quirinal,  and  Cselian,  with  the 
Saturnian  for  the  Citadel. 

§  12.  Not  long  after  the  union,  Titus  Tatius,  the  Sabine  king, 
was  killed  while  sacrificing  at  Lavinium  by  the  Latirrs,  in  revenge 
for  some  injuries  which  they  had  received  from  some  of  his  Sa- 
bine compatriots.  Romulus  now  resumed  the  sole  sovereignty, 
and  ruled  without  a  colleague.  He  is  said  to  have  reigned  in  all 
seven  and  thirty  years,  when  he  came  to  a  sudden  and  unexpected 
end.  It  chanced,  says  the  Legend,  that  he  was  reviewing  his 
army  on  the  Field  of  Mars  by  the  Goat's  Pool,  when  there  arose 
a  fearful  storm,  and  the  darkness  was  so  thick  that  no  man  could 
see  his  neighbour.  When  it  cleared  off,  the  king  had  disap- 
peared. But  it  was  revealed  that  he  had  been  carried  away  in 
the  chariot  of  his  father  Mars  ;*  and  shortly  after  one  Julius 
Proculus  related  that  as  he  was  returning  from  Alba,  Romulus  the 
King  had  appeared  to  him  in  celestial  form,  and  told  him  that 
hereafter  the  people  of  Rome  were  to  regard  him  as  their  guard- 
ian god  jointly  with  Mars,  and  were  to  worship  him  by  his  Sabine 
name  of  Quirinus. 

But  in  later  days  this  Legend  seemed  too  marvellous,  and  a 
new  one  was  adopted.  It  was  said  that  the  chief  men — the 
Sabine  nobles  we  may  presume — had  murdered  him  in  the  con- 
fusion of  the  storm,  had  carried  away  his  body  piecemeal  under 
their  gowns,  and  then  had  invented  the  miraculous  story  to 
conceal  their  crime. 

§  13.  To  Romulus  are  attributed  all  the  early  institutions  of 
Rome,  Social,  Political,  and  Military. 

(1.)  To  begin  with  the  Social  regulations.  The  whole  popula- 
tion were  divided  into  two  classes,  the  Burgesses  or  citizens  on 
the  one  hand,  and    on  the  other  their  Clients  or  dependents.! 

*  "  Quirinus 

Martis  equis  Acheronta  fugit." — Horat.,  Od. 
f  The  common  derivation  of  diens  is  from  kavsiv,  to  hear  or  obey,  with 
which  is  compared  the  Latin  old  duere,  to  be  called  [so  and  so]. 


Chap.  I.  ROMULUS.  29 

The  Burgesses  were  called  Patrons  in  relation  to  their  Clients. 
These  Patrons  were  expected,  by  law  or  custom,  to  defend  their 
Clients  from  all  wrong  or  oppression  on  the  part  of  others,  while 
the  Clients  were  bound  to  render  certain  services  to  their 
Patrons  ;  so  that  the  relation  of  Patron  and  Client  in  some  de- 
gree resembled  that  of  Lord  and  Vassal  in  the  feudal  times,  or 
that  of  Chief  and  Clansman  in  the  highlands  of  Scotland,  or  per- 
haps even  that  of  Proprietor  and  Serf  in  Russia.  The  Burgesses 
alone  engrossed  all  political  rights,  and  they  alone  made  up  what 
was  at  this  time  the  Populus  Romanus  or  Body  Politic  of  Rome. 
The  Clients  were  at  the  mercy  of  their  Patrons,  and  had  as  yet  no 
place  in  the  State. 

(2.)  The  Political  institutions  of  Romulus  could  only  affect 
the  Burgessess  or  Patrons.  Among  these  the  old  national  dis- 
tinctions gave  the  rule  of  division.  They  were  formed  into  three 
Tribes*  or  nations, — the  Ramnes  or  Romans  of  Romulus,  the 
Tities  or  Sabines  of  Titus,  the  Luceres  or  Etruscans  of  Cseles, 
who  was  a  Lucumo  or  nobleman  in  his  own  Etruscan  city. 

Then  he  subdivided  each  Tribe  into  ten  Curiae,  and  each  Curia 
had  a  chief  officer  called  its  Curio.  In  all,  therefore,  there  were 
thirty  Curiae,  and  they  received  names  after  thirty  of  the  Sabine 
women  who  had  brought  about  the  union  of  the  nations.  The 
Burgesses  used  to  meet  according  to  their  Curiae  in  the  Comitium 
to  vote  on  all  matters  of  state,  which  the  King  was  bound  to  lay 
before  them,  and  their  assembly  was  called  the  Comitia  Curiata 
or  Assembly  of  the  Curies,  and  all  matters  were  decided  by  the 
majority  of  Curiae  that  voted  for  or  against  it.  No  law  could  be 
made  except  with  their  consent.  Nor  was  the  sovereign  power 
of  the  king  considered  legally  established  till  it  had  been  con- 
ferred by  a  curiate  law.  By  the  sovereign  power  (Imperium)  so 
conferred  the  King  held  chief  command  in  war,  and  was  supreme 
judge  in  all  matters  of  life  and  death,  and  in  token  thereof  he 
was  attended  by  twelve  lictors  bearing  bundles  of  rods  with  sharp 
axes  projecting  from  the  middle  of  them  (fasces). 

Besides  this  large  assembly,  in  which  all  Burgesses  were  enti- 
tled to  vote,  each  in  his  own  curia,  there  was  a  select  body  for 
advising  the  King,  called  the  Senate  or  Council  of  Elders.  This 
consisted  at  first  of  100  members ;  but  when  the  Sabines  were 
joined  to  the  Romans,  100  more  were  added,  so  that  the  whole 
number  consisted  of  200,  being  10  from  each  of  the  20  Ramnian 
and  Titian  Curies  :  for  the  Luceres  or  Third  Tribe,  though  they 
also  had  10  Curiae,  were  not  as  yet  allowed  to  send  any  members 
to  the  Senate. 

*  The  word  tribus  itself  originally  meant  a  third  part.    See  ^  6,  Note. 


30  ROME  UNDER  THE  KINGS.  Book  L 

(3.)  For  military  purposes  each  Tribe  was  ordered  to  furnish 
1000  men  on  foot  and  100  on  horseback,  so  that  the  army  of  the 
united  burgesses  consisted  of  3000  foot  and  300  horse,  and  was 
called  by  the  name  of  Legion.  The  300  horsemen  were  the  no- 
blest young  men  of  the  military  age,  and  also  served  as  a  body- 
guard to  the  king.  The  horsemen  of  each  Tribe  were  called  a 
Century,  and  the  three  Centuries  were  known  by  the  same  name 
as  their  Tribes — Ramnes,  Titles,  and  Luceres.  The  whole 
squadron  was  called  by  the  joint  name  of  Celeres,  and  the  Cap- 
tain or  Prefect  of  the  Celeres  bore  the  first  rank  in  the  state 
after  the  King.* 

§  14.  Romulus  had  left  the  earth,  and  there  was  no  King  at 
Rome.  The  Senators  took  the  government  into  their  own  hands. 
For  this  purpose  the  whole  Senate  was  divided  into  tens  :  each 
ten  was  called  a  Decuria,  and  the  chief  of  each  Decuria  a  Decu- 
rion.  Every  Decurion  with  .his  nine  compeers  held  the  sovereign 
power  for  five  days.  The  Decurions  therefore  were  called  Inter- 
reges  or  Between-kings,  and  the  time  during  which  they  ruled 
was  an  Interregnum. 

When  this  state  of  things  had  continued  for  a  year,  the  Bur- 
gesses imperiously  demanded  that  they  should  have  a  King.  The 
Senate  yielded,  and  a  Sabine  named  Numa  Pompilius  was  chosen, 
known  as  a  just  and  holy  man,  famous  for  his  wisdom  in  all  mat- 
ters of  right  and  religion.  He  was  elected  by  the  Curies  in  their 
assembly,  and  himself  proposed  the  law  whereby  he  was  invested 
with  sovereign  power.  His  peaceful  reign  lasted  for  nine  and 
thirty  years,  after  which  he  was  buried  with  the  books  of  his 
laws  on  Mount  Janiculum. 

§  15.  As  Romulus  the  Roman  was  held  to  be  the  framer  of  all 
regulations  Social,  Political,  and  Military,  so  Numa  the  Sabine 
is  the  reputed  author  of  all  the  Religious  and  Ecclesiastical 
institutions  of  Rome. 

According  to  the  Legend,  he  was  instructed  in  all  these  things 
by  Egeria,  a  Muse  or  (as  the  Latins  called  her)  a  Camena.  To 
her  sacred  grove  he  was  admitted,  and  even  became  her  spouse. 
By  her  counsel  he  surprised  the  gods  Picus  and  Faunus  in  their 
retreat  under  the  Aventine,  and  kept  them  in  duress  till  they 
had  taught  him  how  to  draw  forth  Jupiter,  the  Father  of  the 
gods,  from  heaven.  Jupiter  appeared  in  the  form  of  lightning, 
and  promised  him  a  public  sign  of  his  favour.  Accordingly, 
next  day,  in  the  presence  of  the  assembled  Burgesses,  the  ancile 

*  It  will  be  remembered  that  according  to  one  form  of  the  legend,  it  was 
Gekr  who  killed  Remus,  §  6. 


Chap.  L  NUMA.  31 

or  sacred  shield  of  Mars  Gradivus,  the  father  of  Quirinus,  fell 
from  heaven  amid  lightning  and  thunder.  To  prevent  this  pre- 
cious gift  from  being  stolen,  Numa  Ordered  eleven  others  to  be 
made  of  exactly  the  same  substance,  size,  and  shape,  so  that  no 
man  might  know  which  was  the  true  ancile  :  and  to  take  charge 
of  these  shields,  twelve  Salii,  or  dancing  priests  of  Mars,  were 
appointed,  who  also  officiated  at  the  public  thanksgiving  which 
in  after  times  the  Romans  used  to  offer  after  great  victories.* 

Further,  for  the  regulation  of  the  worship  of  the  gods,  and  to 
decide  all  questions  of  religion,  he  created  four  pontiffs,  with  a 
superior  named  the  Pontifex  Maximus.  These  acted  as  a  kind 
of  ecclesiastical  council ;  and  the  offices  were  usually  held  by  the 
most  distinguished  men  at  Rome,  for  there  were  no  clergy  or 
class  set  apart  from  other  classes  for  religious  purposes.  For 
the  special  service  of  the  two  guardian  gods  of  Rome,  Mars  Gra- 
divus and  Quirinus,  he  appointed  two  Flamens,  called  respec- 
tively the  Flamens  of  Gradivus  and  Quirinus.  With  these  was 
associated  a  third,  devoted  to  the  service  of  supreme  Jupiter, 
who  bore  the  name  of  the  Flamen  Dialis. 

To  consult  the  will  of  the  gods  by  auguries  and  divinations  he 
created  four  Augurs. 

And  to  keep  alive  the  sacred  fire  of  Vesta,  which  had  been 
brought  from  the  shrine  of  the  goddess  at  Alba,  the  mother  city 
of  Rome,  he  ordained  that  there  should  be  four  Vestal  Virgins. 
In  honour  of  Vesta  he  built  a  temple  on  the  north  side  of  the 
Palatine,  abutting  on  the  Forum,  and  adjoining  it  a  dwelling  for 
the  vestals.  His  own  palace  also,  the  Regia,  he  placed  next  to 
the  temple  of  the  goddess. 

To  distinguish  time  of  war  from  time  of  peace,  he  is  said  to 
have  built  a  temple  to  the  god  Janus,  or  the  Double  God,  whose 
two  faces  looked  different  ways.f  During  the  whole  of  his  reign 
the  door  of  the  temple  was  closed  in  sign  of  peace  ;  but  from  his 
time  to  the  time  of  the  Emperor  Augustus  it  remained  open  in 
sign  of  war,  except  during  a  brief  period  after  the  first  Punic 


♦Hence  Horace  (Od.  i.  38),  on  receiving  the  news  of  the  victory  of 
Augustus  at  Actium,  breaks  out : — 

"  Nunc  est  bibendum,  nunc  pede  Hbero 
Pulsanda  tellus ;  nunc  Saliaribus 
Ornare  pulvinar  Deorum 

Tempus  erat  dapibus,  sodales." 
Such  thanksgivings  were  called  supplicationes. 

f  His  name  Janus  {i.  e.  Djanus),  corresponding  to  the  feminine  Diana 
(Djana),  is  derived  from  the  root  dis  ((Ug)  or  bis,  implying  double.  It  may 
here  be  observed  that  the  divinities  of  ancient  Latium  went  in  pairs,  as, 
Resides  Janus  and  Diana,  Saturnus  and  Ops,  Yulcanus  arjd  Yest^i. 


82  ROME  UNDER  THE  KINGS.  Book  I 

§  16.  Yet  Numa  willed  not  that  the  Romans  should  offer  costly 
sacrifices  to  the  gods,  but  ordained  that  they  should  present 
corn  and  the  fruits  of  the  earth,  and  not  any  living  thing ;  for  he 
was  a  lover  of  husbandry,  and  was  anxious  that  this  peaceful  art 
should  flourish.  Therefore  he  took  pains  to  secure  each  man  in 
possession  of  his  land,  and  fixed  the  bounds  of  each  farm  by 
landmarks  or  termini,  which  it  was  sacrilege  to  remove,  for  they 
"Were  under  the  protection  of  the  god  Terminus ;  and  in  honour 
•of  this  god  he  established  the  yearly  festival  of  the  Terminal ia. 
Moreover  he  distributed  all  the  lands  of  Rome  into  pagi  or  dis- 
tricts, and  ordered  the  memory  of  this  act  to  be  kept  alive  by 
the  feast  of  the  Paganalia.* 

§1*7.  Some  other  matters  are  attributed  to  Numa  which  might 
here  be  mentioned.  Re  is  said  to  have  divided  the  people  into 
guilds  or  companies,  according  to  their  trades  and  professions. 
He  built  a  temple  to  Good  Faith ;  he  determined  the  dies  fasti 
arid  nefasti,  or  common  days  and  holidays ;  and  lastly,  he  is  said 
to  have  added  to  the  year  of  Romulus  (which  consisted  of  10 
months  only,  some  of  them  but  20  days  long)  the  months  of 
January  and  February,  and  to  have  ordained  that  the  year  should 
consist  of  twelve  lunar  months  and  one  day  over,  or  in  all  oi 
355  days.f 

*  The  city  land  was  similarly  (it  is  not  said  by  whom)  divided  into  vici 
or  wards,  with  a  corresponding  festival  called  Compitalia,  This  festival  is 
attributed  to  Servius  TuUius 

f  The  Romans  continued  to  reckon  by  this  short  year  till  the  calendar  was 
reformed  by  the  dictator  Csesar ;  and  in  order  to  make  the  lunar  year  of  355 
days  square  to  some  extent  with  the  solar  year  of  365J-  days,  Numa  is  said  to 
have  ordained  that  a  supplementary  month  should  be  intercalated  every  third 
year  between  the  23rd  and  the  25th  of  February,  which  was  considered  to  be 
the  last  month  of  the  year.  This  business  of  intercalation,  however,  was  left 
to  the  Pontiffs,  who  executed  it  in  a  very  arbitrary  and  uncertain  manner. 
When,  therefore,  we  hear  of  events  taking  place  in  any  Roman  month,  it  seldom 
happens  that  this  month  coincides  with  our  own  month  of  the  same  name  : 
and  this  makes  it  extremely  difficult  to  decide  the  exact  time  of  most  events  in 
Roman  History  before  the  Julian  era. 


Lake  of  Alba. 


CHAPTER   II 


TULLUS  HOSTILIUS  AND  ANGUS   MARTIUS,  THE  THIRD  AND  FOURTH 

KINGS. 

§  1.  Increase  of  Rome  in  next  two  reigns.  §  2.  Choice  of  Tullus  Hostilius. 
§  3.  War  with  Alba.  Legend  of  Horatii  and  Curiatii.  §  4.  War  with 
Etruscans.  Punishment  of  Mettus  Fuffetius.  §  5.  Forced  migration  of 
Albans  to  Rome.  §  6.  War  with  Sabines.  §  7.  Curia  Hostilia.  §  8- 
Death  of  Tullus.  §  9,  10.  Election  of  Angus  Martius:  his  institutions 
§  11.  Subjugation  of  Southern  Latium:  increase  of  Roman  citizens.  §  12. 
Pons  Sublicius :  Janiculum:  Ostia.     §13.  Death  of  Ancus. 

§  1.  From  the  reigns  of  Romulus  and  Numa,  ttie  reputed  foun- 
ders of  Rome  and  all  her  early  institutions,  we  pass  to  that  of 
two  Kings,  also  a  Roman  and  a  Sabine,  who  swelled  the  numbers 
of  the  Roman  people  by  the  addition  of  large  bodies  of  Latins, 
many  of  whom  were  transferred  from  their  own  cities  by  force 
or  persuasion.  These  Kings  prepared  the  way  for  the  more  ex- 
tensive political  changes  attributed  to  their  successors. 

§  2.  An  Interregnum  again  ensued  after  the  death  of  Numa. 

2* 


34  ROME  UNDER  THE  KINGS.  Book  1. 

But  in  no  long  time  the  Burgesses  met,  and  chose  to  be  their 
king  TuLLus  Hostilius,  a  Roman,  whose  grandsire  had  been  a 
captain  in  the  army  of  Romulus.  His  reign  of  two-and-thirty 
years  was  as  bloody  and  warlike  as  that  of  Numa  had  been  calm 
and  peaceful.  The  acts  attributed  to  him  are,  first,  the  esta- 
blishment of  the  Latins  of  Alba  in  Rome,  and  secondly,  the  crea- 
tion of  judges  to  try  matters  of  life  and  death  in  place  of  the 
king,  called  Qusestores  Parricidii.  The  famous  Legends  which 
follow  give  the  reasons  for  both  these  matters. 

§  3.  The  chief  war  of  Tullus  was  against  the  Albans.  It  broke 
^out  thus.  The  lands  of  Rome  and  Alba  marched  together,  that 
\is,  they  bordered  one  upon  the  other,  and  the  borderers  of  both 
nations  had  frequent  quarrels  and  plundered  one  another.  King 
Tullus  took  up  the  cause  of  his  people,  and  demanded  restitu- 
tion of  the  booty  taken  by  the  Albans  from  Cluilius,  the  Dictator 
of  Alba,  who  replied  that  his  people  had  suffered  to  the  full  as 
much  from  the  Romans  as  they  of  Rome  from  the  Albans. 
Since,  then,  neither  party  would  make  satisfaction,  war  was  de- 
clared. Cluilius  first  led  out  his  army  and  encamped  within 
five  miles  of  Rome,  at  a  place  afterwards  called  the  Fossa  Cluilia, 
where  he  died,  and  the  Albans  chose  Mettus  Fuffetius  to  be 
Dictator  in  his  stead.  Meanwhile  Tullus,  on  his  part,  had 
marched  into  tb/^  territory  of  the  Albans,  and  Mettus  returned 
to  give  him  battle,  ^ut  when  the  two  armies  were  drawn  up 
ready  to  fight,  Mettus  pioposed  that  the  quarrel  should  be  de- 
cided by  the  combat  of  champions  chosen  from  each  army,  and 
Tullus  agreed  to  the  proposal.  Now  it  chanced  that  there  were 
three  brothers  in  each  army,  equal  in  age,  strength,  and  valour. 
Horatii  was  the  name  of  the  three  Roman  brethren,  Curiatii  of 
the  Alban.*  These  were  chosen  to  be  the  champions,  and  an 
agreement  was  made,  with  solemn  rites,  that  victory  should  be 
adjudged  to  that  people  whose  champions  should  conquer  in  the 
strife.  Then  the  two  armies  sate  down  opposite  one  another  as 
spectators  of  the  combat,  but  not  like  common  spectators,  for 
each  man  felt  that  the  question  at  issue  was  whether  Rome  was 
to  be  mistress  of  Alba  or  Alba  of  Rome.  Long  and  bravely 
fought  all  the  champions.  At  length  all  the  Curiatii  were 
grievously  wounded  ;  but  of  the  Horatii  two  lay  dead  upon  the 
plain,  while  the  third  was  yet  untouched.  So  the  surviving  Ho- 
ratius,  seeing  that,  single-handed,  he  could  not  prevail,  pretended 
to  flee  before  his  three  opponents.  They  pursued  him,  each  as 
he  was  able ;  the  most  vigorous  was  foremost ;  he  that  had  lost 

*  In  another  form  of  the  legend,  the  names  are  reversed.  It  may  be  pre- 
sumed that  this  is  the  Latin  version,  while  the  received  form  is  the  Eoman. 
Each  nation  would  wish  to  claim  the  conqueror. 


Chap,  IL  TULLUS  HOSTILIU&  35 

most  blood  lagged  behind.  And  when  Horatius  saw  that  they 
were  far  separate  one  from  another,  he  turned  about  and  smote 
the  first  pursuer ;  so  likewise  the  second  ;  and  lastly  he  slew  the 
third.     Then  the  Romans  were  adjudged  victorious. 

But  a  sad  event  followed  to  damp  their  joy.  Horatius  was 
returning  home  with  the  spoils  of  the  slaughtered  three  borne 
in  triumph  before  him,  when,  outside  the  Capuan  gate,*  he  met 
his  sister.  Alas  !  she  had  been  betrothed  to  one  of  the  Alban 
brethren,  and  now  she  beheld  his  bloody  vestments  adorning  the 
triumph  of  her  brother,  and  she  wept  aloud  before  all  the  army. 
But  when  Horatius  saw  this,  he  was  so  angered  that  he  took  his 
sword  and  stabbed  her  where  she  stood. 

Now  all,  both  Senate  and  People,  were  shocked  at  this  unnatural 
deed ;  and  though  they  owed  so  much  to  Horatius,  they  ordered 
him  to  be  tried  before  two  Judges  appointed  by  the  King.  These 
Judges  found  Horatius  guilty,  and  condemned  him  to  be  "  hanged 
with  a  rope,"  according  to  the  law ;  nor  had  they  power  to  lighten 
his  punishment.  But  Horatius  appealed  to  the  People,  and  they 
pardoned  him,  because  he  had  fought  so  well  for  them,  and  be- 
cause old  Horatius,  the  father,  entreated  for  him,  and  said  that 
his  daughter  had  been  rightly  slain,  and  that  he  would  himself 
have  slain  her,  as  he  had  a  right  to  do,  because  he  was  her  father; 
for  by  the  old  Roman  law  the  father  had  this  terrible  power  ovei 
his  children.  But  to  atone  for  the  bloodshed,  the  father  was 
ordered  to  make  certain  sacrifices  at  the  public  expense;  and 
the  heads  of  the  Horatian  Gens  continued  to  offer  these  sacri' 
fices  ever  afterwards. 

§  4.  Thus  it  was  that  the  Albans  became  subjects  of  King 
Tullus,  and  they  were  bound  to  assist  him  in  war  against  his 
enemies;  and  he  soon  called  upon  them  to  follow  him  against 
the  Etruscans  of  Veil  and  Fidense.  So  Mettus  Fuffetius  came 
to  his  aid  with  a  brave  army  ;  but  in  the  battle  Mettus  stood 
aloof  upon  a  hill  with  his  army,  waiting  to  see  which  party 
should  prevail.  The  Romans  were  so  hard  pressed  that  the 
king  to  stay  the  alarm,  vowed  temples  in  case  of  victory  to  Pale- 
ness and  Panic-fear  (Pallor  et  Pavor).  At  length  the  battle  was 
won,  and  then  the  Alban  Dictator  came  down  and  pretended  to 
be  on  their  side.  But  Tullus  took  no  notice,  and  summoned  all 
the  Albans  to  come  next  day  to  consult  on  public  affairs.  So 
they  came,  as  to  a  peaceful  assembly,  with  no  arms  in  their 
hands,  when  suddenly  the  Roman  legion  closed  around  them, 
and  they  could  neither  fight  or  flee.  Then  Tullus  rebuked  the 
Albans,  but  said  that  he  would  only  punish  their  chief,  for  that 

*  It  may  be  noted  that  there  was  no  Capuan  Gate  (Porta  Capena)  till  after 
the  building  of  the  walls  of  Serviua  TuUius. 


36  ROME  UNDER  THE  £.iNGS.  Book  i. 

he  was  the  most  g-ailty.  And  he  took  Mettus  and  bound  him 
by  the  arras  and  legs  to  two  four-horsed  chariots ;  and  the  cha- 
riots, being  drawn  different  ways,  tore  the  unhappy  wretch 
asunder. 

§  5.  Then  Tullus  gave  orders  that  the  city  of  Alba  should  be 
dismantled,  and  that  all  its  burgesses  with  their  clients  should 
migrate  to  Rome.  It  was  sad  to  leave  their  fathers'  homes  and 
the  temples  of  their  fathers'  gods.  Yet  was  their  new  abode  no 
strange  city.  Had  not  Rome  been  founded  by  Alban  princes  ? 
and  did  not  the  Quirites  keep  up  the  eternal  fire  of  Vesta  and 
worship  the  Latin  Jupiter  ?  Nor  did  Tullus  treat  them  as  ene- 
mies, but  gave  them  the  Caelian  Hill  for  their  quarter ;  and  he 
built  a  palace  for  himself  on  the  same  hill  and  dwelt  in  the  midst 
of  them  :  he  also  made  the  heads  of  chief  Alban  families  bur- 
gesses of  Rome,  and  placed  some  of  their  chief  men  in  the  Senate. 

§  6.  After  this  he  also  made  war  against  the  Sabines ;  and  in 
fulfilment  of  a  vow  which  he  made  in  the  stress  of  battle,  he 
celebrated  his  victory  by  establishing  the  games  of  the  Saturnalia 
and  Opalia  in  honour  of  the  Latin  god  Saturnus  and  the  god- 
dess Ops. 

§  7.  To  Tullus  Hostilius  likewise  is  attributed  the  building  of 
the  Senate-house,  called  from  him  the  Curia  Hostilia.  It  stood  on 
the  edge  of  the  Comitium  facing  the  Palatine ;  and  in  a  building 
erected  on  the  same  spot  at  a  later  time,  and  bearing  the  same 
name,  the  Senate  continued  to  hold  their  ordinary  meetings  till 
bhe  days  of  Julius  Caesar. 

§  8.  But  amid  his  triumphs  and  successes  Tullus  rendered  not 
meet  reverence  to  the  gods.  The  people  of  Rome  were  smitten 
by  a  plague,  and  the  King  himself  fell  ill  of  a  lingering  disease. 
Then  he  bethought  him  to  seek  counsel  of  Jupiter,  after  the 
manner  of  King  Numa.  But  when  he  took  his  station  upon  the 
Aventine,  and  endeavoured  to  draw  forth  the  father  of  the  gods 
from  heaven,  lightnings  descended,  as  to  Numa,  but  with  de^ 
stroying  force,  so  that  he  himself  was  smitten  and  his  house 
burnt  down.     His  reign  had  lasted  two-and-thirty  years. 

§  9.  After  a  short  interregnum,  the  Burgesses  chose  Ancuh 
./[artius  to  be  King,  a  Sabine  noble,  son  of  a  daughter  of  King 
Numa.  His  reputation  was  worthy  of  his  descent ;  and  his  first 
act  was  to  order  the  laws  of  his  venerated  grandsire  to  be  written 
out  fair  on  a  white  board  and  set  up  for  all  to  read  in  the  Forum. 
He  also  made  a  prison  for  criminals  in  the  rock  beneath  that 
side  of  the  Saturnian  Hill  which  overhangs  the  Forum, — the 
same  which  was  afterwards  enlarged  by  King  Servius  Tullius, 
and  called  after  him  the  Tullianum, 


Chap.  II.  ANGUS  MARTIUS.  37 

§  10.  Ancus  was  a  lover  of  peace  ;  but  he  did  not  shrink  from 
war,  when  war  was  necessary  to  protect  the  honour  of  the  Roman 
name.  But  even  in  matters  of  war  he  showed  that  reverence  for 
law  and  order,  which  was  his  ruling  characteristic.  For  he 
created  a  college  of  sacred  Heralds,  called  Fetiales,  whose  business 
it  was  to  demand  reparation  for  injuries  in  a  regular  and  formal 
manner,*  and  in  case  of  refusal  to  declare  war  by  hurling  a  spear 
into  the  enemy's  land. 

§  11.  His  chief  wars  were  with  the  Latin  cities  of  the  neigh- 
bourhood. He  took  Politorium,  and  destroyed  it;  and  reduced 
to  subjection  all  the  Latin  shore,  or  that  part  of  Latium  which 
lies  between  Rome  and  the  sea.  The  heads  of  families  in  these 
Latin  cities,  after  the  example  set  by  TuUus  Hostilius,  were  made 
Roman  citizens ;  and  to  such  as  chose  to  settle  in  Rome  Ancus 
assigned  Mount  Aventine  for  a  dwelling-place,  so  that  thus  a  fifth 
hill  was  added  to  the  other  four.  In  this  way  the  city  of  Rome 
was  greatly  increased,  and  large  numbers  added  to  its  citizens; 
while  by  the  wars  of  Tullus  and  Ancus  the  power  of  the  Latins 
proportionably  diminished. 

But  the  Latins  whom  Ancus  made  citizens  of  Rome,  were  not, 
like  the  Albans  in  the  time  of  Tullus,  put  on  an  equality  with  the 
old  Burgesses.  Most  of  them  continued  to  reside  in  their  own 
small  cities,  subject  to  Roman  authority.  They  formed  a  new 
element  in  the  state — being  neither  Patrons  nor  Clients — of  which 
we  shall  speak  more  at  length  in  our  account  of  Tarquinius  Pris- 
cus.  It  is  probably  this  encouragement  of  a  free  people,  who 
were  not  bound  by  the  ties  of  Clientship  to  any  Patron,  that 
leads  Virgil  to  speak  of  Ancus  as  "  too  much  rejoicing  in  popular 
favour."  f 

§  12.  Other  works  of  utility  are  attributed  to  Ancus  Martins. 
He  is  said  to  have  made  the  first  bridge  over  the  Tiber.  It  was 
built  of  wooden  piles  (sublicse),  and  hence  was  called  the  Pons 
Sublicius.  In  order  to  prevent  it  being  broken  down  by  the 
Etruscans  who  lived  on  the  other  side  of  the  Tiber,  he  fortified 
Janiculum,  where  his  grandsire  Numa  lay  buried.  He  also  built 
the  town  of  Ostia  at  the  mouth  of  the  river,  which  long  continued 
to  be  the  principal  haven  of  the  Roman  people. 

§  13.  He  died  in  peace  after  a  prosperous  reign  of  four-and- 
twenty  years. 

*  We  find,  however,  that  the  same  formahty  was  observed  by  Tullus"  Hos- 
tilius in  declaring  war  against  Alba:  see  §  3. 

f  "  Quem  juxta  sequitur  jactantior  Ancus, 

Nunc  quoque  jam  nimium  gaudens  popularibus  auris." 

YiRG.,  Aen.  vi.  816. 


Cloaca  Maxima. 

CHAPTER   III. 

TARQUINIUS    PRISCUS    AND    SERVIUS    TULLIUS,    THE    FIFTH    AND 
SIXTH    KINGS. 


§  1,  Sons  of  Ancus  set  aside.  §  2.  Early  history  of  Tarquinius  Priscus. 
§  3.  How  he  came  to  be  chosen  King.  §  4.  Addition  to  numbers  of  Senate. 
§  5.  Social  state  before  reforms  of  Tarquin.  Patricians  or  Patrons,  Clients, 
Plebeians.  §  6.  Origin  of  Plebs.  §  7.  Tarquin's  plan  of  reform.  §  8. 
Opposition  of  Patricians,  Legend  of  Attus  Navius.  §  9.  Plan  modified. 
Augmentation  of  Patrician  Gentes  and  of  Knights.  §  10.  Wars  of  Tarquin. 
§  11.  Pubhc  works:  Cloaca  Maxima,  etc.  §  12.  Legend  of  death  of 
Tarquin.  §  13.  Servius  Tullius.  §  14.  Wish  to  give  political  powei- 
to  all  Plebeians.  §  15.  Plan  of  reform.  Comitia  Centuriata.  §  10. 
Census.  Preponderating  influence  of  property.  §  IT.  Plebs  made  part  of 
Populus,  or  Body  Politic.  §  18.  Roman  territory  divided  into  Tribes. 
§  19.  Four  of  city.  §  20.  Sixteen  of  country.  §  21.  Only  Plebeians 
originally  members  of  Tribes.  §  22.  Assembly  of  curiae  finally  superseded 
by  that  of  Tribes.  §  23.  Walls  of  Rome  built  by  Servius.  §  24.  Principal 
places  in  early  Rome.  §  25.  Alliance  with  Latins.  §  26.  Legend  of  death 
of  Servius. 

§  1.    The   first   trace   of  hereditary   succession    in   the   Roman 
monarchy  appears  with  Ancus.     He  was  grandson  to  Numa,  and 


Chap.  III.  TARQUINIUS  PRISCUS.  39 

according  to  one  legend  conspired  to  take  away  the  life  of  his  pre- 
decessor TuUus.  But  the  legends,  after  the  death  of  Ancus,  all 
make  the  notion  of  hereditary  right  an  essential  element  in  the 
succession.  Ancus  had  left  two  sons,  as  yet  boys.  But  when 
they  grew  up,  and  found  the  throne  occupied  by  a  stranger,  they 
took  measures  for  asserting  their  right.  It  is  of  this  stranger  that 
we  must  now  speak.  He  is  known  to  all  by  the  name  of  Tar- 
QuiNius  Priscus. 

§  2.  Tarquinius  had  been  a  citizen  of  Tarquinii,  a  city  of 
Etruria.  But  it  was  said  that  his  father  was  a  Greek  nobleman 
of  Corinth,  Demaratus  by  name,  who  had  fled  from  his  native 
land,  because  the  power  had  fallen  into  the  hands  of  a  tyrannical 
oligarchy.*  The  son  had  become  a  Lucumo  or  Chief  at  Tarquinii, 
had  gained  great  wealth,  and  married  a  noble  Etruscan  lady, 
Tanaquil  by  name.  Both  himself  and  his  wife  were  eager  for 
power  and  honour ;  and,  as  they  could  not  satisfy  their  desires  at 
home,  they  determined  to  try  their  fortune  in  the  new  city  on  the 
Tiber,  where  their  countryman  Cseles  Vibenna  and  his  followers 
had  already  settled.f  Therefore  they  set  out  for  Rome;  and  when 
they  had  reached  the  Mount  Janiculum,  in  full  view  of  the  city, 
an  eagle  came  down  with  gentle  swoop  and  took  the  cap  from  off 
the  head  of  Tarquin,  and  then,  wheeling  round  him,  replaced  it. 
His  wife  Tanaquil,  skilled  in  augury,  like  all  the  Etruscans,  inter- 
preted this  to  be  an  omen  of  good.  "  The  eagle,"  she  said,  "  was 
a  messenger  from  heaven  ;  it  had  restored  the  cap  as  a  gift  of  the 
gods ;  her  husband  would  surely  rise  to  honour  and  power."  Thus 
it  was  that  he  came  to  settle  in  Rome,  probably  among  his  coun- 
trymen on  the  Ca3lian  Hill.  He  took  the  Latin  name  of  Lucius 
Tarquinius  Priscus; J  and  by  his  riches  and  his  cleverness  and 
goodwill  he  gained  the  favour  of  King  Ancus,  and  was  made  guar- 
dian of  his  children. 

But  he  used  the  power  so  gotten  in  his  own  favour ;  and  the 
people  chose  him  to  be  their  king. 

§  3.  It  needs  some  explanation  to  show  how  Tarquin,  being 
an  Etruscan  stranger,  came  to  be  chosen  king  of  Rome  :  for  in 
all  likelihood  he  belonged  to  the  tribe  of  the  Luceres ;  and  this 
Tribe  had  hitherto  been  held  subordinate.  The  Ramnians  of  the 
Palatine  and  Titians  of  the  Quirinal  had  kept  power  in  their  own 
hands ;  and  the  Kings  had  been  chosen  by  turns  from  these  two 
Tribes.     Romulus  and  Tullus  were  Ramnians ;  Numa  and  Ancus 

*  Tndentified  by  the  Romans  with  the  Bacchiades  mentioned  by  Herodotus. 

f  Chapt.  i.  §  11  Another  legend  makes  Cseles  younger  than  Tarquin. 
Compare  §  12,  and  Chapt.  v.  §  11. 

X  Another  form  of  the  legend  takes  no  notice  of  his  Etruscan  origin,  and 
gives  him  to  wife  a  person  bearing  the  undeniably  Latin  name  of  Caia  Caecilia 


40  ROME  UNDER  THE  KINGS.  Book  I. 

were  Titians.  Also,  Romulus  had  chosen  only  200  elders  into 
the  Senate  ;  of  whom  100  were  first  chosen  from  the  Romans  or 
Ramnians  of  the  Palatine,  and  100  afterwards  from  the  Sabines 
or  Titians  of  the  Quirinal ;  and  there  were  no  Lucerians  in  the 
Senate,  except  perhaps  some  few  that  King  Tullus  had  added 
from  the  Alban  families,  which  he  settled  in  the  Caelian  Hill. 
Moreover,  Numa  did  not  admit  the  Burgesses  of  the  Lucerian 
Tribe  into  the  sacred  offices  which  he  made.  For,  under  the 
Chief  Pontifex,  there  were  but  four  other  Pontifices,  two  for  the 
Ramnians,  and  two  for  the  Titians.  So,  under  the  Chief  Flamen 
of  Jove,  there  were  but  two  Flamens,  one  belonging  to  the 
Roman  or  Ramnian  god  Mars,  the  other  to  him  who  had  become 
a  god  by  the  Sabine  name  of  Quirinus.  Likewise,  he  had  made 
but  four  Augurs,  and  four  Vestal  Virgins  ;  two  for  the  Ramnians, 
and  two  for  the  Titians;*  and  Tullus  Hostilius  had  appointed 
but  two  Judges  to  represent  him  in  deciding  cases  of  life  and 
death.  The  Luceres,  therefore,  were  held  in  small  account ;  and 
no  doubt  in  the  Comitia  Curiata  they  were  always  outvoted  by 
the  other  two  Tribes  ;  for  they  had  but  10  Curiae  to  the  20  of  the 
other  two. 

But  of  late  the  Luceres  had  been  waxing  in  power.  The 
Albans  had  been  added  to  their  ranks ;  and  no  doubt  this  addi- 
tion had  made  them  more  Latin,  more  like  the  other  Romans,  and 
less  like  the  Etruscans.  It  might  well  be,  therefore,  that  Tarquin 
was  able  by  their  means  to  raise  himself  to  the  kingly  power.  At 
all  events,  we  may  be  sure  that  the  four  first  Kings  appear  as 
representatives  of  the  two  elder  Tribes ;  and  that  the  three  last 
belonged  to  the  Luceres. 

§  4.  Tarquin  soon  began  to  use  his  power  to  raise  those  by 
whom  he  had  risen  ;  for  he  made  the  Luceres  almost  equal  in  dig- 
nity to  the  two  old  Tribes.  First  he  chose  100  fresh  members 
into  the  Senate,  who  (we  cannot  doubt)  were  all  of  the  Lucerian 
Tribe  ;  so  that  now  the  Senate  consisted  of  300.  Then,  he  in- 
creased the  number  of  Vestal  Virgins  to  six  ;  the  two  new  ones 
being  (it  is  presumed)  Lucerian.  But  the  influence  of  the  old 
Tribes  in  the  colleges  of  Pontifices,  Augurs,  and  Flamens  appears 
to  have  been  too  strong  to  allow  him  to  make  similar  alterations 
here.  These  remained  according  to  the  numbers  fixed  by  Numa 
for  a  great  many  years. 

*  It  has  been  already  noticed  that  the  number  3  frequently  recurs  in  the 
early  history  of  Rome  (c.  i.  §  6  and  §  13).  But  this  number  is  suddenly 
interrupted,  and  (as  appears  from  the  text)  2  became  the  ruling  unit  of  com- 
bination. The  latter  number  seems  to  have  been  the  favourite  of  the  Latins : 
see  Chapt.  i.  §  15,  Note.  Probably  this  change  must  be  attributed  to  the 
dominant  influence  of  the  two  elder  tribes. 


Chap.  III.  TARQUINIUS  PRISCUS.  41 

§  6.  Tarquin,  however,  was  not  satisfied  with  simply  raising  his 
Lucerian  friends  to  an  equality  with  the  Burgesses  of  the  old 
Tribes.  He  designed  to  make  other  alterations  in  the  state,  larger 
and  more  important.  To  explain  these  we  must  go  back  to  the 
institutions  attributed  to  Romulus.  The  whole  body  of  the  people 
had  been  divided  (as  we  saw)  into  two  great  classes,  Patrons  and 
Clients.  The  Clients  or  vassals  being  wholly  dependent  upon 
their  Patrons,  had  no  part  in  the  Body  Politic,  nor  had  they  the 
right  of  connubium  (as  it  was  called),  that  is,  the  right  of  inter- 
marrying with  their  Patrons.  The  Patrons,  alone,  therefore  (we 
repeat),  made  up  the  Populus  or  Body  PoHtic  of  Rome :  these 
only  were  members  of  the  Three  Tribes  ;  these  only  voted  in  the 
Comitium  by  their  Curiae,  when  they  chose  their  Kings  or  made 
laws.  At  first,  then,  there  were  only  two,  classes  of  freemen  at 
Rome,  Patrons  and  Clients ;  and  all  the  power  was  in  the  hands 
of  the  Patrons. 

These  Patrons  or  Lords  also  took  the  name  ofpatres  or  patricii, 
iC'athers  or  Patricians.  In  after  times  the  name  of  Patres  was  con- 
fined to  the  senators,  and  the  descendants  of  the  old  patrons  or 
patres  were  called  Patricians.  The  Patricians  were  at  this  time 
the  same  as  the  Burgesses. 

The  Patricians  were  divided  into  certain  private  associations, 
called  GenteSj  which  we  may  translate  Houses  or  Clans.  All  the 
members  of  each  Gens  were  called  gentiles ;  and  they  bore  the 
same  name,  which  always  ended  in  -ius ;  as  for  instance,  every 
member  of  the  Julian  Gens  was  a  Julius ;  every  member  of  the 
Cornelian  Gens  was  a  Cornelius,  and  so  on.  Now  in  every  Gens 
there  were  a  number  of  Families,  which  were  distinguished  by  a 
name  added  to  the  name  of  the  Gens.  Thus  the  Scipios,  Sullas, 
Cinnas,  Cethegi,  Lentuli  were  all  Families  of  the  Cornelian  Gens. 
Lastly,  every  person  of  every  Family  was  denoted  by  a  name  pre- 
fixed to  the  name  of  the  Gens.  The  name  of  the  person  was,  in 
Latin,  proenomen ;  that  of  the  Gens  or  House,  nomen;  that  of  the 
Family,  cognomen.  Thus  Caius  Julius  Caesar  was  a  person  of  the 
Caesar  Family  in  the  Julian  Gens ;  Lucius  Cornelius  Scipio  was  a 
person  of  the  Scipio  Family  in  the  Cornelian  Gens  ;  and  so  forth. 
Their  praenomen,  or  fore-name,  was  Caius  or  Lucius,  etc.;  their 
nomen  or  name  Julius,  Cornelius,  etc. ;  their  cognomen  or  sur- 
name Caesar,  Scipio,  etc.  These  Gentes  may  be  compared  to  the 
Scottish  Clans,  in  which  there  are  many  Families,  as  in  the  Clan 
Campbell  there  are  the  great  Families  of  Argyle  and  Breadalbane 
and  others. 

Whether  the  Gentes  were  originally  connected  by  blood  or 
not,  is  hard  to  say.*  But  whether  it  was  so  or  no,  it  is  certain 
*  See  the  discussion  in  Niebuhr,  i.  p.  33,  &c 


42  ROME  UNDER  THE  KINGS.  500K  L 

that  they  ceased  to  be  so,  just  as  in  the  Scottish  Clans.  But  they 
were  bound  together  by  certain  private  sacred  rites,  called  sacra 
gentilicia,  of  which  we  have  seen  one  example  in  the  case  of  the 
Horatian  Gens.* 

The  Patrons  or  Patricians,  then,  alone  belonged  to  Gentes,  and 
these  only  might  intermarry  with  each, other.  If  a  Patrician  mar- 
ried a  Client,  their  issue  could  not  take  the  Patrician  rank,  or 
become  a  member  of  his  parent's  house ;  because  the  Clients  had 
not  the  connubium,  or  right  of  marriage  with  their  Patrons. 

But  as  time  went  on,  there  arose  a  third  class  of  freemen  at 
Rome,  who  were  neither  Patrons  nor  Clients — neither  lords  over 
vassals,  nor  vassals  dependent  upon  lords.  These  were  called 
Plebeians,  and  their  general  name  was  Plebs,  or  the  Commonalty. 
They  were  like  the  Clients,  in  that  they  had  no  part  in  the 
government,  in  that  they  were  excluded  from  the  patrician  houses, 
and  could  not  intermarry  with  the  Patricians.  But  they  were 
unlike  the  Clients,  in  that  they  were  quite  free  and  independent, 
subject  to  no  lord,  except  to  the  King  and  the  laws. 

§  6.  Now  comes  the  question — How  did  this  Plebs  or  Com- 
mons come  into  being  ?  How  came  there  to  be  Plebeians  in  the 
time  of  Tarquinius  Priscus,  whereas  they  were  at  all  events  but 
few  in  the  time  of  Romulus  ? 

It  is  probable  that  at  the  first  settlement  of  the  city  there 
were  a  number  of  people  previously  dwelling  about  the  Seven 
Hills,  who  were  made  subject  without  becoming  Clients.  These 
were  the  original  Plebeians,  that  is,  free  men,  without  political 
rights.  Their  numbers  were  afterwards  much  increased  in 
various  ways.  First,  a  Patron  might  marry  a  Client's  daughter, 
or  a  Client  might  marry  a  Patrician  lady,  and  then  the  children 
would  be  neither  Patricians  nor  Clients.  Again,  a  Patron  might 
die  and  leave  no  heirs,  and  then  all  his  Clients  would  become 
independent,  having  no  lord.  But  the  third  class  was  mainly 
formed  by  the  addition  of  Latins,  who  were  not  powerful  enough 
to  gain  admittance  into  the  Patrician  Gentes  and  Tribes. 
Tullus,  we  remember,  brought  the  Albans  to  Rome,  and  admitted 
their  chief  families  into  the  patrician  order.  But  there  were 
many  families  that  were  not  so  admitted.  However,  the  great 
increase  of  this  kind  took  place  when  King  Ancus  peopled  the 
Aventine  with  Latins,  and  conquered  all  the  country  between 
Rome  and  the  Sea.  All  new  settlers  who  were  not,  like  the 
Albans,  admitted  into  the  ranks  of  the  Burgesses,  and  all  the 
burgesses  of  conquered  towns  who  continued  to  dwell  at  home, 
swelled  the  number  of  the  Plebeians  or  Commons  of  Rome.f 

*  Chapt.  ii.  §  3. 

f  In  the  middle  ages,  the  free  towns  of  Italy  and  Germany  had  a  population 


Chap.  III.  TARQUINIUS  PRISCUS.  43 

And  as  the  great  addition  is  reputed  to  have  taken  place  in  the 
reign  of  Ancus,  he  was  held  to  be  the  father  of  the  Plebs,  and 
is  (as  we  have  before  noted)  represented  by  Virgil  as  exulting  in 
popular  applause.  But  yet  he  gave  them  no  part  in  the  State ; 
they  lived  like  strangers  at  Rome,  subject  to  no  lord,  as  the 
Clients  were,  and  yet,  like  them,  without  any  rights  or  power  as 
citizens. 

§  7.  Now  Tarquinius  Priscus  saw  that,  sooner  or  later,  these 
families  of  the  Commons  must  gain  power  in  the  State.  Many 
of  them  were  rich;  many  of  them  had  been  noble  in  the  old 
Latin  cities  from  which  they  had  been  brought  to  Rome,  or  in 
those  which  had  become  subject  to  Rome.  Tarquin  therefore 
determined  to  raise  a  certain  number  of  these  plebeian  families 
to  patrician  rank,  just  as  Tullus  had  raised  many  of  the  Alban 
families.  He  proposed  to  do  this  by  doubling  the  number  of 
the  Patrician  Tribes,  so  that  they  should  be  six  instead  of  three. 
The  three  new  Tribes  were  to  be  made  up  of  Plebeian  Gentes, 
and  were  to  be  called  after  himself  and  his  chief  friends. 

§  8.  But  the  citizens  of  the  two  old  Patrician  Tribes,  the 
Ramnes  and  Titles,  already  angry  at  seeing  the  Luceres  raised 
nearly  to  an  equality  with  themselves,  opposed  this  new  plan 
most  fiercely.  There  was  a  lamous  Titian  augur,  called  Attus 
Navius,  who  came  forward  and  plainly  forbade  the  whole  thing 
in  the  name  of  the  gods. 

The  story  goes  that  Tarquin  laughed  at  the  augur,  and 
bade  him  tell  by  his  auguries  whether  what  he  then  had 
in  his  mind  was  possible  to  be  done.  And  when  the  augur 
said  it  was  possible,  then  said  the  king,  "I  was  thinking  that 
thou  should'st  cut  this  whetstone  asunder  with  a  razor  :  now  let 
me  see  whether  thy  auguries  will  help  thee."  Whereupon  Attus 
took  the  razor  and  cut  the  whetstone  asunder.  At  this  the  king 
greatly  marvelled,  and  promised  that  he  would  not  disobey  the 
gods. 

§  9.  But  though  Tarquin  no  longer  thought  of  making  new 
Patrician  Tribes  with  new  names,  he  did  what  in  reality  came  to 
the  same  thing;  for  he  added  his  favourite  Plebeian  Gentes  to 
each  of  the  three  Tribes,  so  that  each  Tribe  consisted  of  two 
parts — the  Old  Ramnes  and  the  New,  the  Old  Titles  and  the 

or  privileged  Cittadini  or  Burgesses,  corresponding  to  the  Roman  Patrielana 
These  had  their  Vassals  or  CUents.  And  besides  these  two  classes,  there  was 
always  a  numerous  class  who  were  neither  Burgesses  nor  Dependents.  In 
Germany  these  Plebeians  were  called  Pfahlbiirger,  or  Burgesses  of  the  Pale, 
because  they  were  allowed  to  live  within  the  pale  of  the  city,  but  not  to  enjoy 
any  civic  rights.  They  very  much  corresponded  to  the  Proselytes  of  the  Gate 
among  the  Jews.    See  Niebuhr. 


44  ROME  UKDER  THE  KINGS.  Book  I. 

New,  the  Old  Luceres  and  the  New,*  and  there  were  in  reality  six 
Patrician  Tribes,  though  they  bore  only  three  names  as  before ; 
and  the  new  Patricians  were  called  the  Fathers  of  the  Younger 
Clans,  Patres  Minorum  Gentium.j- 

Thus  the  chief  Plebeians  were  numbered  among  the  Patrician 
families,  and  became  part  and  parcel  of  the  Populus  or  Body 
Politic  of  Rome;  and  were  entitled  to  vote  in  the  Comitia  Curiata. 
But  the  mass  of  the  Plebeians  remained,  as  of  old,  excluded  from 
all  share  in  the  State. 

Tarquinius  also  doubled  the  centuries  of  Knights.  Once  they 
had  been  doubled  by  Tullus,  so  they  were  two  hundred  in  each 
century  or  squadron,  and  six  hundred  in  all.  After  the  addition 
made  by  Tarquinius  they  amounted  to  twelve  hundred  The  new 
Centuries  retained  the  old  names,  just  as  in  the  Tribes  the  Old 
and  New  Ramnes,  and  so  on ;  and  no  doubt  they  were  enrolled 
from  the  New  Tribes. 

§  10.  When  Tarquin  had  thus  attached  the  Plebeians  to  the 
state,  by  raising  some  and  giving  hopes  to  all,  he  led  forth  his 
army  against  the  Sabines.  He  conquered  them,  and  took  their 
town  Collatia,  which  he  gave  in  charge  to  his  nephew  Egerius 
(the  Needy),  who  was  so  called  because  he  was  left  destitute  to 
the  charge  of  his  uncle  Tarquin.  The  son  of  Egerius  took  the 
name  of  Collatinus. 

He  also  made  war  against  the  cities  of  Latium,  which  had  not 
been  conquered  by  Ancus  Martins.  And  he  was  so  successful  in 
his  wars  and  treaties,  that  all  the  old  Latin  communities  sub' 
mitted  to  Rome  as  their  sovereign  state. 

His  authority  was  also  recognised  by  many  of  his  Etruscan 
compatriots ;  and  he  is  said  first  to  have  introduced  at  Rome  the 
Etruscan  ensigns  of  royal  dignity,  the  golden  crown  and  sceptre, 
the  ivory  chair,  and  the  robe  striped  with  violet  colour. 

§  11.  But  what  made  the  reign  of  Tarquinius  Priscus  most 
famous  were  the  great  works  by  which  he  improved  the  city. 
The  bounds  of  the  Roman  Forum  had  already  been  fixed  in  part 
by  the  buildings  of  Numa  and  Tullus  Hostilius.  But  Tarquin 
completed  them  for  ever  by  building  booths  or  shops  along  the 
northern  and  southern  sides.J     And   in  the  valley  between  the 

*  "Ramnes  primi  et  secundi,"  etc. 

f  Livy  and  others  tell  us  that  Tarquin  only  doubled  the  Centuries  of 
Knights.  But  this  (no  doubt)  is  an  error  arising  from  the  three  Centuries 
of  Knights  bearing  the  same  name  with  the  three  patrician  Tribes.  Festua 
(p.  169)  says:  "  Cum  Tarquinius  Priscus  institutas  Tribus  a  Eomulo  muiare 
vellet"  etc.;  and  p.  344,  "■civitas  Romana  in  sex  est  distributa  partes,  in 
primos  secundosque  Titienses,  Ramnes,  iMceresy  Cf.  also  Dionys.  (iii.  71,  72), 
who  speaks  of  (pv'kal  lirTciuv,  thus  confounding  the  two  accounts. 

:f  Those  on  the  northern  side  were  rebuilt  first,  and  hence  were  called 


Chap.  III.  TARQUINIUS  PRISCUS.  45 

Palatine  and  Aventine  he  formed  the  Circus  Maximus,  or  great 
race-course  for  the  celebration  of  the  Roman  or  Great  Games. 

He  also  vowed  a  temple  to  Jupiter  on  the  Saturnian  Hill,  and 
began  to  level  the  ground  at  the  lower  extremity,  where  it  bore 
the  name  of  the  Tarpeian  Hill.  But  this  great  building  was  re- 
served for  another  to  complete. 

One  remarkable  work  remains  to  be  mentioned,  which  even 
to  the  present  day  preserves  the  memory  of  Tarquin.  This 
was  the  Cloaca  Maxima,  or  great  drain,  which  ran  from  tha 
valley  of  the  Circus  Maximus,  and  joined  the  Tiber  below  the 
island.  The  purpose  of  this  great  work  was  to  carry  off  the 
waters  which  collected  in  stagnant  pools  in  the  ground  to  the 
west  of  the  Palatine  Hill,  which  was  known  by  the  name  of 
the  Velabrum.  But  its  size  and  execution  bear  witness  to  the 
power  and  greatness  of  the  monarch  who  planned  it.  It  is 
formed  in  a  semicircular  vault,  measuring  nearly  fourteen  feet 
in  diameter,  and  consists  of  three  concentric  arches,  each  com- 
posed of  hewn  blocks  of  hard  volcanic  stone.*  Where  it  enters 
the  river,  the  quay  is  formed  by  a  wall  of  the  same  kind  of 
masoni-y.f  So  admirable  is  the  workmanship,  that  at  the  present 
day,  though  the  stones  are  kept  in  their  place  simply  by  their 
own  weight,  without  mortar  or  cement,  not  one  block  has  been 
displaced  in  the  part  of  it  which  has  been  explored,  and  a 
knife-blade  can  hardly  be  inserted  between  the  joints.J;  Similar 
works  are  found  among  the  ruined  cities  of  ancient  Etruria ;  and 
from  that  country  doubtless  came  the  artificers  capable  of  execut- 
ing such  a  work.jl 

§  12.  The  legend  of  Tarquin's  death  is  one  of  the  most  famous 
in  the  early  Roman  annals.  It  runs  thus.  He  had  a  favourite 
called  Servius  Tullius,  a  young  man  whom  some  said  was  born  of 
a  female  Latin  slave  taken  at  Corniculum ;  whereas  others  said 

Tabernae  Novae,  while  those  on  the  south  side  retained  the  name  of  Tabernaa 
Veteres,  even  t3  Cicero's  time.  Academ.  iv.  22 :  "  Ut  ii  qui  sub  Novie  \sc. 
Ta^ernis]  solem  non  ferunt  .   .   .,  Veterum  .  .  .  umhram secutvs  esV 

*  A  kind  of  tophus  or  tufa,  found  near  Rome,  according  to  Brocchi  (quoted 
by  Dr.  Arnold). 

-  f  This  wall  is  almost  concealed  by  a  facing  of  later  brick-work,  as  ia 
shown  in  the  woodcut  at  the  head  of  this  chapter. 

X  Another  Cloaca  from  the  great  Cloaca  under  the  Forum  was  discovered 
by  excavations  in  the  year  1742.  This  is  probably  the  drain  alluded  to  by 
Juvenal  (Sat.  v.  104),  when  he  speaks  of  a  fish 

"  pinguis  torrente  cloaca, 
Et  solitus  mediae  cryptam  penetrare  Suburae." 
But  it  appears  to  be  built  of  travertino,  a  soft  limestone  from  the  neighbour- 
hood «f  Tivoli,  which  was  not  used  till  a  late  period  in  Roman  buildings.-^ 
Niebuhr,  vol.  i.  p.  392. 

I  See  the  woodcut  at  the  close  of  the  chapt^" 


46  ROME  UNDER  THE  KINGS,  Book  I. 

he  was  no  Latin  but  an  Etruscan  called  Mastarna,  who  had 
come  to  Rome,  like  Tarquin  himself,  and  assumed  a  Latin 
name.*  Servius  had  the  same  plans  as  Tarquin  himself,  and 
afterwards  (as  we  shall  see)  executed  much  which  that  King 
was  unable  to  perform,  whence  we  may  conclude  that  he  was 
either  a  Lucerian  or  a  member  of  one  of  the  Latin  houses  which 
had  lately  been  raised  to  Patrician  rank.  Now  it  was  thought 
that  this  young  man  would  most  likely  be  chosen  King,  when 
Tarquinius  was  dead.  Whereupon  the  sons  of  Ancus  Martius, 
who  had  borne  patiently  the  reign  of  Tarquin,  resolved  that  they 
would  seize  the  crown  ;  and  probably  they  were  urged  on  by 
their  brethren  the  Titles  and  others  of  the  older  Gentes,  who 
could  not  bear  that  another  upstart  should  be  King.  So  they 
procured  two  countrymen,  who  pretended  to  have  a  quarrel,  and 
came  before  the  King  as  if  to  seek  for  judgment ;  and  while  one 
of  them  was  speaking,  the  other  smote  the  King  on  the  head  with 
an  axe,  so  that  he  fell  dead.  But  the  lictors  seized  the  murderers; 
and  Tanaquil  the  Queen  shut  up  the  palace,  and  gave  out  that 
the  King  was  not  dead,  but  only  wounded.  Then  she  sent  for 
Servius  Tullius,  and  exhorted  him  to  assume  the  royal  robe,  and 
go  forth  with  the  lictors  in  kingly  state  to  judge  causes  in  the 
King's  name.  Thus  Tarquinius  Priscus  died  after  a  reign  of  eight- 
and-thirty  years.  And  after  a  time  his  death  was  made  known, 
and  Servius  Tullius  became  King  in  his  place,  without  being  regu- 
larly chosen  by  the  Assembly  of  the  Curiae. 

§  13.  Servius  Tullius  was  the  best  and  wisest  of  all  the  Kings, 
and  his  reign  is  a  history  of  the  greatest  changes  that  took  place 
among  the  Roman  people  during  the  whole  time  of  the  kingly 
government.  His  wars  were  few,  though  we  hear  that  he  overcame 
the  people  of  Veil  and  other  Etruscan  cities.  His  chief  glory 
came  from  his  new  institutions  for  the  good  government  of  the 
people,  which  in  a  manner  completed  what  Tarquinius  Priscus  had 
begun. 

§  14.  We  have  already  spoken  of  the  growth  of  the  Plebs  oi- 
Commons,  a  third  class,  belonging  neither  to  the  Patricians  nor 
the  Clients  :  and  shown  how  Tarquinius  raised  the  richest  and 
most  powerful  houses  of  this  class  to  be  members  of  the  Patrician 
Tribes.  But  still  the  mass  of  the  Plebs  continued  to  live  as  before 
upon  the  Aventine,  without  having  art  or  part  in  the  affairs  of 
the  Roman  People.     The  Populus  or  Body  Politic  still  consisted 

*  The  Etruscan  legend,  which  makes  Mastarna  or  Servius  a  comrade  of 
Caeles  Vibenna,  rests  on  the  authority  of  a  speech  of  the  Emperor  Claudius, 
which  was  inscribed  on  a  brass  tablet,  and  is  now  preserved  (though  so  placed 
that  no  one  can  read  it)  in  the  Museum  at  Lyons. 


Chap.  IIL  SERVIUS  TULLIUS.  47 

only  of  Patricians ;  but  the  Pleb9ians  were  every  day  increasing  m 
numbers  and  wealth,  and  it  was  to  be  feared  that  if  they  were 
much  longer  shut  out  from  all  part  in  public  affairs,  they  might 
rise  against  the  Patricians  and  take  by  force  what  they  could  not 
get  as  a  free  gift,  and  so  the  Aventine  would  become  the  chief 
place  of  Rome  instead  of  the  Palatine. 

Servius  took  measures  to  guard  against  this  danger  by  admitting 
the  Plebeians  into  full  citizenship,  and  made  them  in  great  mea- 
sure equal  to  their  Patrician  brethren.    The  way  he  took  was  this. 

§  15.  It  was  not  proposed  to  raise  the  plebeian  families  to 
patrician  rank  and  make  them  members  of  the  Curiae,  but  to 
create  a  new  popular  Assembly  which  was  to  include  all  the  citi- 
zens, Patricians  and  Plebeians  alike.  The  whole  form,  divisions, 
and  nature  of  this  assembly  was  military.  It  was  called  the 
Exercitus ;  it  met  in  the  field  of  Mars  outside  the  city ;  the 
members  of  it  appeared  in  the  arms  of  their  respective  divisions, 
and  gave  their  votes  in  the  same  manner.  Of  this  we  shall  find 
full  proof  as  we  go  on. 

But  it  was  not  all  free  Romans  who  were  admitted  even  into 
this  Assembly.  A  great  division  was  made  between  those  who 
had  independent  means  of  living  (locupletes  or  assidui  *),  and 
those  who  had  no  sufficient  property  (proletarii).  The  former 
were  required  to  have  at  least  11,000  ases'  worth  of  land  or  house 
property,  and  these  alone  were  included  in  the  new  Assembly  of 
Servius. 

The  locupletes  appeared  in  the  Assembly  in  five  great  Classes, 
or  armed  bodies,  which  were  distinguished  by  their  Census  or 
amount  of  rateable  property  in  land  ;  the  richest  formed  the 
First  Class,  the  next  richest  the  Second  Class,  and  so  on.  Then 
each  of  the,  five  Classes  were  subdivided  into  a  number  of  Cen- 
turies or  (^ompanies,  of  which  one  half  consisted  of  juniors,  or 
men  withintTie  age  of  military  service  (17  to  45),  the  other  half 
of  seniors,  or  men  between  45  and  60.f  The  First  Class  ap- 
peared in  full  armour,  off'ensive  and  defensive  ;  the  Second  Class 
was  less  completely  armed,  and  so  on  till  we  come  to  the  Fifth 
Class,  which  wore  no  defensive  armour,  and  served  as  light  troops, 
slingers,  archers,  and  the  like. 

At  the  head  of  the  five  Classes  stood  the  Horsemen  or  Knights 

*  Assidutcs  is  said  to  be  derived  ab  asse  dando,  because  all  who  were  included 
in  the  Classes  had  to  pay  the  tax. 

f  Occasi'onal  service  '  might  be  required  of  the  Seniors.  After  60  they 
were  superannuated.  And,  as  they  could  not  serve,  neither  could  they  vote  in 
the  Centuriate  Assembly ;  a  strange  provision,  that  was  in  force  in  Cicero'a 
time.  See  his  oration  pro  Sext.  Roscio  Amerino,  c.  35.  Such  old  men 
(sexagenarii)  were  therefore  called  depontani,  because  they  could  not  pass  the 
gangway  {pons)  which  led  into  the  voting-booth  {oviUy 


48 


ROME  UNDER  THE  KINGS. 


Book  I 


(eqiiites).  Servius  found  six  Centuries  already  existing,  each  con- 
taining 200  men,  as  they  had  been  left  by  Tarquinius  Priscus,  and 
all  these  six  Centuries  were  Patricians,  as  has  been  shown.  To 
these  Servius  added  twelve  Centuries  more,  the  members  of  which 
were  chosen  from  the  best  Plebeian  families.  These  were  the 
horsemen  of  the  army,  amounting  in  all  to  3600  men.  They  were 
allowed  a  horse  at  the  public  expense,  with  a  certain  yearly  sum 
for  maintaining  it. 

Besides  these  there  were  two  Centuries  of  carpenters  and 
smiths  (fabri  tignarii  et  serarii)  for  engineering  purposes,  with 
three  of  trumpeters  and  horn-blowers.  The  former,  being  skil- 
ful workmen,  were  thought  worthy  of  being  associated  with  the 
first  Class;  the  latter  belonged  to  the  fifth.  The  Proletarians 
also  were  thrown  into  a  single  century  and  added  to  the  fifth 
Class.* 

Such  was  the  celebrated  assembly  known  by  the  name  of  the 
CoMiTiA  Centuriata,  or  General  Assembly  of  the  Centuries. 

§  16.  The  Census  or  assessment  of  property  in  the  above  mili- 
tary classification  was  made  solely  with  regard  to  land  and  all  that 
we  call  real  property.  No  account  was  taken  of  slaves,  cattle,  pre- 
cious metals,  furniture,  and  all  that  we  call  personalty,  till  a  much 
later  period. 

The  purpose  of  this  Census  was  twofold :  first,  to  raise  a  tri- 

*  The  subjoined  table  will  make  it  easy  to  perceive  these  arrangements  at 
a  glance,  as  they  are  given  by  Livy: 


Classes. 


First  Class 

Sec'd  Class 

Third  Class 
fo'rth  Class 


Census,  or  Bateable 
Property  in  Land. 


Equites 

All   having    100,0001 

ases  and  upwards  | 

Fabri 


,  5,000  ases  and  up-  > 

wards •  -  -  j 

50,0)0  ases  and  up) 

wards S 

5,000   ases  and  up-) 

wards 5 

!  1,000   ases  and  up-"! 

wards  (more  pro- ! 

bably    12,500,    as  f 

Dionysius   says)  -J 

Trumpeters 

Capite  Censi,  or  Pro- ) 

letarii  - \ 


6Patrician+12  Plebeian=18] 
40  Seniores-HO  Juniores=&0  i  100 


2j 


10  Seniores-4-10  Juniores= 
10  Seniores-flO  Juniores= 
10  Seniores-4-lO  Juniorcs= 

15  Seniores-fl5  Juniores=30 


3J 


Defensive.       Offensive. 


Helmet, 
shield, 
greaves, 
cuirass. 
I  Helmet, 
shield., 
greaves. 
I  Helmet, 
;   shield. 

Helmet  (?) 


<  Sword  and 
i     spear. 

5  Sword  and 
\     spear. 

<  Sword  and 
I     spear. 

5  Spear  and 
I     javelin. 


Slings,  etc 


The  whole  number  of  Centuries,  therefore,  was  194;  and  in  the  First 
Class  alone  there  are  more  than  half. 

The  Centuries  of  cornicines,  tubicines,  &c.,  were  called  accensi,  because 
they  were  added  to  the  list  of  censi. 

The  single  century  of  proletarii  were  called  capite  censi,  because  they  were 
counted  by  the  head,  and  not  rated  by  their  property.  Later,  however,  the 
proletarii  and  capite  censi  were  distinguished,  the  former  being  those  who 
possessed  appreciable  property  of  less  amount  than  11,000  asea, 


Chap.  IIL  SERVIUS  TlTLLIlTS.  49 

butum  or  tax  for  military  expenses,  of  which  we  shall  speak  in 
a  future  page  ;  and  secondly,  to  serve  certain  political  ends,  of 
which  we  will  speak  here.  It  is  manifest  that  Servius,  when 
he  admitted  the  Plebeians  to  political  power,  did  not  contem- 
plate anything  like  the  equality  of  a  democracy.  He  intended 
that  all  the  citizens  of  the  Classes  should  have  votes,  but  that 
their  votes  should  avail  only  in  proportion  to  their  landed  pro- 
perty. The  wealthy  were  sure  to  have  the  preponderance ;  for 
if  the  Centuries  of  the  Knights  and  the  other  centuries  of  tha 
first  Class,  even  without  the  Fabri,  agreed  together,  they  could 
outvote  the  centuries  of  all  the  other  Classes  put  together.  More- 
over, great  weight  was  given  to  age.  It  is  certain  that  in  each 
Class  the  seniores,  or  those  between  the  age  of  45  and  60,  must 
have  been  far  less  numerous  than  the  juniors ;  yet  in  each  Class 
they  formed  an  equal  number  of  centuries.  The  number  of 
seniors  in  each  of  the  40  Centuries  of  the  first  Class,  thinned 
alike  by  age  and  rate  of  property,  must  have  been  comparatively 
very  few. 

§  17.  But  though  safeguards  so  many  and  so  great  were  pro- 
vided in  favour  of  property,  the  new  assembly  of  Servius  con- 
ferred a  great  and  positive  boon  on  the  Plebeians.  It  must  be 
remembered  that  before  his  time  they  were  outside  the  Populus 
or  Body  Politic  altogether.  They  were  still  excluded  from  the 
Curiae  or  Assembly  of  the  Patricians ;  and  so  far  as  this  involved 
political  rights,  the  name  of  Populus  was  still  confined  to  the 
old  Burgesses.  But  in  reality  the  Plebs  became  members  of  the 
Populus  ;  for  the  new  Centuriate  Assembly  slowly  but  surely 
assumed  to  itself  all  the  political  rights  which  had  formerly  be- 
longed to  the  Curiate  Assembly  alone ;  and  though  it  is  probable 
that  all  laws  proposed  in  the  former  must  receive  the  sanction 
of  the  latter  (as  bills  brought  forward  in  the  House  of  Commons 
must  pass  through  the  House  of  Lords),  and  also  must  be  autho- 
rised by  the  Senate,  which  was  at  this  time  exclusively  patrician, 
in  time  these  powers  were  cancelled,  and  the  Centuriate  Assembly 
became  !,be  supreme  legislative  body  of  the  state.* 

§  18.  But  Servius  was  not  satisfied  with  merely  giving  the 
Plebeians  a  place  in  the  Body  Politic.  He  also  made  regulations 
which  related  to  the  well-being  of  the  Plebeians  alone,  without 
reference  to  the  Patricians. 

By  the  conquests  of  the  preceding  Kings  Rome  had  gained 
large  acquisitions  of  territory  in  Latium,  and  some  probably  on 
the  Etruscan  side  of  the  Tiber.     Numa  had  divided  the  original 

*  The  intention  of  the  change  was  somewhat  the  same  as  that  wrought  by 
Solon  at  Athens,  wlio  is  said  to  have  changed  an  dXLyapxiu  into  t*  TijuoKparia. 
See  Dr.  Smith's  Hist  of  Greece,  p.  97. 

3 


50  ROME  UNDER  THE  KINGS.  Book  l 

lands  of  the  state  into  pagi.  But  these  had  become  quite  unequal 
to  the  altered  condition  of  things ;  and  Servius  now  distributed 
the  whole  Roman  territory,  as  he  found  it,  into  a  number  of 
Tribes.  These  Tribes  of  Servius,  then,  were  divisions  of  the  soil, 
like  our  parishes  or  townships,  and  we  must  take  especial  care 
not  to  confound  them  with  the  Tribes  of  Romulus.  It  is  indeed 
unfortunate  that  things  so  difterent  should  be  called  by  the  same 
name.  The  Tribes  of  Romulus  were  three  in  num];)er  :  those  of 
Servius  were  at  least  twenty.  The  Tribes  of  Romulus  included 
the  Patrician  Burgesses  only ;  in  the  Tribes  of  Servius  none  were 
enrolled  but  Plebeians.  The  members  of  the  Tribes  of  Romulus 
held  their  place  in  virtue  of  their  Patrician  birth,  independently 
of  their  place  of  habitation  ;  those  who  belonged  to  the  Tribes  of 
Servius  belonged  to  it  because  they  had  what  we  might  call  theii- 
"  settlement"  in  some  particular  place.  In  one  point  only  they 
were  alike.  A  person  who  once  belonged  either  to  a  Romulian 
Tribe  of  birth  or  a  Servian  Tribe  of  place,  always  remained  a 
member  of  that  Tribe,  to  whatever  place  he  might  remove  his 
dwelling.  It  is  probable,  indeed,  that  there  were  means  by  which 
the  members  of  the  Servian  Tribes  might  change  their  "  settle- 
ment," but  nothing  is  known  upon  this  subject.  In  each  Tribe 
there  were  Presidents,*  whose  business  it  was  to  keep  the  Hst  of 
the  Tribe  ;  but  they  were  not  empowered  to  remove  the  name  of 
any  person  on  the  list  simply  because  he  had  ceased  to  reside  in 
the  district  belonging  to  the  Tribe. 

§  19.  Of  these  Tribes  four  were  in  the  city  and  the  rest  outside 
the  limits  of  the  city.  The  four  city  Tribes  were  1.  the  Palatine ; 
2.  the  CoUine,  answering  to  the  Quirinal  Hill ;  3.  the  Suburran, 
answering  to  the  Cselian  with  its  neighbouring  valleys ;  4.  the 
Esquiline,  which  shows  that  the  Equiline  Hill,  together  with 
the  Viminal  or  seventh  Hill,  must  have  been  already  added  to 
the  city.  It  will  be  observed  that  neither  the  Saturnian  Hill  or 
Capitoline,  nor  the  Aventine,  were  included  within  these  Tribes. 
The  former  was  omitted  because  it  was,  as  it  were,  consecrated 
to  military  and  religious  purposes ;  the  latter  because  it  never 
was  included  within  the  sacred  limits  of  the  Pomoerium,  as  will 
appear  presently. 

§  20.  The  Country  Tribes  were  all  named  after  patrician  Gentes. 
The  names  of  sixteen  are  preserved  as  existing  at  the  time  of 
the  expulsion  of  the  kings.f     The  first  Tribe  which  bore  a  name 

*  Called  hTtLfXElr]TdX  (^vldv  by  Dionysius.  They  were  probably  the  same 
as  the  Tribuni  atrarii,  of  whom  we  shall  have  to  speak  hereafter. 

f  These  were,  1.  Aemilia;  2.  Cornelia;  3.  Fabia;  4.  Horatia;  5.  Menenia-, 
6.  Papiria;  7.  Sergia;  8.  Veturia;  9.  Claudia;  10.  *Camilia;  11.  *Galeria; 
12.  *Lemonia;   13.  *Pollia;   14.  *Pupima;   15<  *Romilia;  16.  *Voltinia.    Th© 


Chap.  III.  SERYIUS  TULLIUS.  61 

not  derived  from  a  noble  house  was  the  Crustumine,  which  was 
added  under  the  Republic,  and  made  the  i^ventj-first  Tribe.  No 
doubt  the  noble  House  which  bore  the  same  name  with  these 
Tribes  consisted  of  the  chief  persons  in  these  respective  districts, 
just  as  in  England  great  noblemen  took  their  names  from  those 
counties  in  which  their  families  once  possessed  almost  sovereign 
power. 

§  21.  It  is  probable  that  at  first  none  save  the  Plebeians  were 
entered  upon  the  lists  of  their  respective  Tribes ;  and  the  Ple- 
beians, having  thus  received  a  kind  of  constitution  of  their  own, 
used  to  meet  in  the  Forum  on  market-days  (nundince)  to  settle 
their  own  affairs.  These  meetings  were  called  the  Comitia  Tri- 
BUTA,  because  the  Commons  gave  their  votes  according  to  their 
Tribes,  as  at  the  Comitia  Curiata  votes  were  given  according  to 
Curiae,  and  at  the  Comitia  Centuriata  according  to  Centuries ; 
for  it  wa-s  an  established  custom  at  Rome  not  to  vote  in  a  mass 
and  by  the  head  ;  but,  first,  the  voters  were  distributed  into 
smaller  bodies,  and  then,  in  all  cases,  questions  were  determined 
by  the  majority  of  those  bodies  which  voted  for  or  against  it. 

§  22.  Thus,  then,  the  outline  of  the  future  Roman  constitution 
was  marked  out.  The  Patricians  met  in  their  CurisB  in  the  Co- 
mitium  at  the  high  or  narrow  eiid  of  tliy  ForuM  5 '  "the  Plebeians 
met  in  their  Tribes  in  the  low  or  broad  end  of  the  same  famous 
piece  of  land  ;  the  whole  People,  Patricians  and  Plebeians  alike,  met 
in  the  Field  of  Mars  according  to  their  Classes  and  Centuries. 

One  of  the  chief  tasks  of  Roman  history  is  to  trace  the  work- 
ing and  development  of  those  Assemblies  under  the  control  and 
direction  of  the  Senate.  We  shall  find  the  Patrician  Assembly  of 
the  Curies,  now  supreme,  gradually  wane  and  become  an  empty 
name ;  while  the  despised  Assembly  of  the  Plebeian  Tribes  gra- 
dually engrosses  power  to  itself,  till  at  length  it  becomes  the 
great  legislative  body  of  the  State.  Meanwhile  the  great  Assem- 
bly of  the  Classes  and  Centuries  undergoes  changes  and  transmu- 
tations which  much  alter  its  character,  and  bring  it  into  close 
neighbourhood  with  the  popular  assembly.     But  of  this  hereafter. 

names  of  most  of  these  Tribes  are  familiar  as  the  names  of  Patrician  Gentes ; 
and  it  may  be  presumed  that  the  seven  unknown  names  (marked  with  aster- 
isks) represent  Gentes  that  had  become  extinct. 

It  has  been  generally  assumed  that  Servius  created  Thirty  Tribes  in  all, 
on  the  authority  of  Dionysius,  iv.  14-  dielXe  di  koI  ttjv  X'^P^^  dnaaav,  ug 
(lev  ^uj3i6q  ^tjolv,  eig  fioipag  [i.  e.  pagos]  e^  Koi  ehoaiv,  uc  kol  avrdg  KaXel 
(j^vliig  \i.  e.  tribus],  kcu  rug  uariKug  TrpoaTtdelg  avralg  TeTTapug,  rpiuKovra 
(j)VAdg  ufKpoTtpov  ETTi  TvXTitov  Tug  miaag  yeveadai  Hya. — But  in  the  learned 
aud  ingenious  work  by  Mommsen,  On  the  Roman  Tribes  (Altona,  1844),  so 
much  uncertainty  is  shown  to  provail  on  this  subject,  that  it  is  thought  better 
to  leave  the  question  open. 


62 


ROME  UNDER  THE  KINGS. 


BookL 


§  23.  To  Servius  Tullius  also  is  attributed  the  great  work  of 
enlarging  the  PomcEriuni  of  Romulus.  But  while  the  original 
Pomoerium  of  the  Palatine  or  Roman  Quadrata  was  the  same  as 
its  wall  or  line  of  defence,  this  rule  was  not  observed  by  Servius. 
His  new  Pomoerium,  which  surrounded  the  four  Tribes  of  the 
city,  included  only  five  of  the  seven  hills  ;  for  the  Capitoline  and 
Aventine  were  not  admitted  within  the  sacred  inclosure  :  but  his 
wall  or  line  of  fortification  ran  round  all  the  Seven  Hills. 


ROMA 


1  ROMAN   MILE. 


This  will  be  a  convenient  opportunity  to  give  some  account 
of  the  city  of  Rome  with  its  hills,  walls,  and  gates.  Ancient 
Rome  stood  on  the  left  bank  of  the  Tiber.  A  little  to  the  north 
of  the  ancient  city  the  river  makes  a  sudden  bend  westward,  till 
it  is  stopped  and  turned  to  the  south-east  again  by  the  high  ground 
sloping  downwards  from  the  Vatican  Hill.     Between  these  two 


Chap.  III.  SERVIUS  TULLIUS.  53 

reaches  of  the  river  is  inclosed  a  plain,  anciently  called  the  Campus 
Martins,  on  which  stands  the  greater  part  of  modern  Rome.  At 
the  lower  extremity  of  this  plain,  where  the  stream  forms  an 
island,  called  the  Insula  Tiberina,  its  course  is  again  arrested  and 
turned  towards  the  south-west.  This  turn  is  caused  by  the  abrupt 
rise  of  the  eminence  called  in  old  times  the  Saturnian  Hill,  and 
still  renowned  under  its  later  name  of  "  the  Capitol ;"  and  this 
shall  be  taken  as  the  point  from  which  we  will  survey  the  ancient 
city. 

The  City,  as  bounded  by  the  wall  of  Servius,  may  be  likened  to 
a  fan,  of  which  the  Capitol  forms  the  pivot.  To  this  point  con- 
verge, on  the  north,  the  Quirinal,  Viminal,  and  Esquiline ;  then 
the  Palatine  and  Cselian,  lying  in  the  same  line,  nearly  south- 
west ;  and  due  south,  abutting  upon  the  river,  the  Aventine. 
The  Quirinal,  Viminal,  and  Esquiline  run  out  like  so  many  pro- 
montories towards  the  Capitol ;  but  they  soon  unite  and  sink 
gradually  into  the  plain  towards  the  west. 

Across  the  slope  thus  formed  a  great  earth-bank  and  trench 
were  carried,  of  which  traces  still  remain.  In  its  original  state 
this  embankment  of  Servius  Tullius  is  said  to  have  been  60  feet 
high  and  its  base  50  feet  broad,  while  the  foss  outside  it  was 
100  feet  wide  and  30  deep.  From  either  end  of  this  mound 
walls  were  built  on  all  the  low  ground  and  across  the  valleys; 
but  when  these  walls  reached  the  edges  or  escarpments  of  the 
hills,  which  in  those  days  were  steep  and  high,  no  wall  was 
needed.  Thus  from  the  northern  end  of  the  embankment  the 
wall  was  carried  to  the  steep  edge  of  the  Quirinal,  where  it 
ceased,  and  appeared  again  in  the  narrow  valley  between  this 
hill  and  the  Capitoline,  and  then  was  continued  from  the  south- 
western corner  of  the  Capitoline  to  the  edge  of  the  river.  In 
like  manner  the  wall  was  carried  from  the  southern  edge  of 
the  Esquiline  across  the  valley  which  divides  that  hill  from  the 
Caelian  ;  then  across  the  Caelian  to  its  lower  verge ;  then  across 
a  second  valley,  and  so  quite  round  the  Aventine  to  the  river's 
edge,  which  it  joined  at  a  distance  of  little  more  than  a  quarter 
of  an  English  mile  from  the  point  at  which  it  started.  This 
short  space  was  faced  by  a  quay,  but  was  not  considered  to  need 
a  wall  for  its  defence. 

The  whole  circuit  thus  inclosed  measures  about  seven  miles, 
and  it  remained  without  alteration  for  many  centuries.  Great 
suburbs  grew  up,  and  as  Rome  needed  no  fortifications  till  the 
times  of  the  later  emperors,  the  walls  of  Servius  were  suffered  to 
decay,  and  no  new  line  of  fortification  was  formed  till  the  days 
of  Aurelian  and  Probus  (a.d.  2*70-282). 

The  principal  gates  in  the  wall  of  Servius  were  the  Flumentan« 


54 


ROME  UNDER  THE  KINGS. 


Book  L 


and  the  Carmental,  between  the  river  and  the  Capitol ;  the  Col- 
line,  at  the  northern  extremity  of  the  Agger  of  Servius,  and  the 
Esquiline  at  its  southern  extremity  ;  the  Caelimontane  upon 
the  Cselian  ;  the  Capene  or  Capuan,  where  this  hill  slopes  to- 
wards the  Aventine  ;  and  the  Trigemina,  between  the  Aventine 
and  the  river.  The  Sublician  Bridge,  which  Ancus  built  to  con- 
nect the  city  with  the  Janiculum,  was  just  outside  this  gate,  if 
the  piles  still  remaining  in  the  bed  of  the  Tiber  indicate  its  true 
position.  But  as  it  is  little  likely  that  the  only  bridge  then  ex- 
isting would  be  outside  the  walls,  it  may-  be  assumed  that  the 
real  position  of  the  Pons  Sublicius  was  between  the  points  where 
the  wall  abuts  upon  the  river. 

§  24.  We  may  here  also  notice  a  few  of  the  places  of  chief  im- 
portance in  Roman  history,  which  were  inclosed  within  the  wall 
of  Servius. 

The  low  ground  along  the  river,  below  the  Capitoline,  Palatine, 
and  Aventine,  drained  by  the  Cloaca  Maxima  and  protected  by 
its  quay,  was  the  Forum  Boarium  or  cattle  market,  the  part  im- 
mediately beneath  the  Palatine  being  the  Velabrum.  From  the 
upper  end  of  the  Velabrum  the  Nova  Via  led  over  the  Palatine 
to  the  Forum,  while  from  its  lower  part  the  Vicus  Tuscus  ran 
in  a  parallel  direction  to  the  same  quarter. 


D.  Prison,  called  TuUianum.  G.  Tribunal. 

E.  Rostra.  H.  Arch  of  Fabius. 
C.  Temple  of  Concord.  F.  Senate-House.  K.  Temple  of  Vesta. 
L.  Temple  of  Castor  and  Pollux. 


A.  Clivus  Capitolinus. 

B.  Temple  of  Saturn. 


This  is  the  quarter  on  which  principal  attention  must  be  fixed. 
As  you  stand  upon  the  Capitol  and  look  eastward,  beneath  you 


Chap.  III.  SERYIUS  TULLIUS.  55 

lies  a  piece  of  land  of  irregular  shape,  having  its  broader  end 
beneath  the  Capitol  itself,  while  its  two  sides  converge  towards 
the  ridge  called  the  Velia,  which  connects  the  Palatine  with 
the  Esquiline,  and  was  in  after  ages  marked  by  the  triumphal 
arch  of  Titus.  The  broader  end,  of  which  we  speak,  measures 
about  190  feet,  the  narrower  100;  the  lower  side  about  630  feet, 
and  the  upper  somewhat  less.  These  measurements  include 
both  the  Forum  proper  and  the  Comitiuin ;  but  the  line  of  de- 
marcation between  the  meeting-places  of  the  Plebeians  and  Patri- 
cians ran  across  at  about  200  feet  distance  from  the  narrow  end, 
and  here  stood  the  rostra,  or  place  occupied  by  those  who  ad- 
dressed the  people  assembled  beneath  them.  The  Sacra  Via, 
the  most  famous  street  of  Rome,  entered  the  Forum  or  Comi- 
tium  at  its  south-eastern  corner,  passed  along  the  narrow  end, 
and  then  ran  along  the  northern  side,  by  the  Curia  Hostilia  and 
the  Tabernse  Novse,  till  it  reached  the  foot  of  the  Capitoline. 
Here  it  met  the  famous  Clivus  Capitolinus,  which  led  up  by  a 
steep  ascent  to  the  summit  of  the  Capitol.  When  a  general 
went  up  to  oifer  thanksgiving  to  Jupiter,  he  descended  from  the 
Velian  ridge  into  the  Forum,  and  then  mounted  by  this  ascent 
to  the  great  temple  on  the  Tarpeian,  or  lower  height  of  the  Capi- 
toline Hill. 

On  the  southern  side  of  the  Forum  ran  a  street  past  the  Temple 
of  Vesta  and  the  Regia  of  Numa,  connecting  the  Nova  Via  with 
the  Sacra  Via.  From  the  Forum  to  the  Esquiline  ran  the  Vicus 
Cyprius,  the  upper  part  of  which  was  called  the  Vicus  Sceleratus, 
in  memory  of  the  murder  of  King  Servius,  of  which  we  are  to 
speak  presently.  This  street  probably  led  through  the  Subura  or 
populous  quarter,  which  lay  in  the  low  ground  between  the  Esqui- 
line, Viminal,  and  Quirinal  Hills,  to  the  Carinse,  which  was  after- 
wards the  most  fashionable  part  of  Rome,  and  lay  on  the  edge  of 
the  Esquiline  next  the  Velia. 

§  25.  Besides  enlarging  and  strengthening  the  city,  Servius 
also  endeavoured  to  form  an  enduring  alliance  with  the  whole 
Latin  nation,  who  had  been  so  much  weakened  by  the  wars  of 
the  former  kings.  He  built  a  temple  to  the  great  Latin  goddess 
Diana  upon  the  Aventine,  and  here  were  to  be  held  sacrifices 
and  festivals  common  both  to  Rome  and  Latium.  The  Sabines 
also,  as  it  seems,  desired  to  share  in  this  alliance,  but  not  on  equal 
terms.  There  was,  so  runs  the  legend,  a  cow  of  noble  form 
and  surpassing  beauty,  which  belonged  to  a  Sabine  householder : 
whoever,  said  the  soothsayers,  first  sacrificed  this  animal  in  the 
new-built  temple  of  Diana,  should  hold  sway  over  Rome.  The 
Sabine  owner  brought  his  cow  to  ofi"er  her  on  the  Aventine.  But 
the  Roman   sacrificing   priest  bade  him  first  purify  himself  by 


56  ROME  UNDER  THE  KINGS.  Book  I. 

bathing  in  the  Tiber,  and  then  cunningly  himself  completed  the 
sacrifice. 

§  20.  It  remains  only  to  add  the  famous  legend  of  the  death  of 
the  good  King  Servius. 

He  had  assumed  kingly  power  without  the  consent  of  the  patri- 
cian Curiae,  and  he  had  afterwards  sought  confirmation  of  his  title, 
not  from  this  proud  assembly,  but  the  new  assembly  of  the  Classes 
and  Centuries  which  he  had  created.  It  is  said,  moreover,  that 
when  he  had  finished  his  reforms  he  had  it  in  his  mind  to  resign 
the  kingly  power  altogether,  and  leave  his  great  Assembly  to  elect 
two  chief  magistrates  to  govern  in  his  stead.  But  this  purpose 
was  not  accomplished.  He  continued  to  reign  till  he  was  mur- 
dered, like  King  Tarquinius  before  him. 

From  the  two  sons  of  King  Ancus  there  was  nothing  to  fear. 
But  Tarquinius  Priscus  had  also  two  sons,  Lucius  and  Aruns,  and 
Servius  had  two  daughters.  So  he  married  these  two  daughters 
to  the  two  young  Tarquins,  that  they  might  become  his  succes- 
sors, and  might  not  be  jealous  of  a  stranger  sitting  in  their  father's 
seat.  Now  Lucius  Tarquinius  was  a  proud  and  violent  youth,  but 
his  brother  Aruns  was  mild  and  good.  So  also  the  eldest  daughter 
of  King  Servius  was  gentle,  but  her  sister  w^as  ambitious  and  cruel. 
Servius  therefore  took  care  that  Lucius,  the  violent  brother,  should 
be  married  to  the  good  sister,  and  Aruns,  the  good  brother,  to  the 
bad  sister ;  for  he  hoped  that  the  good  might  prevail  over  the  evil 
and  subdue  it.  But  the  event  proved  otherwise.  The  lamb  will 
not  lie  down  with  the  wolf,  nor  the  hawk  couple  with  the  dove. 
Therefore  Lucius  and  the  younger  Tullia  conspired  together;  and 
Lucius  murdered  his  wife,  and  Tullia  murdered  her  husband  ;  and 
then  they  married  together,  so  that  the  two  wicked  ones  were 
free  to  work  their  will. 

Lucius  Tarquin  soon  resolved  to  make  an  end  of  King  Servius. 
So  he  conspired  with  the  Patricians,  and  chiefly  with  those  of  the 
new  Gentes,  whom  his  father  had  raised ;  and  when  he  thought  he 
was  strong  enough,  he  came  into  the  Comitium  and  took  his  seat 
upon  the  throne  in  front  of  the  senate-house,  and  summoned  the 
Patricians  to  attend  on  "  King  Tarquinius."  But  when  King  Ser- 
vius heard  of  it  he  came  forth  and  asked  how  any  one  dared  sit 
on  the  throne  while  he  was  alive.  But  Lucius  said  it  was  his 
fether's  throne,  and  that  now  it  was  his  own  by  right.  Then  he 
seized  the  old  man  by  the  waist  and  cast  him  down  the  steps  of  the 
throne,  and  he  himself  entered  into  the  senate-house.  Servius, 
when  he  saw  that  all  were  against  him,  endeavoured  to  escape 
homewards;  but  certain  men,  sent  by  Lucius,  overtook  him  and 
slew  him,  and  left  his  body  lying  in  the  way. 

And  when  Tullia  heard  what  was  done,  she  mounted  her  chariot 


Chap.  III. 


SERVIUS  TULLIUS. 


and  drove  to  the  Forum  and  saluted  her  husband  king.  But  he 
bade  her  go  home,  for  such  scenes  were  not  fit  for  women.  And 
she  came  to  the  foot  of  the  Esquiline  Hill,  to  the  place  where  the 
body  of  her  father  lay  in  the  way.  And  when  the  charioteer  saw 
it  he  was  shocked,  and  pulled  in  his  horses  that  he  might  not  drive 
over  the  body.  But  his  wicked  mistress  chid  him  angrily  and 
bade  him  drive  on.  So  she  went  home  "  with  her  father's  blood 
upon  her  .chariot-wheels  ;"  and  that  place  was  called  the  Wicked 
Street  ever  after. 

So  King  Servius  died  when  he  had  reigned  four  and  forty  years, 
and  Lucius  Tarquinius  the  Proud  reigned  in  his  stead. 


Cloaca  of  Marta  in  Tuscany. 


Tomb  of  the  Tarquins. 


CHAPTER    IV. 


TARQUINIUS    SUPERBUS,    AND     THE     BEGINNING     OF     THE      REPUBLIC. 


§  1.  Despotism  of  second  Tarquin.  §  2.  Alliance  with  Etruscans  and  Latins. 
§  3.  Temple  on  Capitoline.  §  4.  Legend  of  Sibyl.  §  5.  Stratagem  by 
which  Gabii  was  taken.  §  6.  King's  sons,  with  Brutus,  sent  to  consult 
the  Delphic  Oracle.  §  T.  Legend  of  Lucretia.  Expulsion  of  Tarquins. 
§  8.  Consuls.  §  9.  Patres  Conscripti.  §  10.  Rex  Sacrorum.  §  11.  First 
attempt  to  restore  Tarquin.  Judgment  of  Brutus.  §  12.  Second  attempt 
by  Etruscans  of  Tarquinii  and  Veii.  Death  of  Brutus.  §  13.  P.  Yalerius 
Poplicola.  §14.  Consecration  of  Capitoline  Temple  by  M.  Horatius.  §15. 
Third  attempt  to  restore  Tarquin.  Porsenna.  Legends  of  Horatius  Codes, 
Mucins  Sceevola,  Cloelia.  §  16.  Tarquin  at  Tusculum.  §  17.  First  Dictator. 
§  18.  Fourth  attempt  to  restore  Tarquin  by  Latins.  Battle  of  Lake  Regil- 
lus.     §  19.  Death  of  Tarquin  at  Cumse. 

§  1.  Tarquin  had  made  himself  king  by  the  aid  of  the  Patricians, 
and  chiefly  by  means  of  the  third  or  Lucerian  tribe,  to  which  his 
family  belonged.  The  Burgesses  of  the  Gentes  were  indignant  at 
the  curtailment  of  their  privileges  by  the  popular  reforms  of  Ser- 
vius,  and  were  glad  to  lend  themselves  to  any  overthrow  of  his 
power.  But  Tarquin  soon  kicked  away  the  ladder  by  which  he 
Dad  risen.      lie  abrogated,  it    is  true,  the    hated    Assembly  of 


Chap.  IT.  TARQUINIUS  SUPERBUS.  59 

the  Centuries ;  but  neither  did  he  pay  cny  heed  to  the  Curiate 
Assembly,  nor  did  he  allow  any  new  members  to  be  chosen  into 
the  Senate  in  place  of  those  who  were  removed  by  death  or  other 
causes ;  so  that  even  those  who  had  helped  him  to  the  throne  re- 
pented them  of  their  deed.  The  name  of  Superbus,  or  the  Proud, 
testifies  to  the  general  feeling  against  the  despotic  rule  of  the 
second  Tarquin. 

§  2.  It  was  by  foreign  alliances  that  he  calculated  on  supporting 
his  despotism  at  home.  The  Etruscans  of  Tarquinii,  and  all  its 
associate  cities  were  his  friends ;  and  among  the  Latins  also  he 
sought  to  raise  a  power  which  might  counterbalance  the  senate 
and  people  of  Rome. 

The  wisdom  of  Tarquinius  Priscus  and  Servins  had  united  all 
the  Latin  name  to  Rome,  so  that  Rome  had  become  the  sovereign 
city  of  Latium.  The  last  Tarquin  drew  those  ties  still  closer.  He 
gave  his  daughter  in  marriage  to  Octavius  Mamilius,  Chief  of  Tus- 
culum,  and  favoured  the  Latins  in  all  things.  But  at  a  general 
assembly  of  the  Latins  at  the  Ferentine  Grove,  beneath  the  Alban 
Mount,  where  they  had  been  accustomed  to  meet  of  olden  time  to 
settle  their  national  affairs,  Turnus  Herdonius  of  Aricia  rose  and 
spoke  against  him.  Then  Tarquinius  accused  him  of  high  treason, 
and  brought  false  witnesses  against  him ;  and  so  powerful  with 
the  Latins  ^as  the  King  that  they  condemned  their  countryman 
to  be  drowned  in  the  Ferentine  water,  and  obeyed  Tarquinius  in 
all  things. 

§  3.  With  them  he  made  war  upon  the  Volscians  and  took  the 
city  of  Suessa,  wherein  was  a  great  booty.  This  booty  he  applied 
to  the  execution  of  great  works  in  the  city,  in  emulation  of  his 
father  and  King  Servius.  The  elder  Tarquin  had  built  up  the  side 
of  the  Tarpeian  rock  and  levelled  the  summit,  to  be  the  founda- 
tion of  a  temple  of  Jupiter,  but  he  had  not  completed  the  work. 
Tarquinius  Superbus  now  removed  all  the  temples  and  shrines  of 
the  old  Sabine  gods  which  had  been  there  since  the  time  of  Titus 
Tatius;  but  the  goddess  of  Youth  and  the  god  Terminus  kept 
their  place,  whereby  was  signified  that  the  Roman  people  should 
enjoy  undecaying  vigour,  and  that  the  boundaries  of  their  empire 
should  never  be  drawn  in.  And  on  the  Tarpeian  height  he  built 
a  magnificent  temple,  to  be  dedicated  jointly  to  the  three  great 
ffods  of  the  Latins  and  Etruscans,  Jupiter,  Juno,  and  Minerva  ;  and 
this  part  of  the  Saturnian  Hill  was  ever  after  called  the  Capitol 
^r  the  Chief  Place,  while  the  upper  part  was  called  the  Arx  or 
Jitadel* 

He  brought  architects  from  Etruria  to  plan  the  temple,  but  he 
forced  the  Roman  people  to  work  for  him  without  hire. 
*  See  Chapt.  i.  §  7. 


60  HOME  UNDER  THE  KINGS.  Book! 

§  4.  One  day  a  strange  woman  appeared  before  the  King  and 
offered  him  nine  books  to  buy ;  and  when  he  refused  them  she 
went  away  and  burnt  three  of  the  nine  books,  and  brought  back 
the  remaining  six  and  offered  to  sell  them  at  the  same  price  that 
she  had  asked  for  the  nine ;  and  when  he  laughed  at  her  and 
again  refused,  she  went  as  before  and  burnt  three  more  books, 
and  came  back  and  asked  still  the  same  price  for  the  three  that 
were  left.  Then  the  King  was  struck  by  her  pertinacity,  and  he 
consulted  his  augurs  what  this  might  be  ;  and  they  bade  him  by 
all  means  buy  the  three,  and  said  he  had  done  wrong  not  to  buy 
the  nine,  for  these  were  the  books  of  the  Sibyl  and  contained 
great  secrets.  So  the  books  were  kept  underground  in  the  Ca- 
pitol in  a  stone  chest,  and  two  men  (duumviri)  were  appointed 
to  take  charge  of  them,  and  consult  them  when  the  state  was  in 
danger. 

§  5.  The  only  Latin  town  that  defied  Tarquin's  power  was 
Gabii;  and  Sextus,  the  king's  youngest  son,  promised  to  win 
this  place  also  for  his  father.  So  he  fled  from  Rome  and  pre- 
sented himself  at  Gabii ;  and  there  he  made  complaints  of  his 
father's  tyranny  and  prayed  for  protection.  The  Gabians  be- 
lieved him,  and  took  him  into  their  city,  and  they  trusted  him, 
so  that  in  time  he  was  made  commander  of  their  army.  Now 
his  father  suffered  him  to  conquer  in  many  small  battles,  and 
the  Gabians  trusted  him  more  and  more.  Then  he  sent  pri- 
vately to  his  father,  and  asked  what  he  should  do  to  make  the 
Gabians  submit.  Then  King  Tarquin  gave  no  answer  to  the 
messenger,  but,  as  he  walked  up  and  down  his  garden,  he  kept 
cutting  off  the  heads  of  the  tallest  poppies  with  his  staff.  At 
last  the  messenger  was  tired,  and  went  back  to  Sextus  and  told 
him  what  had  passed.  But  Sextus  understood  what  his  father 
meant,  and  he  began  to  accuse  falsely  all  the  chief  men,  and  some 
of  them  he  put  to  death  and  some  he  banished.  So  at  last  the 
city  of  Gabii  was  left  defenceless,  and  Sextus  delivered  it  up  to 
his  father.* 

§  6.  While  Tarquin  was  building  his  temple  on  the  Capitol,  a 
strange  portent  offered  itself;  for  a  snake  came  forth  and  de- 
voured the  sacrifices  on  the  altar.  The  king,  not  content  with 
the  interpretation  of  his  Etruscan  soothsayers,  sent  persons  to 
consult  the  famous  oracle  of  the  Greeks  at  Delphi,  and  the  per- 
sons he  sent  were  his  own  sons  Titus  and  Aruns,  and  his  sister's 
son,  L.  Junius,  a  young  man  who,  to  avoid  his  uncle's  jealousy, 
feigned  to  be  without  common  sense,  wherefore  he  was  called 
Brutus   or   the   Dullard.     The    answer  given  by  the   oracle  was, 

*  It  is  well  known  that  this  Legend  occurs  in  Herodotus,  who  relates  that 
Babylon  was  betrayed  to  Darius  Hystaspes  in  a  similar  manner,  iii.  164,  sqq. 


Chap.  IT.  TARQUINIUS  SUPERBUS.  61 

that  the  chief  power  of  Rome  should  belong  to  him  of  the  three 
who  should  first  kiss  his  mother ;  and  the  two  sons  of  King  Tar- 
quin  agreed  to  draw  lots  which  of  them  should  do  this  as  soon  as 
they  returned  home.  But  Brutus  perceived  that  the  oracle  had 
another  sense ;  so  as  soon  as  they  landed  in  Italy  he  fell  do'.vn  on 
the  ground  as  if  he  had  stumbled,  and  kissed  the  earth,  for  she  (he 
thought)  was  the  true  mother  of  all  mortal  things. 

§  7.  When  the  sons  of  Tarquin  returned  with  their  cousin,  L. 
Tnnius  Brutus,  they  found  the  king  at  war  with  the  Rutulians  of 
Ardea.  Being  unable  to  take  the  place  by  storm,  he  was  forced 
to  blockade  it ;  and  while  the  Roman  army  was  encamped  before 
the  town  the  young  men  used  to  amuse  themselves  at  night  with 
wine  and  wassail.  One  night  there  was  a  feast,  at  which  Sextus, 
the  king's  third  son,  was  present,  as  also  Collatinus,  the  son  of 
Egerius,  the  king's  uncle,  who  had  been  made  governor  of  Col- 
latia.  So  they  soon  began  to  dispute  about  the  worthiness  of  their 
wives ;  and  when  each  maintained  that  his  own  wife  was  worthiest, 
"  Come,  gentlemen,"  said  Collatinus,  "  let  us  take  horse  and  see 
what  our  wives  are  doing ;  they  expect  us  not,  and  so  we  shall 
know  the  truth."  All  agreed,  and  they  galloped  to  Rome,  and 
there  they  found  the  wives  of  all  the  others  feasting  and  revelling: 
but  when  they  came  to  Collatia  they  found  Lucretia,  the  wife  of 
Collatinus,  not  making  merry  like  the  rest,  but  sitting  in  the  midst 
of  her  handmaids  carding  wool  and  spinning ;  so  they  all  allowed 
that  Lucretia  was  the  worthiest. 

Now  Lucretia  was  the  daughter  of  a  noble  Roman,  Spurius  Lu- 
cretius, who  was  at  this  time  Prefect  of  the  city ;  for  it  was  the 
custom,  when  the  kings  went  out  to  war,  that  they  left  a  chief  man 
at  home  to  administer  all  things  in  the  king's  name,  and  he  was 
called  Prefect  of  the  City. 

But  it  chanced  that  Sextus,  the  king's  son,  when  he  saw  the 
fair  Lucretia,  was  smitten  with  lustful  passion ;  and  a  few  days 
after  he  came  agdn  to  Collatia,  and  Lucretia  entertained  him 
hospitably  as  her  husband's  cousin  and  friend.  But  at  midnight 
he  arose  and  came  with  stealthy  steps  to  her  bedside :  and  hold- 
ing a  sword  in  his  right  hand,  and  laying  his  left  hand  upon  her 
breast,  he  bade  her  yield  to  his  wicked  desires;  for  if  not,  he 
would  slay  her  and  lay  one  of  her  slaves  beside  her,  and  would 
declare  that  he  had  taken  them  in  adultery.  So  for  shame  she 
consented  to  that  which  no  fear  would  have  wrung  from  her : 
and  Sextus,  having  wrought  this  deed  of  shame,  returned  to  the 
camp. 

Then  Lucretia  sent  to  Rome  for  her  father,  and  to  the  camp 
at  Ardea  for  her  husband.  They  came  in  haste.  Lucretius 
brought  with  him  P,  Valerius,  and  Collatinus  brought  L,  Junius 


62  ROME  UNDER  THE  KINGS.  Book  L 

Brutus,  his  cousin.  And  they  came  in  and  asked  if  all  was  well. 
Then  she  told  them  what  was  done  :  "  but,"  she  said,  "  my  body 
only  has  suft'ered  the  shame,  for  my  will  consented  not  to  the 
deed.  Therefore,"  she  cried,  "  avenge  me  on  the  wretch  Sextus. 
As  for  me,  though  my  heart  has  not  sinned,  1  can  live  no  longer. 
No  one  shall  say  that  Lucretia  set  an  example  of  living  in  un- 
chastity."  So  she  drew  forth  a  knife  and  stabbed  herself  to  the 
heart. 

When  they  saw  that,  her  father  and  her  husband  cried  aloud ; 
but  Brutus  drew  the  knife  from  the  wound,  and  holding  it  up, 
spoke  thus :  "  By  this  pure  blood  I  swear  before  the  gods  that  I 
will  pursue  L.  Tarquinius  the  Proud  and  all  his  bloody  house 
with  fire,  sword,  or  in  whatsoever  way  I  may,  and  that  neither 
they  nor  any  other  shall  hereafter  be  King  in  Rome."  Then  he 
gave  the  knife  to  Collatinus  and  Lucretius  and  Valerius,  and  they 
all  swore  likewise,  much  marvelling  to  hear  such  words  from 
L.  Junius  the  Dullard.  And  they  took  up  the  body  of  Lucretia, 
and  carried  it  into  the  Forum,  and  called  on  the  men  of  Collatia 
to  rise  against  the  tyrant.  So  they  set  a  guard  at  the  gates  of 
the  town,  to  prevent  any  news  of  the  matter  being  carried  to 
King  Tarquin :  and  they  themselves,  followed  by  the  youth  of 
Collatia,  went  to  Rome.  Here  Brutus,  who  was  Chief  Captain 
of  the  Knights,*  called  the  people  together ,  and  he  told  them 
what  had  been  done,  and  called  on  them  by  the  deed  of  shame 
wrought  against  Lucretius  and  Collatinus — by  all  that  they  had 
suffered  from  the  tyrants — by  the  abominable  murder  of  good 
King  Servius — to  assist  them  in  taking  vengeance  on  the  Tar- 
quins.  So  it  was  hastily  agreed  to  banish  Tarquinius  and  his 
family.  The  youth  declared  themselves  ready  to  follow  Brutus 
against  the  King's  army,  and  the  seniors  put  themselves  under 
the  rule  of  Lucretius,  the  Prefect  of  the  City.  In  this  tumult,  the 
wicked  Tullia  fled  from  her  house,  pursued  by  the  curses  of  all 
men,  who  prayed  that  the  avengers  of  her  father's  blood  might  be 
upon  her. 

When  the  King  heard  what  had  passed,  he  set  off  in  all  haste 
for  the  city.  Brutus  also  set  off  for  the  camp  at  Ardea ;  and  he 
turned  aside  that  he  might  not  meet  his  uncle  the  King.  So  he 
came  to  the  camp  at  Ardea,  and  the  King  came  to  Rome.  And 
all  the  Romans  at  Ardea  welcomed  Brutus,  and  joined  their  arms 
to  his,  and  thrust  out  all  the  King's  sons  from  the  camp.  But 
the  people  of  Rome  shut  the  gates  against  the  King,  so  that  he 
could  not  enter.  And  King  Tarquin,  with  his  sons  Titus  and 
Aruns,  went  into  exile  and  lived  at  Caere  in  Etruria.     But  Sextus 

*  Tribunus  Celerum. 


Chap.  IV.  EXPULSION  OF  TARQUIN.  63 

fled  to  Gabii,  where  he  had  before  held  rule,  and  the  people  of 
Gabii  slew  him  in  memory  of  his  former  cruelty. 

So  L.  Tarquinius  Superbus  was  expelled  from  Rome,  after  he  had 
been  King  tive-and-twenty  years.  And  in  memory  of  this  event 
was  instituted  a  festival  called  the  Regifugium  or  P\igalia,  which 
was  celebrated  every  year  on  the  24tli  day  of  February.* 

§  8.  To  gratify  the  Plebeians,  the  Patricians  consented  to  re- 
store, in  some  measure  at  least,  the  popular  institutions  of  King 
Servius ;  and  it  was  resolved  to  follow  his  supposed  intention  with 
regard  to  the  supreme  government — that  is,  to  have  two  Magis- 
trates elected  every  year,  who  were  to  have  the  same  power  as  the 
King  during  the  time  of  their  rule.  These  were  in  after  days 
known  by  the  name  of  Consuls  ;  but  in  ancient  times  they  were 
called  Praetors  or  Judges  (Judices).  They  were  elected  at  the 
great  Assembly  of  the  Centuries ;  and  they  had  sovereign  power 
(imperium)  conferred  upon  them  by  the  Assembly  of  the  Curies. 
They  wore  a  robe  edged  with  violet  colour,  sat  in  their  chairs  of 
state  called  curule  chairs,  and  were  attended  by  twelve  lictors  each. 
These  lictors  carried  fasces,  or  bundles  of  rods,  out  of  which  arose 
an  axe,  in  token  of  the  power  of  life  and  death  possessed  by  the 
Consuls  as  successors  of  ihe  Kings.  But  only  one  of  them  at  a 
time  had  a  right  to  this  power  ;  and  in  token  thereof,  his  colleague's 
fasces  had  no  axes  in  them.  Each  retained  this  mark  of  sovereign 
power  (imperium)  for  a  month  at  a  time. 

The  first  Consuls  were  L.  Junius  Brutus  and  L.  Tarquinius  Col- 
latinus. 

§  9.  The  new  Consuls  filled  up  the  Senate  to  the  proper  num- 
ber of  three  hundred ;  and  the  new  Senators  were  called  Con-  - 
scripti,  while  the  old  members  retained  their  old  name  of  Patres. 
So  after  this  the  whole  Senate  was  addressed  by  speakers  as 
"  Patres,  Conscripti"  (i.  e.  Patres  et  Conscripti).  But  in  later  times 
it  was  forgotten  that  these  names  belonged  to  difi'erent  sorts  of 
persons,  and  the  whole  Senate  was  addressed  as  by  one  name, 
"  Patres  Conscripti." 

§  10.  The  name  of  King  was  hateful.  But  certain  sacrifices 
had  always  been  performed  by  the  King  in  person  ;  and  there- 
fore, to  keep  up  the  form,  a  person  was  still  chosen,  with  the 
title  of  Rex  Sacrorum  or  Rex  Sacrificulus,  to  perform  these  ofi'er- 
ings.  But  even  he  was  placed  under  the  authority  of  the  Chief 
Pontifex. 

§  11.  After  his  expulsion,  King  Tarquin  sent   messengers   to 

Rome  to   ask  that  his  property  should  be  given  up  to  him,  and 

the  Senate  decreed  that  his  prayer   should   be   granted.      But 

the  King's  ambassadors,  while  they  were  in  Rome,  stirred  up  the 

*  Ovid,  Fasti,  ii.  286. 


(j4  ROME  UNDER  THE  KINGS.  Sook  1. 

minds  of  the  young  men  and  others  who  had  been  favoured  by 
Tarquin,  so  that  a  plot  was  made  to  bring  him  back.  Among 
those  who  plotted  were  Titus  and  Tiberius,  the  sons  of  the  Consul 
Brutus ;  and  they  gave  letters  to  the  messengers  of  the  King.  But 
it  chanced  that  a  certain  slave  hid  himself  in  the  place  where  they 
met,  and  overheard  them  plotting ;  and  he  came  and  told  the 
thing  to  the  Consuls,  who  seized  the  messengers  of  the  King  with 
the  letters  upon  their  persons,  authenticated  by  the  seals  of  the 
young  men.  The  culprits  were  immediately  arrested ;  but  the 
ambassadors  were  let  go,  because  their  persons  were  regarded  as 
sacred.  And  the  goods  of  King  Tarquin  were  given  up  for  plun- 
der to  the  people. 

Then  the  traitors  were  brought  up  before  the  Consuls,  and  the 
sight  was  such  as  to  move  all  beholders  to  pity ;  for  among  them 
were  the  sons  of  L.  Junius  Brutus  himself,  the  First  Consul,  the 
liberator  of  the  Roman  people.  And  now  all  men  saw  how  Brutus 
loved  his  country ;  for  he  bade  the  lictors  put  all  the  traitors  to 
death,  and  his  own  sons  first ;  and  men  could  mark  in  his  face  the 
struggle  between  his  duty  as  a  chief  magistrate  of  Rome  and  his 
feelings  as  a  father.  And  while  they  praised  and  admired  him, 
they  pitied  him  yet  more.* 

Then  a  decree  of  the  Senate  was  made  that  no  one  of  the  blood 
of  the  Tarquins  should  remain  in  Rome.  And  since  Collatinus, 
the  Consul,  was  by  descent  a  Tarquin,  even  he  was  obliged  to  give 
up  his  office  and  return  to  Collatia.  In  his  room,  P.  Valerius  was 
chosen  Consul  by  the  people. 

This  was  the  first  attempt  to  restore  Tarquin  the  Proud. 

§  12.  When  Tarquin  saw  that  the  plot  at  home  had  failed,  he 
prevailed  on  the  people  of  Tarquinii  and  Veil  to  make  war  with 
him  against  the  Romans.  But  the  Consuls  came  out  against  them  ; 
Valerius  commanding  the  main  army,  and  Brutus  the  cavalry. 
And  it  chanced  that  Aruns,  the  King's  son,  led  the  cavalry  of  the 
enemy.  When  he  saw  Brutus  he  spurred  his  horse  against  him, 
and  Brutus  declined  not  the  combat.  So  they  rode  straight  at 
each  other  with  levelled  spears ;  and  so  fierce  was  the  shock,  that 
they  pierced  each  other  through  from  breast  to  back,  and  both 
fell  dead. 

Then,  also,  the  armies  fought,  but  the  battle  was  neither  won 
nor  lost.  But  in  the  night  a  voice  was  heard  by  the  Etruscans, 
saying  that  the  Romans  were  the  conquerors.  So  the  enemy 
fled  by  night ;  and  when  the  Romans  arose  in  the  morning,  there 
was  no  man  to  oppose  them.  Then  they  took  up  the  body  of 
Brutus,  and  departed  home,  and  buried  him  in  public  with  great 

^  *  "Infelix — utcunque  ferunt  ea  facta  minoresJ" — Aen.  vi,  823 — a  punctua- 
tion which  one  could  wish  it  possible  to  maintain. 


Chap.  IV.  ATTEMPTS  TO  RESTORE  TARQUIN.  65 

pomp ;  and  the  matrons  of  Rome  mourned  him  for  a  whole  year, 
because  he  had  avenged  the  injury  of  Lncretia. 

And  thus  the  second  attempt  to  restore  King  Tarquin  was  frus^ 
trated. 

§  13.  After  the  death  of  Brutus,  Publius  Valerius  ruled  the 
people  for  a  while  by  himself,  and  he  began  to  build  himself  a 
house  upon  the  ridge  called  Velia,  which  looks  down  upon  the 
Forum.  So  the  people  thought  that  he  was  going  to  make  him- 
self king ;  but  when  he  heard  this,  he  called  an  Assembly  of  the 
People,  and  appeared  before  them  with  his  fasces  lowered,  and 
with  no  axes  in  them,  whence  the  custom  remained  ever  after, 
that  no  consular  lictors  wore  axes  within  the  city,  and  no  Consul 
had  power  of  life  and  death  except  when  he  was  in  command  of 
his  legions  abroad.  And  he  pulled  down  the  beginning  of  his 
house  upon  the  Yelia,  and  built  it  below  that  hill.  Also  he  passed 
laws  that  every  Roman  citizen  might  appeal  to  the  people  against 
the  judgment  of  the  chief  magistrates.  Wherefore  he  was  greatly 
honoured  among  the  people,  and  was  called  Poplicola^  or  Friend 
of  the  People. 

After  this  Valerius  called  together  the  great  Assembly  of  the 
Centuries,  and  they  chose  Sp.  Lucretius,  father  of  Lucretius,  to 
succeed  Brutus.  But  he  was  an  old  man,  and  in  not  many  days 
he  died.     So  M.  Horatius  was  chosen  in  his  stead. 

§  14.  The  temple  on  the  Capitol  which  King  Tarquin  began 
had  never  yet  been  consecrated.  Then  Valerius  and  Horatius 
drew  lots  which  should  be  the  consecrator,  and  the  lot  fell  on 
Horatius.  But  the  friends  of  Valerius  murmured,  and  they  wished 
to  prevent  Horatius  from  having  the  honour ;  so  when  he  was  now 
saying  the  prayer  of  consecration,  with  his  hand  upon  the  door- 
post of  the  temple,  there  came  a  messenger,  who  told  him  that  his 
son  was  just  dead,  and  that  one  mourning  for  a  son  could  not 
rightly  consecrate  the  temple.  But  Horatius  kept  his  hand  upon 
the  door-post,  and  told  them  to  see  to  the  burial  of  his  son,  and 
finished  the  rites  of  consecration.  Thus  did  he  honour  the  gods 
evbU  above  his  own  son. 

§  15.  In  the  next  year  Valerius  was  again  made  Consul,  with 
T.  Lucretius;  and  Tarquinius,  despairing  now  of  aid  from  his 
friends  at  Veii  and  Tarquinii,  went  to  Lars  Porsenna  of  Clusium, 
'a  city  on  the  river  Clanis,  which  falls  into  the  Tiber.  Porsenna 
was  at  this  time  acknowledged  as  chief  of  the  twelve  Etruscan 
cities ;  and  he  assembled  a  powerful  army  and  came  to  Rome. 
He  came  so  quickly  that  he  reached  the  Tiber  and  was  near  the 
Sublician  Bridge  before  there  was  time  to  destroy  it ;  and  if  he 
had  crossed  it  the  city  would  have  been  lost.  Then  a  noble 
Roman,  called  Horatius  Codes,  of  the  Lucerian  tribe,  with  two 


66  ROME  UNDER  THE  KINGa  Book  I. 

friends — Sp.  Lartius,  a  Ramnian,  and  T.  Herminius,  a  Titian — 
posted  themselves  at  the  far  end  of  the  bridge,  and  defended  the 
passage  against  all  the  Etruscan  host,  while  the  Romans  were 
cutting  it  off  behind  them.  When  it  was  all  but  destroyed,  his 
two  friends  retreated  across  the  bridge,  and  Horatius  was  left  alone 
to  bear  the  whole  attack  of  the  enemy.  Well  he  kept  his  ground, 
standing  unmoved  amid  the  darts  which  were  showered  upon  his 
shield,  till  the  last  beams  of  the  bridge  fell  crashing  into  the  river. 
Then  he  prayed,  saying — "  Father  Tiber,  receive  me  and  bear  me 
up,  I  pray  thee."  So  he  plunged  in,  and  reached  the  other  side 
safely ;  and  the  Romans  honoured  him  greatly :  they  put  up  his 
statue  in  the  Comitium,  and  gave  him  as  much  land  as  he  could 
plough  round  in  a  day,  and  every  man  at  Rome  subscribed  the 
cost  of  one  day's  food  to  reward  him. 

Then  Porsenna,  disappointed  in  his  attempt  to  surprise  the  city, 
occupied  the  Hill  Janiculum,  and  besieged  the  city,  so  that  the 
people  were  greatly  distressed  by  hunger.  But  C.  Mucins,  a 
noble  youth,  resolved  to  deliver  his  country  by  the  death  of  the 
King.  So  he  armed  himself  with  a  dagger,  and  went  to  the  place 
where  the  King  was  used  to  sit  in  judgment.  It  chanced  that  the 
soldiers  were  receiving  their  pay  from  the  King's  secretary,  who 
sate  at  his  right  hand  splendidly  apparelled ;  and  as  this  man 
seemed  to  be  chief  in  authority.  Mucins  thought  that  this  must  be 
the  King;  so  he  stabbed  him  to  the  heart.  Then  the  guards 
seized  him  and  dragged  him  before  the  King,  who  was  greatly  en- 
raged, and  ordered  them  to  burn  him  alive  if  he  would  not  confess 
the  whole  affair.  Then  Mucins  stood  before  the  King,  and  said 
■ — "  See  how  little  thy  tortures  can  avail  to  make  a  brave  man  tell 
the  secrets  committed  to  him  ;"  and  so  saying,  he  thrust  his 
right  hand  into  the  fire  of  the  altar,  and  held  it  in  the  flame  with 
unmoved  countenance.  Then  the  King  marvelled  at  his  cour- 
age, and  ordered  him  to  be  spared,  and  sent  away  in  safety : 
"for,"  said  he,  "thou  art  a  brave  man,  and  hast  done  more  harm 
to  thyself  than  to  me."  Then  Mucins  replied,  "  Thy  generosity, 
O  King,  prevails  more  with  me  than  thy  threats.  Know  that 
three  hundred  Roman  youths  have  sworn  thy  death :  my  lot 
came  first.  But  all  the  rest  remain,  prepared  to  do  and  suffer 
like  myself."  So  he  was  let  go,  and  returned  home,  and  was 
called  Scsevola,  or  the  Left-handed^  because  his  right  hand  had 
been  burnt  off. 

King  Porsenna  was  greatly  moved  by  the  danger  he  had 
escaped ;  and  perceiving  the  obstinate  determination  of  tlie 
Romans,  he  offered  to  make  peace.  The  Romans  gladly  gave 
ear  to  his  words,  for  they  were  hard  pressed ;  and  they  con- 
sented to  give  back  all  the  land  which  they  had  won  from  the 


Chap.  IT.  ATTEMPTS  TO  RESTORE  TARQUI^.  67 

Etruscacns  beyond  the  Tiber.  And  they  gave  hostages  to  the 
King  in  pledge  that  they  would  obey  him  as  they  had  pro- 
mised, ten  youths  and  ten  maidens.  But  one  of  the  maidens, 
named  Cloelia,  had  a  man's  heart,  and  she  persuaded  all  her 
fellows  to  escape  from  the  King's  camp  and  swim  across 
the  Tiber.  At  first  King  Porsenna  was  wroth  ;  but  then  he  was 
much  amazed,  even  more  than  at  the  deeds  of  Horatius  and 
Mucins.  So  when  the  Romans  sent  back  Cloelia  and  her  fellow- 
maidens — for  they  would  not  break  faith  with  the  King — he  bade 
her  return  home  again,  and  told  her  she  might  take  whom  she 
pleased  of  the  youths  who  were  hostages ;  and  she  chose  those 
who  were  yet  boys,  and  restored  them  to  their  parents. 

So  the  Roman  people  gave  certain  lands  to  young  Mucins,  and 
they  set  up  an  equestrian  statue  to  the  bold  Cloelia  at  the  top  of 
the  Sacred  Way.  And  King  Porsenna  returned  home ;  and  thus 
the  third  and  most  formidable  attempt  to  bring  back  Tarquin 
failed. 

§  16.  When  Tarquin  now  found  that  he  had  no  hopes  of 
further  assistance  from  Porsenna  and  his  Etruscan  friends,  he 
went  and  dwelt  at  Tusculum,  where  Mamilius  Octavius,  his  son- 
in-law,  was  still  chief.  Then  the  thirty  Latin  cities  combined 
together,  and  made  this  Octavius  their  Dictator,  and  bound 
themselves  to  restore  their  old  friend  and  ally  King  Tarquin  to 
the  sovereignty  of  Rome. 

§  17.  P.  Valerius,  who  was  called  Poplicola,  was  now  dead,  and 
the  Romans  looked  about  for  some  chief  worthy  to  lead  them 
against  the  army  of  the  Latins.  Poplicola  had  been  made  Consul 
foar  times,  and  his  compeers  acknowledged  him  as  their  chief, 
and  all  men  submitted  to  him  as  to  a  king.  But  now  the  two 
Consuls  were  jealous  of  each  other;  nor  had  they  power  of  life 
and  death  within  the  city,  for  Valerius  (as  we  saw)  had  taken 
away  the  axes  from  the  fasces.  Now  this  was  one  of  the 
reasons  why  Brutus  and  the  rest  made  two  Consuls  instead  of 
one  king  :  for  they  said  that  neither  one  would  allow  the  other 
to  become  tyrant ;  and  since  they  only  held  office  for  one  year  at 
a  time,  they  might  be  called  on  to  give  account  of  their  govern- 
ment when  their  year  was  at  an  end. 

Yet  though  this  was  a  safeguard  of  liberty  in  times  of  peace, 
it  was  hurtful  in  time  of  war  ;  for  the  Consuls  chosen  by  the 
people  in  their  great  assemblies  were  not  always  skilful  generals; 
or  if  they  were  so,  they  were  obliged  to  lay  down  their  com- 
mand at  the  year's  end. 

So  the  Senate  determined,  in  cases  of  great  danger,  to  call 
upon  one  of  the  Consuls  to  appoint  a  single  chief,  who  should 
be  called  Dictator,  or  Master  of  the  People.     He  had  sovereign 


68  ROME  UNDER  THE  KINGS.  Book  \. 

power  (imperium)  both  in  the  city  and  out  of  the  city,  and  the 
fasces  were  always  carried  before  him  with  the  axes  in  them, 
as  they  had  been  before  the  king.  He  could  only  be  appointed 
for  six  months,  but  at  the  end  of  the  time  he  had  to  give  no 
account.  So  that  he  was  free  to  act  according  to  his  own 
judgment,  having  no  colleague  to  interfere  with  him  at  the 
present,  and  no  accusations  to  fear  at  a  future  time.  The  Dictator 
was  general-in-chief,  and  he  appointed  a  chief  officer  to  command 
ftie  knights  under  him,  who  was  called  Master  of  the  Horse. 

And  now  it  appeared  to  be  a  fit  time  to  appoint  such  a  chief, 
to  take  the  command  of  the  army  against  the  Latins.  So  the 
first  Dictator  was  T.  Lartius ;  and  he  made  Spurius  Cassius  his 
Master  of  the  Horse.  This  was  in  the  year  499  b.c,  eight  years 
after  the  expulsion  of  Tarquin. 

§  18.  But  the  Latins  did  not  declare  war  for  two  years  after. 
Then  the  Senate  again  ordered  the  Consul  to  name  a  Master  of 
the  People,  or  Dictator ;  and  he  named  Aul.  Postumius,  who 
appointed  T.  JEbutius  (one  of  the  Consuls  of  that  year)  to  be 
his  Master  of  the  Horse.  So  they  led  out  the  Roman  army 
against  the  Latins,  and  they  met  at  the  Lake  Regillus,  in 
the  land  of  the  Tusculans.  King  Tarquin  and  all  his  family 
were  in  the  host  of  the  Latins ;  and  that  day  it  was  to  be  deter- 
mined whether  Rome  should  be  again  subject  to  the  tyrant,  and 
whether  or  no  she  was  to  be  chief  of  the  Latin  cities. 

King  Tarquin  himself,  old  as  he  was,  rode  in  front  of  the 
Latins  in  full  armour  ;  and  when  he  descried  the  Roman  Dictator 
marshalling  his  men,  he  rode  at  him  ;  but  Postumius  wounded 
him  in  the  side,  and  he  was  rescued  by  the  Latins.  Then  also 
^butius,  the  Master  of  the  Horse,  and  Oct.  Mamilius,  the 
Dictator  of  the  Latins,  charged  one  another,  and  ^butius  was 
pierced  through  the  arm,  and  Mamilius  wounded  in  the  breast. 
But  the  Latin  chief,  nothing  daunted,  returned  to  battle,  fol- 
lowed by  Titus,  the  King's  son,  with  his  band  of  exiles.  These 
charged  the  Romans  furiously,  so  that  they  gave  way  ;  but  when 
M.  Valerius,  brother  of  the  great  Poplicola,  saw  this,  he  spurred 
his  horse  against  Titus,  and  rode  at  him  with  spear  in  rest :  and 
when  Titus  turned  away  and  fled,  Valerius  rode  furiously  after 
him  into  the  midst  of  the  Latin  host,  and  a  certain  Latin  smote 
him  in  the  side  as  he  was  riding  past,  so  that  he  fell  dead,  and 
his  horse  galloped  on  without  a  rider.  So  the  band  of  exiles 
pressed  still  more  fiercely  upon  the  Romans,  and  they  began  to 
flee.  Then  Postumius  the  Dictator  lifted  up  his  voice  and  vowed 
a  temple  to  Castor  and  Pollux,  the  great  twin  heroes  of  the 
Greeks,  if  they  would  aid  him ;  and  behold  there  appeared  on  his 
right  two  horsemen,  taller  and  fairer  than  the  sons  of  men,  and 


Chap.  IY  ATTEMPTS  TO  RESTORE  TARQUIN.  69 

their  horses  were  as  white  as  snow.  And  they  led  the  Dictator, 
and  his  guard  against  the  exiles  and  the  Latins,  and  the  Romans 
prevailed  against  them ;  and  T.  Herminius,  the  Titian,  the  friend 
of  Horatius  Codes,  ran  Mamilius,  the  Dictator  of  the  Latins, 
through  the  body,  so  that  he  died  ;  but  when  he  was  stripping 
the  arms  from  his  foe,  another  ran  him  through,  and  he  was 
carried  back  to  the  camp,  and  he  also  died.  Then  also  Titus, 
the  King's  son,  was  slain,  and  the  Latins  fled,  and  the  Romans 
pursued  them  with  great  slaughter,  and  took  their  camp  and  all 
that  was  in  it.  Now  Postumius  had  promised  great  rewards  to 
those  who  first  broke  into  the  camp  of  the  Latins,  and  the  first 
who  broke  in  were  the  two  horsemen  on  white  horses ;  but  after 
the  battle  they  were  nowhere  to  be  seen  or  found,  nor  was  there 
any  sign  of  them  left,  save  on  the  hard  rock  there  was  the  mark 
of  a  horse's  hoof,  which  men  said  was  made  by  the  horse  of  one 
of  those  horsemen. 

But  at  this  very  time  two  youths  on  white  horses  rode  into 
the  Forum  at  Rome.  They  were  covered  with  dust  and  sweat 
and  blood,  like  men  who  had  fought  long  and  hard,  and  their 
horses  also  were  bathed  in  sweat  and  foam  :  and  they  alighted 
near  the  Temple  of  Vesta,  and  washed  themselves  in  a  spring 
that  gushes  out  hard  by,  and  told  all  the  people  in  the  Forum 
how  the  battle  by  the  Lake  Regillus  had  been  fought  and  won. 
Then  they  mounted  their  horses  and  rode  away,  and  were  seen 
no  more. 

But  Postumius,  when  he  heard  it,  knew  that  these  were 
Castor  and  Pollux,  the  great  twin  brethren  of  the  Greeks,  and 
that  it  was  they  who  fought  so  well  for  Rome  at  the  Lake 
Regillus.  So  he  built  them  a  temple,  according  to  his  vow,  over 
the  place  where  they  had  alighted  in  the  Forum.*  And  their 
effigies  were  displayed  on  Roman  coins  to  the  latest  ages  of  the 
city.f 

§  19.  This  was  the  fourth  and  last  attempt  to  restore  King 
Tarquin.  After  the  great  defeat  of  Lake  Regillus,  the  Latin 
cities  made  peace  with  Rome,  and  agreed  to  refuse  harbourage 
to  the  old  King.  He  had  lost  all  his  sons,  and,  accompanied 
by  a  few  faithful  friends,  who  shared  his  exile,  he  sought  a  ]ast 
asylum  at  the  Greek  city  of  Cumse  in  the  Bay  of  Naples,  at 
the  court  of  the  tyrant  Aristodemus.  Here  he  died  in  the  course 
of  a  year,  fourteen  years  after  his  expulsion. 

*  See  the  plan  of  the  Forum.  Chapt.  iii.  §  24. 

f  See  the  cuts  at  the  end  of  Chapt.  viii.  and  head  of  Chapt.  x. 


Bust  of  Niebuhr. 

CHAPTER    Y. 

OBSERVATIONS  ON  THE  HISTORY  OF  ROME  UNDER  THE  KINGS. 

§  1.  Nature  of  Legendary  History.  §  2.  Among  Greeks.  §  3.  Among  Ro- 
mans. §  4.  Religious  and  Historical  Legends.  §  5.  Tendency  to  propagate 
historical  legends  in  all  times.  §  6.  Detection  of  incongruities  in  early 
Roman  history :  difficulties  explained  away  by  ancient  critics.  §  7.  Modem 
critics,  before  and  after  Niebuhr.  §  8.  Relation  of  stories  of  Kings  to  actual 
history.  §9.  Romulus  and  Numa.  §10.  Tullus  and  Ancus.  §11.  Tar- 
quinius  Priscus  and  Servius.  §12.  Tarquinius  Superbus.  §13.  Character 
of  next  Book. 

§  1.  Few  persons  will  now  be  found  to  dispute  the  position 
that  the  early  history  of  Rome,  like  that  of  all  nations,  begins 
with  legendary  tales.  Such  Legends  are  not  to  be  regarded  as 
mere  Romances,  that  is,  fictions  invented  by  persons  of  lively 
imagination  for  the  purpose  of  giving  pleasure  and  amusement 
to  their  hearers  or  readers.  They  are  older  and  more  genuine 
than  such  professed  romances.  Among  all  nations  in  a  rude 
and  simple  state,  tales  will  be  found  current  which  pass  from 
mouth  to  mouth  without  suspicion  that  they  are  not  absolutely 
true.  They  are  not  written,  because  they  date  from  times  when 
writing  is  unknown ;  and  the  mere  fact  of  their  being  repeated 


Chap.  V.  NATURE  01^'  EARLY  HISTORY.  71 

by  word  of  mouth  causes  a  perpetual  variation  in  the  .  narra- 
tives. The  same  original  story  being  handed  down  tradition- 
ally by  two  different  tribes,  which  have  been  separated  from 
each  other,  or  which  are  animated  by  hostile  feelings,  will  in  a 
very  short  time  assume  extremely  difterent  forms.  Names,* 
circumstances,  everything,  except  some  dominant  thought,  may 
have  been  changed,  and  yet  the  origin  may  be  the  same.  No 
fraud  is  intended  or  committed.  The  alterations  arise  naturally 
from  the  causes  which  have  been  indicated. 

§  2.  Among  the  Greeks  such  legendary  lore  is  chiefly  connected 
with  religious  ideas.  The  Legends  or  /uidoi  of  that  lively  race 
may  mostly  be  traced  to  that  sort  of  awe  or  wonder  with  which 
simple  and  uneducated  minds  regard  the  changes  and  movements 
of  the  natural  world.  The  direct  and  easy  way  in  which  the 
imagination  of  such  persons  accounts  for  marvellous  phenomena 
is  to  refer  them  to  the  operation  of  Persons.  When  the  atten- 
tion is  excited  by  the  regular  movements  of  sun  and  moon  and 
stars,  by  the  alternations  of  day  and  night,  by  the  recurrence  of 
the  seasons,  by  the  rising  and  falling  of  the  seas,  by  the  ceaseless 
flow  of  rivers,  by  the  gathering  of  clouds,  the  rolling  of  thunder, 
and  the  flashing  of  lightning,  by  the  operation  of  life  in  the 
vegetable  and  animal  worlds,  in  short  by  any  exhibition  of  an 
active  and  motive  power, — it  is  natural  for  uninstructed  minds 
to  consider  such  changes  and  movements  as  the  work  of  divine 
Persons.  In  this  manner  the  early  Greek  Legends  associate 
themselves  with  personification  of  the  powers  of  nature.  All 
attempts  to  account  for  the  marvels  which  surround  us  are 
foregone  ;  everything  is  referred  to  the  immediate  operation  of 
a  god.  "  Cloud-compelling"  Zeus  is  the  author  of  the  pheno- 
mena of  the  air;  "Earth-shaking"  Poseidon  of  all  that  happens 
in  the  water  under  the  earth  ;  Nymphs  are  attached  to  every 
spring  and  tree ;  Demeter,  or  Mother  Earth,  for  six  months 
rejoices  in  the  presence  of  Proserpine,  the  green  herb,  her 
daughter,  and  for  six  months  forgets  her  absence  in  dark  abodes 
beneath  the  earth. 

This  tendency  to  deify  the  powtis  of  nature  is  due  partly  to 
a  clear  atmosphere  and  sunny  climate,  which  inclines  a  people 
to  live  much  in  the  open  air  in  close  communion  with  all  that 
nature  offers  to  charm  the  senses  and  excite  the  imagination, 
partly  to  the  character  of  the  people,  and  partly  to  the  poets 
who  in  early  times  have  wrought  these  legendary  tales  into 
works,  which  are  read  with  increased  delight  in  ages  when 
science  and  method  have  banished  the  simple  faith  which  pro- 
cured acceptance  for  these  legends.  Among  the  Greeks  all  these 
*  See  note  on  Chapt.  li.  §  3. 


72  ROME  UNDER  THE  KINGS.  Book  I. 

conditions  were  found  existing.  They  lived,  so  to  say,  out  of 
doors ;  their  powers  of  observation  were  extremely  quick,  and 
their  imagination  singularly  vivid;  and  their  ancient  poems  are 
the  most  noble  specimens  of  the  old  legendary  tales  that  have 
been  preserved  in  any  country.* 

§  3.  But  among  the  Romans  all  is  different.  We  find  few 
traces  of  this  Religious  Legend  among  them.  What  may  have 
been  the  case  in  the  earliest  times  we  know  not ;  but  the  Roman 
poets  whose  works  we  possess  adopted  the  mythology  of  Greece, 
and  transferred  to  the  Sabine  and  Latin  divinities  the  attributes 
and  actions  of  the  Hellenic  gods,  so  that  we  are  often  presented 
with  the  strange  anomaly  of  Italian  divinities  disporting  them- 
selves on  the  hills  and  in  the  valleys  of  Thcssaly  or  Arcadia. 
But  if  there  is  not  much  of  the  native  Religious  Legend  among 
the  Romans,  there  is  found  another  kind  of  Legend  in  greater 
fulness  and  beauty  than  perhaps  among  any  other  people. 

§  4.  We  are  thus  brought  to  a  distinction  which  it  is  neces- 
sary to  make  in  the  Legends  of  all  nations.  One  class  may  be 
called  the  Religious  Legend,  of  which  we  have  briefly  spoken ;  the 
other  is  the  Heroic  or  Historical,  of  which  we  have  now  to  speak. 
The  Religious  Legend  pretends  to  explain  the  nature  of  the 
universe  and  its  history ;  the  Heroic  Legend  seeks  to  determine 
the  early  history  of  the  particular  people  among  whom  it  is 
found  existing.  As  the  poetic  fancy  of  the  Greek  inclined  him 
to  the  former  kind,  so  the  practical  and  business-like  character 
of  the  Roman  mind  cared  little  for  the  mysteries  of  nature,  but 
loved  to  dwell  upon  the  origin  and  early  fortunes  of  their  own 
great  city. 

§  5.  This  tendency  to  hero-worship,  which  is  indicated  by  the 
prevalence  of  the  Heroic  Legend,  generally  exerts  its  influence 
to  a  very  late  period  in  a  nation's  life,  or  rather  it  may  be  said 
never  to  die  away  entirely.     A  correcter  natural  philosophy  ha« 

*  Compare  the  beautiful  passage  in  the  fourth  book  of  the  Excwrsion : 
"  The  hvely  Grecian,  in  a  land  of  hills, 
Rivers,  and  fertile  plains,  and  sounding  shores, 
Under  a  cope  of  variegated  sky, 
Could  find  commodious  place  for  every  god,"  eta 

And  again : — 

"  The  traveller  slaked 
His  thirst  from  rill  or  gushing  fount,  and  thanked 
The  Naiad.     Sunbeams,  upon  distant  hills 
Gliding  apace,  with  shadows  in  their  train, 
Might,  with  small  help  from  fancy,  be  transformed 
Into  fleet  Oreads  sporting  visibly. 
The  Zeyphers,  fanning,  as  they  passed,  their-  wings, 
Lacked  not,  for  love,  fair  objects,  whom  they  wooed 
With  gentle  whisper,"  etc 


Chap.  V  NATURE  OF  EARLY  HISTORY.  73 

banished  from  most  minds  this  belief  in  particular  divine  beings 
exercising  particular  influence  on  streams,  and  skies,  and  trees  * 
But  no  sooner  does  a  man  occupy  any  space  in  the  public  mind, 
than  all  kinds  of  tales  concerning  his  sayings  and  doings  pass 
current  from  mouth  to  mouth,  and  things  are  believed  of  him 
either  for  good  or  evil  which  have  very  slender  foundation  in 
truth.  To  children  their  parents,  to  young  people  their  masters, 
to  grown  men  their  poets  and  philosophers,  their  statesmen  and 
generals,  or  any  one  who  raises  himself  above  the  crowd  by  ex- 
traordinary actions,  good  or  bad,  have  an  existence  more  or  less 
mythical ;  that  is,  they  are  the  heroes  of  many  tales,  which  are 
unconsciously  invented,  transmitted,  altered,  magnified,  and  be- 
lieved. Education  and  the  press  have  done  much  to  diminish  this 
propensity  to  mythology ;  the  more  persons  are  brought  into  im- 
mediate contact  with  the  great,  the  more  are  they  disabused  of 
imaginative  fancies  with  regard  to  them.  But  the  spirit  can 
never  wholly  be  eradicated,  nor  indeed  is  its  eradication  produc- 
tive of  unmixed  good.  It  is  impossible  to  conceive  a  society  of 
men  so  penetrated  by  philosophical  culture  as  to  have  become 
incapable  of  inventing  and  receiving  legendary  tales  in  some  shape 
or  other. 

§  6.  It  is  well  known  that  the  Legends  of  Roman  history  were 
long  repeated  and  regarded  as  sober  historic  truths.  Some  keen- 
sighted  critics  were  excited  to  examine  them,  and  they  proved 
by  a  long  and  careful  investigation  that  they  had  no  claim  to  be 
so  regarded.f  Impossibilities  were  pointed  out,  discrepancies 
of  time  and  fact  noted,  variations  of  the  same  story,  as  told  by 

*  See  Coleridge's  translation  of  Schiller's  Wcdlenstein,  act  iL  sa  4: — 
"  The  intelligible  forms  of  ancient  poets, 
The  fair  humanities  of  old  religion, 
The  power,  the  beauty,  and  the  majesty, 
That  had  their  haunts  in  dale  or  piny  mountain, 
Or  forest  by  slow  stream,  or  pebbly  spring, 
Or  chasms  and  wat'ry  depths ; — all  these  have  vanish'd ; 
They  live  no  longer  in  the  faith  of  reason  I" 
f  The  first,  and  probably  the  ablest,  of  these  sceptical  critics  was  Perizoniua, 
a  G-erman.     But  his  work  {Animadversiones  Historicce)  was  written  in  Latin, 
and  addressed  only  to  the  learned.     Gianbattista  Vico,  an  Italian  of  extraor- 
dinary genius,  mixed  up  his  historical  speculations  with  so  much  of  mysticism 
and  obscurity,  that  they  also  produced  but  little  effect.     The  person  who  next 
shook  the  credit  of  the  old  Roman  history  was  the  Frenchman  Beaufort,  who, 
with  the  clear  and  cool  calculation  of  his  nation,  made  the  discrepancies  and 
variations  clear  to  the  least  attentive,  in  his  essay,  Sur  V Incertitude  de  VHis- 
toire  Romaine.     It  is  characteristic  at  least,  that  he  was  first  stimulated  to  his 
investigations  by  national  pique.    He  was  indignant  at  the  tale  that  the  brave 
Gauls  of  Brennus  were  defeated  by  CamiUus,  and  his  successful  confutation 
of  this  legend  led  him  on  to  more  adventurous  fiights.     The  immediate  results 
of  his  work  may  be  seen  in  <->ie  histories  of  Hook  and  Ferguson. 

4 


74  fiOME  UNDER  THE  KINGS.  Book  L 

different  writers,  brought  forward.  Even  in  ancient  times  the 
miraculous  nature  of  many  of  these  Legends  was  a  stumbling- 
block  to  sober  annalists.  The  course  these  writers  took  in 
ancient  times  was  what  we  now  know  by  the  name  of  rationalism. 
They  retained  all  the  statements  of  the  legends,  but  explained 
them  so  as  to  suit  common  prose.  The  Golden  Fleece  was  a  ship 
in  which  Medea  and  Jason  escaped ;  the  Bull  was  a  ship  in  which 
Europa  was  carried  off  by  Jove,  and  so  forth.  In  Grecian  litera- 
ture the  chief  rationalist  was  named  Euhemeros ;  in  Roman  L. 
Calpurnius  Piso  played  the  same  part. 

§  v.  But  the  modern  critics  who  showed  the  discrepancies  and 
variations  of  the  ancient  Legends  took  a  different  course.  It  was 
not  the  marvellous  and  supernatural  incidents  that  attracted 
their  notice ;  for  after  all  there  are  not  many  of  such  kind  in 
Roman  annals.  It  was  the  manifest  falsehood  of  many  of  the 
early  stories,  which  attracted  notice, — the  exaltation  of  indivi- 
dual heroes,  the  concealment  of  defeats  and  losses  on  the  part  of 
Rome.  The  most  striking  among  these  inventions,  as  we  shall 
show  below,  are  the  stories  of  Porsenna  and  Camillus.  The  im- 
mediate effect  of  these  discoveries  was,  that  for  a  time  the  annals 
of  early  Roman  history  were  passed  over  in  almost  contemptuous 
silence.  It  was  then  that  Niebuhr  arose.  He  acknowledged 
the  sagacity  of  these  critics,  and  conceded  to  them  that  the 
early  history,  if  regarded  as  an  actual  narrative  of  facts,  was 
wholly  unreal ;  but  he  refused  to  throw  it  all  aside  as  arbitrar)' 
fiction.  He  showed  that  the  early  history  of  Rome,  like  that  of 
all  nations,  was  mythical  or  legendary,  containing  a  poetical 
account  of  the  first  ages  of  the  city,  and  not  a  sober  historical  nar- 
rative ;  but  the  legendary  traditions  of  the  Roman  people  parti- 
cularly are,  he  contended,  so  rich  and  so  beautiful,  that  they  give 
an  insight  into  the  early  genius  of  the  people  which  would  never 
have  been  divined  from  the  imitative  literature  which  has  been 
handed  down  as  Roman.  Moreover,  mingled  up  with  the  poetic 
legends  of  which  we  speak,  there  are  accounts  of  laws  and  institu- 
tions which  undeniably  existed,  such  as  the  regulations  attributed 
to  Romulus  and  Numa,  and  the  popular  reforms  of  which  the 
elder  Tarquin  and  Servius  Tullius  are  the  reputed  authors. 
There  are  also  great  works,  in  part  remaining  to  the  present 
•day,  of  which  these  Legends  tell — such  as  the  Cloaca  Maxima, 
the  Substructions  of  the  Capitol,  the  Agger  of  Servius  Tullius. 
Here  we  have  realities  which  cannot  be  put  aside  as  children's 
tales. 

§  8.  At  present  we  have  only  to  estimate  the  relation  which 
iho  chronicles  of  Regal  Rome  bear  to  actual  historical  fact. 

The  reigns  of  the  seven  Kings  have  been  thrown  into  four 


Sect.  V.  NATURE  OF  EARLV  HISTORY.  YS 

chapters  purposely.  Each  of  these  sections  presents  a  legendary 
character  of  its  own.  The  accounts  of  Romulus  and  Numa  differ 
essentially  from  those  of  Tullus  and  Ancus ;  and  all  these  differ 
more  widely  from  the  chronicle  of  the  first  Tarquin  and  of  Servius; 
while  the  story  of  the  last  Tarquin  brings  us  into  the  atmosphere 
of  romance  in  which  we  move  during  the  first  century  and  a  half 
of  the  Republic. 

§  9.  The  reigns  of  Romulus  and  Numa  are  in  the  realm  of  pure 
mythology.  Romulus,  like  ^neas,  is  the  son  of  a  god;  Numa, 
like  Anchises,  is  the  favoured  lover  of  a  goddess.  Romulus  is  the 
man  of  force,  for  Roma  {p(^lirj)  signifies  strength  and  vigour, 
Numa  is  the  man  of  law,  for  numus  {yoiioq)  signifies  law.  Under 
chese  typical  names  is  embodied,  in  beautiful  legends,  the  origin  of 
the  social,  political,  and  religious  institutions  of  Rome.  How  long 
a  period  is  thus  symbolised,  or  how  many  generations  of  kings,  it 
is  impossible  to  guess. 

But  under  the  mythical  story  of  these  reigns  we  may  clearly 
discern  historical  truth.  We  see  in  them  a  continual  struggle 
between  the  original  Latin  influence  and  the  Sabine.  Romulus 
the  Roman  founds  the  city,  and  is  obliged  to  admit  into  partner- 
ship Titus  the  Sabine,  who  occupies  both  the  Quirinal  and  Satur- 
nian  Hills.  Then  Titus  is  slain  by  Latins,  and  the  Roman  King 
regains  ascendancy  for  a  time.  But  he  is  carried  miraculously 
from  the  earth,  is  worshipped  under  a  Sabine  name,  and  a  Sabine 
king  succeeds.  Here  we  trace  the  indisputable  symptoms  of 
Sabine  conquest.  The  admission  of  Sabines  into  the  city  at  all 
suggests  this ;  their  occupation  of  the  stronghold  on  the  Saturnian 
Hill  confirms  it ;  the  assumption  of  a  Sabine  name  by  the  Roman 
king,  and  the  appellation  of  Quirites  given  to  the  united  citizens, 
prove  it.* 

It  is  probable,  indeed,  that  the  early  institutions  of  Rome  are 
Sabine  rather  than  Latin.  The  religious  ordinances  of  Numa 
are  confessedly  so.     There  is  reason  to  think  that  the  same  is 

*  Above,  Chapt.  i.  §  10,  Quirites  has  been  rendered  "Men  of  the  Spear," 
according  to  the  first  derivation  thus  quoted  from  Ovid.  It  is  objected  that 
this  appellation,  which  is  always  used  of  the  Romans  in  their  civil  capacity, 
while  as  conquerors  they  are  always  called  Populus  Romanus,  ill  accords  with 
this  explanation.  In  answer,  it  is  suggested  that  the  term  Quirites,  originally 
meaning  "  united  warriors,"  lost  its  warlike,  and  retained  only  its  political, 
sense  of  union.  From  the  notion  of  union  or  brotherhood,  it  follows  (which  is 
the  fact)  that  the  singular  Quiris  was  not  properly  used  at  all.  Niebuhr  sup- 
poses that  the  common  phrase,  Fupulus  Eomanus  Quirites,  stood  for  Populus 
Romanus  et  Quirites,  according  to  the  forms  of  ancient  Latin.  But,  on  the 
above  hypothesis,  this  cannot  be  so.  Quirites  can  hardly  denote  a  body  dis- 
tinct from  Populus  Romanus ;  and  the  phrase  must  be  equivalent  to  Pop.  Rom. 
Quiritium,  which  is  not  unfrcquent.  See  the  proof  in  Becker's  Roman  Antir 
quities,  vol.  ii.  part  i.  page  21,  sqq. 


76  ROME  UKDER  THE  KINGS.  Book  I. 

true  also  of  the  social  and  political  regulations  attributed  to 
Romulus. 

For  example,  the  relations  of  Patrons  and  Clients  almost  neces- 
sarily imply  a  conquering  and  a  conquered  people.  The  Clients 
we  may  presume  to  be  the  Aborigines,  a  Pelasgian  tribe,  first  re- 
duced by  Oscans,  and  afterwards  by  Sabines.  On  the  conquest  by 
the  Sabines,  it  may  be  supposed  that  the  chief  Oscan  families  were 
almitted  to  equality  with  the  conquerors,  either  at  once  or  in 
the  course  of  a  short  time  :  while  the  mass  of  the  Osco-Pelasgian 
population  sank  into  the  condition  of  Russian  serfs  or  of  feudal 
vassals. 

Something  not  very  dissimilar  occurred  after  the  conquest  of 
England  by  William  the  Norman.  The  great  Saxon  families  were 
not  doomed  to  ruin  by  the  Conqueror  till  a  wide-spread  rebellion 
had  convinced  him  that  he  could  not  retain  his  power  but  by  fear: 
and  even  then  the  French  wars  soon  promoted  an  equality  between 
the  Norman  lords  and  the  Saxon  chiefs,  while  the  mass  of  the 
nation  remained  in  a  state  of  serfdom.  It  is,  in  like  manner,  very 
probable  that  the  dominion  of  the  Sabines  was  relaxed,  in  conse- 
quence of  war  with  their  neighbours  the  Latins  and  Etruscans ; 
and  it  is  very  possible  that  the  patriotism  of  later  Roman  minstrels 
may  have  confounded  the  Sabines  with  their  own  progenitors  ;  just 
as  the  Norman-French  of  England  soon  learned  to  glory  in  the 
name  of  Englishmen. 

On  the  whole,  then,  it  seems  not  unlikely  that  the  reigns  of 
Romulus  and  Numa  represents  a  period  of  Sabine  supremacy  ; 
during  which  institutions  arose  of  Sabine  origin  and  character,  but 
so  moulded  and  modified  as  to  suit  the  genius  of  the  combined 
people ;  and  that  slowly,  but  surely,  the  spirit  and  genius  of  the 
Latin  people  prevailed  over  the  smaller  numbers  of  their  Sabine 
conquerors,  just  as  the  spirit  and  genius  of  the  Anglo-Saxons  gra- 
dually overpowered  the  Roman  influence. 

§  10.  The  reigns  of  Tullus  and  Ancus  present,  in  some  mea- 
sure, a  repetition  of  those  of  Romulus  and  Numa.  The  Roman 
King  dies  by  a  strange  and  sudden  death  ;  the  Sabine  succeeds. 
But  the  miraculous  has  disappeared.  The  Kings  are  ordinary 
mortals,  not  the  sons  and  spouses  of  divinities ;  and  there  is 
very  little  even  of  heroic  legend.  But  there  are  a  few  naked 
facts  which  are  no  doubt  historical.  The  destruction  of  Alba 
by  Tullus,  the  conquest  of  Politorium  and  the  Latin  shore  by 
Ancus,  and  the  rapid  growth  of  an  independent  Commonalty 
by  the  side  of  their  Patrons  and  their  Clients,  are  evidently 
beyond  the  range  of  legendary  tales.  There  are  few  signs  here 
of  hostility  between  Latin  and  Sabine  interest.  The  reigns  of 
Tullus  and  Ancus  seem  to  denote  a  period  in  which  the  two 


Chap.  V.  NATURE  OF  EARLY  HISTORY.  77 

nations,  though  still  distinct,  were  going  through  a  rapid  process 
of  fusion. 

§11.  With  the  elder  Tarquin  and  Servius  the  scene  changes 
suddenly.  The  differences  between  Romans  and  Sabines  have  dis- 
appeared ;  the  fusion  of  the  Rhamnian  and  Titian  tribes  is  com- 
plete. But  the  third  Tribe,  the  Lucerian,  which  the  Legends 
(erroneously,  no  doubt,)  represent  as  coeval  with  the  other  two, 
and  which  had  been  hitherto  kept  in  a  subordinate  position,  now 
starts  into  political  life.  It  seems  originally  to  have  been  of  a 
mixed  race,  partly  Etruscan,  partly  Latin,  though  gradually  the 
Latin  preponderated,  and  the  Etruscan  element  at  length  dis- 
appeared. This  mixture  is  indicated  by  the  varying  accounts 
which  are  given  of  the  birthplace  and  family  of  Tarquin  and  Ser- 
vius. The  former  is  commonly  represented  as  an  Etruscan  emi- 
grant, but  one  Legend  calls  him  a  Latin ;  the  latter  is  generally 
regarded  as  a  Latin,  but  one  Legend  makes  him  an  Etruscan  chief, 
named  Mastarna,  the  comrade  of  Caeles  Vibenna.  Yet,  so  vague 
and  baffling  is  the  language  of  these  Legends,  that  after  all  inves- 
tigations, nothing  more  can  be  said  than  that  the  bulk  of  the  third 
Tribe  was  manifestly  Latin,  and  that  whatever  there  was  in  Rome 
K)f  Etruscan  decayed  and  vanished  away. 

Yet  it  is  certain  that,  under  these  kings,  Rome  became  the 
centre  of  a  considerable  monarchy,  extending  her  sway  over  Lower 
Etruria  and  all  Latium.  This  is  proved  not  only  by  the  concur- 
rent voice  of  all  the  Legends,  but  also  most  convincingly  by  the 
great  works  which  still  remain  to  attest  the  power  and  wealth  of 
those  who  executed  them,  the  Cloacae  of  Tarquin,  the  walls  of  Ser- 
vius, and  the  great  extent  of  ground  enclosed  by  them,  and  the 
plan  of  the  Capitoline  Temple.  To  this  subject  we  have  to  recur 
at  the  beginning  of  our  next  chapter. 

Further,  it  is  certain  that  under  these  kings  the  old  oligar- 
chical constitution  was  in  great  measure  superseded.  Anciently, 
the  Kings,  according  to  the  Sabine  rule,  had  been  the  chiefs  in 
war ;  but  in  peace  their  power  was  almost  limited  to  the  duty  of 
presiding  in  the  oligarchical  assembly  of  the  Curise,  and  in  the 
Council  of  the  Senate.  Their  power  of  life  and  death  was  limited 
by  the  right  of  appeal  to  the  Curiate  Assembly  belonging  to 
every  burgess,  as  is  shown  in  the  legend  of  Horatius.  But  Tar- 
quin admitted  great  numbers  of  new  burgesses  to  leaven  the 
oligarchy,  and  Servius  remoulded  the  whole  population,  in  which 
the  independent  commonalty  now  formed  the  chief  part,  into  a 
new  political  frame.  It  cannot  be  doubted  that  with  the  decrease 
in  the  power  of  the  Oligarchy  that  of  the  Kings  increased.  The 
reigns  of  Tarquin  the  Elder  and  Servius  represent  a  period  in 
which  the  old  Sabino-Roman  Oligarchy  gave  way  before  the  royal 


Y8  ROME  UNDER  THE  KINGS.  Book  I. 

power,  supported  by  the  Latin  Plebs,  just  as  in  England  the 
Commons  were  called  into  political  existence  by  the  Plantagenet 
kings  to  counterbalance  the  overwhelming  power  of  the  feudal 
aristocracy. 

§  12.  The  reign  of  the  last  Tarquin  represents  the  consumma- 
tion of  this  work.  Royalty  is  now  despotic.  The  Plebeians 
having  served  the  purpose  of  lowering  the  Oligarchy,  are  cast 
aside,  and  a  despotic  monarchy  overrules  both  alike.  As  the 
leigns  of  Tullus  and  Ancus,  of  the  elder  Tarquin  and  Servius, 
though  they  present  much  of  real  political  interest,  are  almost 
empty  of  legendary  tales,  so  the  accounts  of  the  last  Tarquin  are 
nothing  but  a  series  of  Heroic  Legends,  begmning  with  the  death 
of  Servius,  and  closing  with  the  great  battle  of  Lake  Regillus. 
All  that  we  can  collect  from  these  Legends  is,  that  Tarquin  the 
Despot  was  really  a  great  and  powerful  monarch,  a  man  of  ability 
and  energy,  who  acknowledged  no  political  rights  except  those  of 
the  King,  and  who  fell  in  consequence  of  one  of  those  sudden 
bursts  of  passionate  indignation,  to  which  all  orders  of  a  nation  are 
sometimes  roused  by  contumelious  oppression.  No  sooner  was  his 
fall  achieved,  than  the  disunion  of  the  Patrician  and  Plebeian 
Orders  disclosed  itself,  just  as  in  England  the  enmity  of  Church- 
men and  Puritans,  who  had  combined  for  a  moment  against  the 
Stuarts,  broke  out  with  double  fury  after  their  fall. 

§  13.  In  the  History  of  Rome  under  the  Patricians,  which  forms 
the  subject  of  our  next  Book,  we  have  still  to  deal  with  legendary 
narrative.  But  it  is  of  a  different  kind  to  that  which  meets  us  in 
the  chronicle  of  regal  Rome.  There  the  legends  are  mostly  na- 
tional, and  here  they  will  be  personal.  There  they  refer  to  dynas- 
ties and  the  changes  which  arose  from  feuds  between  conquerors 
and  conquered  ;  here  they  relate  chiefly  to  foreign  wai-s^  and  th«, 
prowess  of  patrician  heroes. 


View  of  Campagna. 

BOOK    II. 

ROME  UNDER  THE  PATRICIANS. 


CHAPTER  VI. 

DECLINE  OF  ROMAN  POWER  AFTER  THE  EXPULSION  OF  THE  TARQUIN8. 
GEOGRAPHICAL  SKETCH  OF  THE  NEIGHBOURHOOD  OF  ROME. 

§  1.  Extent  of  Roman  power  at  Expulsion  of  Kings.  §  2.  It  fell  with  Mo- 
narchy. §  3.  Romans  for  a  time  subject  to  Porsenna.  §  4.  Rome  no  longer 
head  of  Latium :  accession  of  Attus  Clausus  and  3000  Clients.  Narrow 
limits  of  Roman  History  for  next  150  years.  §  5.  Campagna:  pestilential 
air.  §  6.  Less  unhealthy  in  ancient  times.  §  7.  Nations  bordering  on 
plain  of  Rome:  Tusculum,  &c.  §  8.  Lower  Apennines:  Prseneste:  Yols- 
cians:  .^quians:  Hernicans.     §  9.  Lower  Etruria. 

§  1.  It  has  been  incidentally  noticed  that  in  the  first  year  of  the 
Republic,  a  sort  of  commercial  treaty  was  made  between  Rome 
on  the  one  part,  and  Carthage  on  the  other.  The  very  fact  of  a 
great  trading  city  like  Carthage  thinking  it  worth  while  to 
enter  into  such  a  treaty  leads  us  to  look  on  Rome  with  very 
different  eyes  from  those  of  the  early  Annalists.     It  is  evident 


80  ROME  UNDER  THE  PATRICIANS.  Book  II. 

that  she  must  have  occupied  an  important  position  in  the  Medi- 
terranean. The  general  impression  raised  by  the  mere  existence 
of  such  a  treaty,  is  much  strengthened  by  its  articles,  so  far  as 
they  have  been  preserved  to  us.  It  appears  that  the  Carthagi- 
nians on  their  part  bound  themselves  to  make  no  settlement  for 
trading  purposes  on  the  coast  of  Latium  and  Campania,  while 
the  Romans  on  their  part  covenanted  not  to  sail  along  the 
African  coast  southward  of  the  Hermsean  promontory.  This 
jealousy  of  maritime  interference  on  the  side  of  Carthage  shows 
that  Rome,  or  her  Etruscan  sovereign  at  least,  must  have  been 
in  possession  of  a  considerable  naval  force.  Again,  the  Latins 
are  in  the  treaty  expressly  called  the  "  subjects"  of  Rome,  which 
confirms  the  statements  of  the  Roman  Annalists  that  all  Latium 
was  reduced  under  the  sovereignty  of  the  later  kings. 

§  2.  It  is  probable,  then,  on  the  one  hand,  that  the  Tarquins 
and  Servius  ruled  a  considerable  kingdom,  which  certainly  included 
all  Latium,  and  probably  also  great  part  of  Etruria. 

It  is,  on  the  other  hand,  certain  that  this  dominion  fell  with  the 
monarchy. 

§  3.  The  war  with  Porsenna  and  the  Etruscans  shows  that 
Etruria,  whatever  was  the  case  before,  was  now  certainly  not 
subject  to  Rome ;  nay,  there  is  evidence  to  prove  that  the  Romans 
themselves  became  for  a  time  subject  to  the  Etruscan  yoke. 
We  have  heard  the  legend  of  Porsenna  as  it  is  related  by  Roman 
bards.  But  it  is  certain  that  the  truth  has  been  much  distorted. 
The  tales  of  Horatius,  of  Mucins,  of  Cloelia,  are  noble  poetry, 
and  stir  the  youthful  heart  with  no  ungenerous  fire.  Yet  we 
must  confess  that  Porsenna  conquered  Rome,  and  held  it  for  a 
time  at  least  under  an  iron  rule.  Tacitus,  the  greatest  of  Roman 
historians,  lets  drop  the  fact  that  "the-  city  itself  was  surren- 
dered" to  the  Etruscan  monarch  :*  another  writer  tells  us,  that 
the  war  lasted  three  years  :t  the  legend  itself  obscurely  con- 
fesses that  Rome  at  this  time  lost  its  Trans-Tiberine  pagi, 
and  that  Porsenna  was  acknowledged  as  sovereign  by  the  pre- 
sent of  an  ivory  throne,  a  sceptre,  a  crown  of  gold,  and  a  robe  of 
state,  the  very  marks  of  Etruscan  monarchy  introduced  at  Rome 
by  the  elder  Tarquin  :  and,  lastly,  Pliny  expressly  cites  the  treaty, 
by  which  it  appears,  that  Porsenna  forbade  the  Romans  to  use  any 
iron  except  for  implements  of  husbandry .| 

*  "  Deditd  Urbe."— Tacit.  Histor.  iii.  12.  f  Orosius,  it.  5. 

:{:  "  In  foedere  quod  expulsis  regibus  Populo  Romano  dedit  Porsenna,  nomi- 
natim  comprehensum  invenimus,  ne  ferro  nisi  in  agri  culturam  uterentur." — 
Plin.  Hist.  Nat  xxxiv.  39.  With  this  may  be  compared  the  treatment  of  the 
Israelites  by  the  Philistines,  2  Sam.  xiii.  19 — 22.  There  could  be  no  more 
comple*^e  proof  of  absolute  submission. 


Chap.  VI.  DECLINE  IN  POWER.  ^1 

This  dominion  of  the  Etruscans  over  Rome  did  not  continue 
long;  for,  soon  after,  Porsenna  was  defeated  and  slain  before  the 
Latin  city  of  Aricia ;  and  then  it  was,  doubtless,  that  the  Romans 
seized  and  sold  all  the  goods  of  the  king  on  which  they  could  lay 
their  hands.*  But  it  was  not  till  long  after  that  they  reconquered 
the  Yeientine  pagi  which  they  had  lost. 

§  4.  So  also,  notwithstanding  the  triumph  of  Lake  Regillus,  it 
is  certain  that  Rome  no  longer  was  the  head  of  Latium.  The 
Latin  cities  Tusculum,  Lanuvium,  Corioli,  and  others,  within 
ten  or  twelve  miles  of  the  Forum,  asserted  their  independence  *, 
not  to  speak  of  Tibur,  Prseneste,  and  others,  which  were  more 
remote.  The  only  accession  to  her  territory,  amid  all  these 
losses,  arose  from  the  voluntary  union  of  some  Sabines  with 
their  old  compatriots  at  Rome.  Most  of  the  Sabine  tribes  in 
proximity  with  Rome  supported  the  Latins  in  their  revolt.  But 
a  powerful  chief  of  the  name  of  Attus  Clausus,  with  a  following 
of  no  less  than  three  thousand  clients,  joined  himself  to  the 
Romans,  and  himself  became  a  Roman.  He  and  his  followers 
were  settled  in  a  Sabine  district  beyond  the  Anio,  which  was  con- 
stituted as  a  local  tribe ; — the  number  of  the  Tribes  being  thus 
raised  to  Twenty-one.f  Rome,  then,  now  appears  as  mistress  only 
of  a  small  territory  on  the  left  bank  of  the  Tiber.  The  next 
century  and  a  half  of  her  history  is  occupied  in  reconquering  that 
which  she  had  lost :  and  though  still  the  narrative  is  much  mixed 
up  with  legendary  tales,  yet  the  people  with  whom  she  deals,  and 
the  land  which  she  wins,  are  real  and  substantial  things,  and  re- 
main in  her  possession  for  ever.  Here  then  it  will  be  convenient 
and  instructive  for  the  student  to  pause,  and  take  a  geographical 
survey  of  the  Roman  territory  and  its  adjacent  lands. 

§  5.  The  city  of  Rome  stands  at  the  verge  of  a  small  island  of 
tertiary  formation  in  the  midst  of  a  long  tract  of  volcanic 
country,  which  stretches  from  the  Pontine  Marshes  on  the  south 
to  Acquapendente,  a  town  of  modern  Tuscany,  about  ten  miles 
north  of  the  Volsinian  lake.  The  land  along  the  coast-line  of 
this  tract,  from  Civita  Vecchia,  the  port  of  modern  Rome, 
to  Cape  Circello,  is  flat  and  low.  But  the  land  rises  gra- 
dually inland,  till  at  Rome  the  general  level  is  considerably 
above  the  sea.  To  one  standing  upon  the  Capitol,  the  view  to- 
wards Tuscany  is  immediately  bounded  by  a  ridge  of  hills,  which 

*  Hence  "to  sell  the  goods  of  King  Porsenna"  became  a  proverb  at  Rome 
for  despoiling  an  enemy,  Livy  attempts  to  explain  the  phrase  in  accordance 
with  the  legend,  which  represents  Rome  as  never  having  yielded  to  the  kmg. 

f  It  probably  was  the  Crustumine  or  Crustumerian,  the  first  that  did  not 
bear  the  name  of  a  Patrician  Gens.  See  Chapt.  iii.  §  20,  Note,  whence  it 
will  be  seen  tliat  a  Claudian  Tribe  already  existed. 

4* 


82  ROME  UITDER  THE  PATRICIAKS.  Book  11. 

skirt  the  Tiber  on  the  west.  The  height  directly  west  of  the 
Capitol  is  Mont  Janiculum ;  northward,  and  facing  the  Campus 
Martins,  is  the  Vatican  hill ;  while  still  further  north  appears 
the  more  considerable  eminence  of  Mont  Marius.  Due  north, 
the  view  up  the  valley  of  the  Tiber  is  closed  by  the  noble  mass  of 
Soracte.  From  this  point  round  to  the  sea,  that  is  on  the  north- 
east, east,  and  south,  the  eye  ranges  over  a  wide  extent  of  plain, 
properly  called  the  Campagna  di  Koma. 

Viewed  from  the  heights  of  Rome,  this  plain  appears  level  and 
unbroken.  But  the  traveller  who  passes  over  it  finds  it  rising 
and  falling  in  constant  undulations,  Avhile  in  the  hollows,  here  and 
there,  small  streams  creep  sluggishly  towards  the  Tiber  or  Anio 
through  broken  banks  fringed  with  broom  and  other  low-grow- 
ing plants.  He  sees  but  few  portions  of  this  plain  under  cultiva-- 
tion,  though  it  produces  a  luxuriant  herbage.  Houses,  there  are 
scarcely  any,  trees  almost  none,  to  break  the  dreary  monotony ; 
and  the  peasants  whom  he  meets,  few  and  far  between,  give  suffi- 
cient reason  for  this  desolation  in  their  unhealthy  looks  and  listless 
bearing. 

The  part  of  this  plain  which  on  the  west  is  bounded  by  the 
course  of  the  Tiber,  from  beyond  the  Anio  to  the  sea,  was 
the  famous  Ager  Romanus,  and  formed  the  narrow  district  to 
which  we  find  its  limits  reduced  after  the  wars  which  followed 
the  expulsion  of  the  Tarquins.  Its  eastern  boundary  cannot  be 
distinctly  ascertained ;  but  it  was  formed  by  a  waving  line 
which  ran  from  below  Tivoli  to  Ardea,  at  a  mean  breadth  of  ten 
or  twelve  miles ;  its  whole  area  being  not  larger  than  the  county 
of  Middlesex.  On  enquiry  into  its  present  condition,  we  learn 
that  this  district  is  distributed  into  four  or  five  and  twenty 
farms ;  that  the  land  in  each  farm  is  divided  into  seven  portions, 
each  of  which  is  ploughed  up  in  rotation  for  a  grain  crop,  and 
then  it  is  left  to  resume  the  natural  herbage  which  soon  clothes  it 
again  without  the  help  of  man ;  so  that  not  above  one-seventh 
part  of  the  whole  is  under  tillage  at  once.  We  are  further  in- 
formed that  the  country  is  thus  left  desolate  because  of  the  malaria 
or  pestilential  atmosphere  which  pervades  it ;  that  few  or  none  of 
the  tenant-farmers  who  occupy  the  land  are  hardy  enough  to 
reside  upon  their  farms ;  that  the  peasants  who  reap  the  crops 
come  down  for  the  express  purpose  from  the  upland  valleys  on  the 
north,  and  suffer  much  from  low  fever  and  disease  during  the 
time  that  they  are  thus  occupied ;  that  when  the  crop  is  housed, 
all  flee  the  pestilential  soil,  except  some  few  who  haunt  spectre- 
like the  ruinous  remains  of  its  ancient  towns.* 

*  The  foregoing  facts  are  mainly  collected  from  an  article  in  the  Edinburgh 
Review,  vol  xxxviii.  p.  48  and  following. 


I  UNIVERSITY  I 

Chap.  VI.  THE  CAMP AGNA^ />, ,    Of"        ^     y/ SB 

§  6.  It  is  a  natural  and  inevitable  thought,  that,  in  the  Roman 
times,  the  physical  condition  of  this  country  must  have  been 
different ;  for  every  eminence  was  then  crowned  with  a  town  or 
village,  and  many  of  the  broken  cliff-like  banks  formed  citadels, 
like  the  Hills  of  Rome.  It  is  certain,  indeed,  that  in  ancient 
times  the  country  was  unhealthy  and  uninviting  ;*  but  it  is  not 
to  be  doubted  that  it  is  more  unhealthy  now,  and  that  Rome 
itself  was  in  those  days  less  exposed  to  the  influence  of  malaria 
than  at  present.  What  is  not  less  striking  is,  that  hitherto 
the  causes  of  this  malaria  have  baffled  the  researches  of 
science.  It  does  not  arise  from  marshy  exhalations;  for  the 
soil  of  the  Campagna  is  as  dry  in  the  present  day  as  it  was 
when  Livy  described  it.  It  can  hardly  be  due  to  the  impreg- 
nation of  the  volcanic  soil  with  mephitic  vapour ;  for,  though 
it  appears  that  the  volcanic  district  of  Etruria,  now  called 
the  Maremma,  is  equally  unhealthy,  and  presents  a  similar 
aspect  of  forlorn  desolation,  yet  no  such  evil  attacks  other 
volcanic  soils,  as  Campania  or  Sicily;  nor  will  this  hypothesis 
account  for  the  increase  of  the  plague  in  modern  times.  The 
causes  suggested  for  this  increase  are  :  first,  the  neglected  culture 
of  the  land ;  secondly,  the  destruction  of  trees  and  natural 
shelter  from  the  sun  and  wind ;  thirdly,  the  want  of  all  protec- 
tion to  those  who  brave  the  climate  from  the  sudden  cold  that 
at  sunset  follows  the  intense  heat  of  the  day.  Instances  are 
alleged  to  show  that  if  good  houses  are  built,  if  tillage  is  promoted 
in  their  neighbourhood,  and  trees  encouraged  around  them,  and 
if  the  inhabitants  avoid  the  air  during  sunset  and  at  night,  life 
may  be  enjoyed  in  the  Campagna  even  at  the  present  day 
without  constant  liability  to  fever  in  the  hot  season.f  But 
social  mismanagement  seems  to  have  combined  with  nature  to 
desolate  this  region.  Under  the  Romans  themselves  of  a  later  day, 
as  we  shall  see  hereafter,  it  was  found  more  profitable  to  throw 
large  districts  into  pastures,  and  people  it  wnth  flocks  tended  by 
slave-shepherds; — for  it  must  be  noticed  as  a  "singular  fact,  that 
the  air  so  prejudicial  to  the  health  of  the  human  frame  is  not 
hurtful  to  the  cattle.     This  system,  introduced  of  old,  still  pre- 

*  Cicero  {De  Republicd,  ii.  6)  says  that  Romulus  "  locum  delegit  in  regione 
pestilente  salubrem."  And  Livy  (vii.  38)  represents  discontented  Romans  as 
declaring  that  they  were  wearied  of  struggling  "  in  pestilente  atque  arido  cir- 
cum  urbem  solo."  Compare  the  reasons  given  against  removing  to  Yeii,  v. 
54.  Strabo,  a  Greek,  speaks  still  more  disparagingly  of  the  situation  of  Rome. 
It  was,  he  says,  matter  of  necessitj^,  rather  than  of  choice. 

f  The  reviewer  above  referred  to  quotes  such  cases;  and  Dr.  Arnold,  on 
the  authority  of  Chevalier  Bunsen,  mentions  the  great  improvements  that  have 
been  made  on  the  lands  of  the  Duke  of  Zagarolo  (near  Palestrina)  by  promot- 
ing tillage  and  permanent  occupation.     Hist,  of  Borne,  i.  p.  501. 


84  ROME  UNDER  THE  PATRICIANS.  Book  IL 

vails.  And  though  it  is  likely  that  no  natural  evils  would  have 
dispeopled  the  Campagna,  any  more  than  they  have  dispeopled 
Vera  Cruz  or  the  coasts  of  the  Sea  of  Azof,  yet  when  the  misrule 
of  man  seconds  the  visitation  of  God,  and  when  once  such  a  coun- 
try has  lost  its  inhabitants,  it  is  little  to  be  expected  that  it  will 
again  be  reclaimed  from  its  state  of  desolation.* 

§  7.  We  will  now  notice  the  different  tribes  who  dwelt  on  the 
verges  of  this  celebrated  district,  and  for  this  purpose  we  will 
return  to  the  Capitol. 

A  little  to  the  south  of  east  the  plain  is  interrupted  by  a 
beautiful  range  of  hills,  wliicli  rise  abruptly  and  by  themselves 
from  its  surface.  This  is  the  volcanic  range  so  well  known  as 
the  Alban  Hills.  The  highest  peak,  measuring  about  3000  feet, 
was  anciently  crowned  by  the  temple  of  Jupiter  Latiaris,  the 
common  sanctuary  of  the  Latin  nation  ;  and  on  the  ridge,  of 
which  it  forms  the  culminating  point,  once  lay  the  town  of  Alba 
Longa.  In  two  hollows,  to  the  south-west,  are  found  the  Alban 
lake  and  the  lake  of  Nemus  (Nemi),  being  both  of  them  formed 
by  accumulations  of  water  in  the  craters  of  extinct  volcanoes.  On 
a  separate  ridge  to  the  north  lay  Tusculum  (Frascati),  one  of  the 
Latin  cities  which  threw  off  the  Roman  yoke  on  the  expulsion  of 
the  Tarquins :  Corioli  and  Lavinium  were  situated  on  similar  emi- 
nences to  the  south. 

§  8.  A  line,  drawn  along  the  map  of  Italy  from  below  Narnia 
down  the  Tiber,  then  across  the  Sabine  country  to  Tibur,  and 
so  past  Praeneste  and  Signia  to  Terracina,  marks  the  edge  of 
a  continuous  chain  of  hills  which  bound  the  plain  of  Latium. 
This  is  formed  by  a  narrow  belt  of  Ancient  Limestone,  which 
rises  from  under  a  broad  and  many-ridged  mass  of  the  more 
Recent  system,  as  shown  in  the  annexed  map.  These  united 
formations  constitute  the  lower  range  of  Apennines,  while 
on  the  other  side  of  the  more  Recent  mass  again  emerge  the 
Ancient  Limestone  rocks  of  the  main  chain.  It  is  the  de- 
scent down  the  face  of  this  lower  ridge  which  forms  the  beau- 
tiful cascade  of  the  Anio  at  Tibur  (Tivoli).  At  Praeneste,  the 
ridge  sinks  and  lets  the  eye  into  the  valley  of  the  Trerus  (Sacco), 
which  runs  eastward  to  join  the  Liris.  Praeneste  (Palestrina) 
itself  stands  on  a  bold  projecting  eminence,  in  the  gap  formed 
by  the  sinking  of  the  hills.  Now  this  natural  division  of  the 
range  which  we  call  the  Lower  Apeninnes,  corresponds  to  its 
political  division  at  the  time  of  which  we  speak.  The  range 
between  the  right  bank  of  the  Trerus  and  Terracina  was  the  hill 
country  of  the  Volsci,  who  stretched  across  the  Liris  to  Sora  and 

*  Edinburgh  Review,  as  above,  pp.  56,  67 ;  Arnold's  History  of  Rome,  u 
p.  504 


C5HAP.  VL 


THE  COUNTRY  ROUND  HOME. 


85 


Arpinum.  The  iip^^er  part  from  the  Aniu  northwards,  was  the 
country  of  the  ^qmans,  reaching  beyond  Oarseoli  and  Alba,  and 
including  the  Fucine  lake  (lake  of  Celano),  the  largest  piece  of 
water  in  the  Apennine  range.  Between  these  two  tribes,  that  is 
between  the  Trerus  and  the  Anio,  lay,  wedged  in  their  upland 
valley,  the  Hernicans.  The  Volscians  and  the  ^quians  were 
probably  Opican  tribes,  of  the  same  race  with  the  Auruncans, 
who  lay  behind  the  Volscian  hills  in  the  mountainous  tract  which 
Jeads  into  Campania ;  whereas  the  Hernicans,  a  brave  and  inde- 
pendent tribe,  were  of  Sabine  blood.  The  mountains  to  the 
north-east  about  Reate  up  to  Amiternum,  are  the  ancient  homes 
of  the  Sabines ;  and  from  these  mountains  descended,  according 
to  tradition,  the  first  occupants  of  Rome  and  Latium.  Close 
above  Amiternum  rises  the  wild  mass  of  Monte  Corno,  and  the 
highest  peaks  of  the  Apennine  range.  For  six  months  of  the 
year  the  central  ridges  may  easily  be  distinguished  by  their  snow- 
capped summits. 

§  9.  Beyond   the  ridge  which  has  been  described  as  barring 


1.  Ancient  Limestone. 
More  Recent  Limestons 

3.  Tertiary  Beds. 

4.  Volcanic. 

5.  AUuTiaL 


86 


ROME  UNDER  THE  PATRICIANS. 


Book  II. 


all  view  towards  ancient  Etruria  on  tlie  west  and  north-west,  lay 
what  we  may  call  Lower  Etruria.  This  district,  lying  between  the 
lower  valley  of  the  Tiber  and  the  sea,  is  separated  from  Upper 
Etruria  by  a  range  of  volcanic  hills,  which  strike  across  the  coun- 
try at  right  angles  to  the  Apennine  valleys.  They  formed  an  un- 
frequented tract,  then  called  the  Ciminian  Forest,  beyond  which 
no  Romans  for  many  years  after  dared  to  penetrate.  It  is  from  the 
eastern  edge  of  this  range,  now  called  the  heights  of  Viterbo,  that 
the  traveller  from  Florence  obtains  his  first  view  of  the  Campagna. 
Below  these  hills  was  the  country  occupied  by  the  Veientines 
and  the  Faliscans.  Beyond  them  again,  the  places  of  chief  note 
were  Sutrium  and  Nepeto ;  and  towards  the  sea  lay  the  low  lands 
of  the  men  of  Csere,  a  city  which  plays  a  considerable  part  in  the 
history  of  Rome.  Veii  was  not  more  than  twelve  miles  distant 
from  the  walls  of  Rome. 

With  this  geographical  sketch,  which  should  be  verified  by  a 
comparison  with  the  map  annexed,  all  the  progress  of  Rome  in 
foreign  conquest  may  readily  be  followed  for  the  next  century  and 
a  half.  Her  arms,  in  that  period,  never  travelled  further  than 
twenty  miles  from  Rome ;  generally  their  action  took  place  in  a 
much  more  circumscribed  sphere. 


Lake  of  Nemi,  looking  over  the  Campagna. 


CHAPTER    YII. 

THE    TRIBUNATE. 

§  1.  Character  of  straggle  between  Orders.  §  2.  Sufferings  of  Plebeians  in 
border  wars,  not  shared  by  Patricians.  §  3.  All  power  gradually  resumed 
by  Patricians.  §  4.  Patricians  an  exclusive  Caste  ;  privilege  of  Connubium. 
§  5.  Plebeians  first  roused  by  severe  Laws  of  Debtor  and  Creditor.  §  6. 
Patricians  chief  Creditors,  Plebeians  Debtors.  §  7.  Story  of  incident  which 
gave  rise  to  Tribunate:  Appius  Claudius,  leader  of  Patricians,  deceives 
Plebeians.  §  8.  Secession  of  Plebeians  to  Mons  Sacer.  §  9.  Menenius 
Agrippa :  Fable  of  Belly  and  Members.  §  10.  Peace  restored :  two  Tri- 
bunes to  be  chosen  as  Protectors  of  Plebeians.  §  11.  Incompleteness  of 
Protection.     §  12.  Plebeian  ^diles. 

§  1.  In  the  following  chapters  of  this  Book  we  shall  have  to 
record,  not  only  the  slow  steps  by  which  the  Romans  recovered 
dominion  over  their  neighbours,  but  also  the  long-continued 
struggle  by  which  the  Plebeians  raised  themselves  to  a  level  with 
the  Patricians,  who  had  again  become  the  dominant  caste  at 
Rome.  Mixed  up  with  legendary  tales  as  the  history  still  is, 
enough  is  nevertheless  preserved  to  excite  the  admiration  of  all 
who  love  to  look  upon  a  brave  people  pursuing  a  worthy  object 
with  patient  but  earnest  resolution,  never  flinching,  yet  seldom 
injuring  their  good  cause  by  reckless  violence.  To  an  English- 
man this  history  ought  to  be  especially  dear ;  for  more  than 
any  other  in  the  annals  of  the  world  does  it  resemble  the  long- 
enduring  constancy  atid  sturdy  determination,  the  temperate 
will  and  noble  self-control,  with  which  the  Commons  of  his  own 
country  secured  their  rights.  It  was  by  a  struggle  of  this 
nature,  pursued  through  a  century  and  a  half,  that  the  character 
of  the  Roman  people  was  moulded  into  that  form  of  strength  and 
energy,  which  threw  back  Hannibal  to  the  coasts  of  Africa,  and 
in  half  a  century  more  made  them  masters  of  the  Mediterranean 
shore. 

§  2.  There  can  be  no  doubt  that  the  wars  that  followed  the  Ex- 
pulsion of  the  Tarquins,  with  the  loss  of  territory  that  accom- 
panied them,  must  have  reduced  all  orders  of  men  at  Rome  to 
great  distress.  But  those  who  most  suffered  were  the  Plebeians. 
The  Plebeians  at  that  time  consisted  entirely  of  landholders,  great 
and  small,  and  husbandmen  ;  for  in  those  times  the  practice  of 
trades  and  mechanical  arts  was  considered  unworthy  of  a  free- 
born  man.     Some  of  the  Plebeian  families  were  as  wealthy  as  any 


88  ROME  UNDER  THE  PATRICIANS.  Book  IL 

among  the  Patricians  ;  but  the  mass  of  them  were  petty  yeoman, 
who  lived  on  the  produce  of  their  small  farms,  and  were  solely 
dependent  for  a  living  on  their  own  limbs,  their  own  thrift  and 
industry.  Most  of  them  lived  in  the  villages  and  small  towns, 
which  in  those  times  were  thickly  sprinkled  over  the  slopes  of 
the  Campagna. 

The  Patricians,  on  the  other  hand,  resided  chiefly  within  the 
city.  If  slaves  were  few  as  yet,  they  had  the  labour  of  their  Clients 
available  to  till  their  farms  ;  and  through  their  Clients  also  they 
were  enabled  to  derive  a  profit  from  the  practice  of  trading  and 
crafts,  which  personally  neither  they  nor  the  Plebeians  would  stoop 
to  pursue.  Besides  these  sources  of  profit,  they  had  at  this  time 
the  exclusive  use  of  the  Public  Land,  a  subject  on  which  we  shall 
have  to  speak  more  at  length  hereafter.  At  present,  it  will  be 
suflficierrt  to  say,  that  the  Public  Land  now  spoken  of  had  been 
the  Crown  Land  or  Regal  Domain,  which  on  the  expulsion  of  the 
Kings  had  been  forfeited  to  the  State.  The  Patricians  being  in 
possession  of  all  actual  power,  engrossed  possession  of  it,  and  seem 
to  have  paid  a  very  small  quit-rent  to  the  treasury  for  this  great 
advantage. 

Besides  this,  the  necessity  of  service  in  the  army,  or  militia 
(as  it  might  more  justly  be  called),  acted  very  diflferently  on 
the  rich  landholder  and  the  small  yeoman.  The  latter,  being 
called  out  with  sword  and  spear  for  the  summer's  campaign,  as 
his  turn  came  round,  was  obliged  to  leave  his  farm  uncared 
for,  and  his  crop  could  only  be  reaped  by  the  kind  aid  of  neigh- 
bours; whereas  the  rich  proprietor,  by  his  Clients  or  his  hired 
labourers,  could  render  the  required  military  service  without 
robbing  his  land  of  his  own  labour.  Moreover,  the  territory  of 
Rome  was  so  narrow,  and  the  enemy's  borders  so  close  at  hand, 
that  any  night  the  stout  yeoman  might  find  himself  reduced  to 
beggary,  by  seeing  his  crops  destroyed,  his  cattle  driven  away, 
and  his  homestead  burnt  in  a  sudden  foray.  The  Patricians 
and  rich  Plebeians  were,  it  is  true,  exposed  to  the  same  contin- 
gencies. But  wealth  will  always  provide  some  defence ;  and  it  is 
reasonable  to  think  that  the  larger  proprietors  provided  places 
of  refuge,  into  which  they  could  drive  their  cattle,  and  secure 
much  of  their  property,  such  as  the  peel-towers  common  in  our 
own  border  counties.  Thus  the  Patricians  and  their  Clients 
might  escape  the  storm  which  destroyed  the  isolated  yeoman. 
To  this  must  be  added,  that  the  Public  Land  seems  to  have 
been  mostly  in  pasturage,  and  therefore  the  property  of  the 
Patricians  must  have  chiefly  consisted  in  cattle,  which  was 
more  easily  saved  from  depredation  than  the  crops  of  the  Ple- 
beian.     Lastly,  the  profit  derived  from  the  trades  and    business 


Chap.  YIL  THE  TRIBUNATE.  89 

of  their  Clients,  being  secured  by  the  walls  of  the  city,  gave  to 
the  Patricians  the  command  of  all  the  capital  that  could  exist 
in  a  state  of  society  so  simple  and  rude,  and  afforded  at  once 
a  means  of  repairing  their  own  losses,  and  also  of  obtaining  a 
dominion  over  the  poor  yeomen. 

§  3.  For  some  time  after  the  expulsion  of  the  Tarquins,  it  was 
necessary  for  the  Patricians  to  treat  the  Plebeians  with  liberality. 
The  institutions  of  "the  Commons'  King,"  King  Servius,  sus- 
pended by  Tarquin,  were,  partially  at  least,  restored  :  it  is  said 
even  that  one  of  the  first  Consuls  was  a  Plebeian,  and  that  he 
chose  several  of  the  leading  Plebeians  into  the  Senate.  But  after 
the  death  of  Porsenna,  and  when  the  fear  of  the  Tarquins  ceased, 
all  these  flattering  signs  disappeared.  The  Consuls  seem  still 
to  have  been  elected  by  the  Centuriate  Assembly,  but  the  Cu- 
riate  Assembly  retained  in  their  own  hands  the  right  of  con- 
ferring the  Imperium,  which  amounted  to  a  positive  veto  on  the 
election  by  the  larger  body.  All  the  names  of  the  early 
Consuls,  except  in  the  first  year  of  the  Republic,  are  Patrician. 
But  if  by  chance  a  Consul  displayed  popular  tendencies,  it  was 
in  the  power  of  the  Senate  and  Patricians  to  suspend  his  power 
by  the  appointment  of  a  Dictator.  Thus,  practically,  the  Patri- 
cian Burgesses  again  became  the  Populus  or  Body  Politic  of 
Rome. 

§  4.  It  must  here  not  be  forgotten  that  this  dominant  body 
was  an  exclusive  caste ;  that  is,  it  consisted  of  a  limited  number 
of  noble  families,  who  allowed  none  of  their  members  to  marry 
with  persons  born  out  of  the  pale  of  their  own  order.  The  child 
of  a  Patrician  and  a  Plebeian,  or  of  a  Patrician  and  a  Client,  was 
not  considered  as  born  in  lawful  wedlock;  and  however  proud 
the  blood  which  it  derived  from  one  parent,  the  child  sank  to  the 
condition  of  th,e  parent  of  lower  rank.  This  was  expressed  in 
Roman  language  by  saying,  that  there  was  no  Right  of  Connu- 
bium  between  Patricians  and  any  inferior  classes  of  men.  Nothing 
can  be  more  impolitic  than  such  restrictions  ;  nothing  more  hurt- 
ful even  to  those  who  count  it  their  privilege.  In  all  exclusive 
or  oligarchical  pales,  families  become  extinct,  and  the  breed  decays 
both  in  bodily  strength  and  mental  vigour.  Happily  for  Rome, 
the  Patricians  were  unable  long  to  maintain  themselves  as  a  sepa- 
rate caste. 

§  5.  Yet  the  Plebeians  might  long  have  submitted  to  thia 
state  of  social  and  political  inferiority,  had  not  their  personal 
distress  and  the  severe  laws  of  Rome  driven  them  to  seek 
relief,  by  claiming  to  be  recognised  as  members  of  the  body 
politic. 

The  severe  laws  of  which  we  speak  were  those  of  debtor  and 


90  ROME  UNDER  THE  PATRICIANS.  Book  IL 

creditor.  If  a  Roman  borrowed  money,  he  was  expected  to 
enter  into  a  contract  witli  his  creditor  to  pay  the  debt  by  a  cer- 
tain day  ;*  and  if  on  that  day  he  was  unable  to  discharge  his 
obligation,  he  was  summoned  before  the  Patrician  judge,  who 
was  authorised  by  the  law  to  assign  the  defaulter  as  a  bondsman 
to  his  creditor ;  that  is,  the  debtor  was  obliged  to  pay  by  his 
own  labour  the  debt  which  he  was  unable  to  pay  in  money.  Or 
if  a  man  incurred  a  debt  without  such  formal  contract,  the  rule 
was  still  more  imperious  :  for  in  that  case  the  law  itself  fixed 
the  day  of  payment ;  and  if  after  a  lapse  of  thirty  days  from  that 
date  the  debt  was  not  discharged,  the  creditor  was  empowered 
to  arrest  the  person  of  his  debtor,  to  load  him  with  chains,  and 
feed  him  on  bread  and  water  for  another  thirty  days ;  and  then, 
if  the  money  still  remained  unpaid,  he  might  put  him  to  death, 
or  sell  him  as  a  slave  to  the  highest  bidder ;  or,  if  there  were 
several  creditors,  they  might  hew  his  body  in  pieces,  and  divide 
it.  And  in  this  last  case  the  law  provided  with  scrupulous  pro- 
vidence against  the  evasion  •  by  which  the  Merchant  of  Venice 
escaped  the  cruelty  of  the  Jew ;  for  the  Roman  law  said,  that 
"  whether  a  man  cut  more  or  less  [than  his  due],  he  should  incur 
no  penalty."J;  These  atrocious  provisions,  however,  defeated  their 
own  object ;  for  there  was  no  more  unprofitable  way  in  which  the 
body  of  a  debtor  could  be  disposed  of. 

§  6.  Such  being  the  law  of  debtor  and  creditor,  it  remains  to 
say  that  the  creditors  were  chiefly  of  the  Patrician  caste,  and  the 
debtors  almost  exclusively  of  the  poorer  sort  among  the  Ple- 
beians. The  Patricians  were  the  creditors,  because  from  their 
occupancy  of  the  Public  Land,  and  from  their  engrossing  the 
profits  to  be  derived  from  trade  and  crafts,  they  alone  had 
spare  capital  to  lend.  The  Plebeian  yeomen  were  the  debtors, 
because  their  independent  position  made  them,,  at  that  time, 
helpless.  Vassals,  clients,  serfs,  or  by  whatever  name  depen- 
dents are  called,  do  not  suffer  from  the  ravages,  of  a  predatory 
war  like  free  landholders,  because  the  loss  falls  on  their  lords 
or  patrons.  But  when  the  independent  yeoman's  crops  are 
destroyed,  his  cattle  "lifted,"  and  his  homestead  in  ashes,  he 
must  himself  repair  the  loss.  This  was,  as  we  have  said,  the 
condition   of  many  Roman   Plebeians.     To  rebuild  their   houses 

*  Contracts  were  in  Roman  language  called  nexa,  and  persons  bound  by 
contract  were  nexi. 

f  The  technical  word  was  addixit.  Hence  persons  delivered  over  as  bonds- 
men w  ere  addicti ;  and  the  word  addictus  came  to  mean  generally  bound  to  do 
a  thing,  as  in  the  phrase.  "Nullius  addictus  jurare  in  verba  magistri."  Horat. 
Epist.  i.  1,  14. 

\  "  Si  plus  minusve  secuerint,  se  \i.  e.  sine]  fraude  esto."  This,  as  well 
as  the  other  provisions  of  the  law,  are  given  by  Gellius,  xx.  1,  §§  45-49. 


Chap.  YlL  THE  TRIBUNA.TB.  91 

and  re-stock  their  farms,  they  borrowed ;  the  Patricians  were 
their  creditors ;  and  the  law,  instead  of  protecting  the  small 
holders,  like  the  law  of*  the  Hebrews,*  delivered  them  over  into 
serfdom  or  slavery. 

Thus  the  free  Plebeian  population  might  have  been  reduced  to 
a  state  of  mere  dependency,  and  the  history  of  Rome  might  have 
presented  a  repetition  of  monotonous  severity,  like  that  of 
Sparta  or  of  Venice.f  But  it  was  ordained  otherwise.  The 
distress  and  oppression  of  the  Plebeians  led  them  to  demand, 
and  to  obtain  political  protectors,  by  whose  means  they  were 
slowly  but  surely  raised  to  equality  of  rights  and  privileges  with 
their  rulers  and  oppressors.  These  protectors  were  the  famous 
Tribunes  of  the  Plebs.  We  will  now  repeat  the  no  less  famous 
legends  by  which  their  first  creation  was  accounted  for. 

§  7.  It  was,  by  the  common  reckoning,  fifteen  years  after  the 
expulsion  of  the  Tarquins  (494  b.c),  that  the  Plebeians  w^ere 
roused  to  take  the  first  step  in  the  assertion  of  their  rights. 
After  the  battle  of  Lake  Regillus,  the  Plebeians  had  reason  to  ex- 
pect some  relaxation  of  the  law  of  debt,  in  consideration  of  the 
great  services  they  had  rendered  in  the  war.  But  none  was 
granted.  The  Patrician  creditors  began  to  avail  themselves  of  the 
severity  of  the  law  against  their  Plebeian  debtors.  The  discon- 
tent that  followed  was  great :  and  the  Consuls  prepared  to  meet 
the  storm.  These  were  Appius  Claudius,  the  proud  Sabine 
nobleman  who  had  lately  become  a  Roman,  and  who  now  led  the 
high  Patrician  party  with  all  the  unbending  energy  of  a  chief- 
tain whose  w^ill  had  never  been  disputed  by  his  obedient  clans- 
men :  and  P.  Servilius,  who  represented  the  milder  and  more 
liberal  party  of  the  Fathers. 

It  chanced  that  an  aged  man  rushed  into  the  Forum  on  a 
market-day,  loaded  with  chains,  clothed  with  a  few  scanty  rags, 
his  hair  and  beard  long  and  squalid ;  his  whole  appearance 
ghastly,  as  of  one  oppressed  by  long  want  of  food  and  air.  He 
was  recognised  as  a  brave  soldier,  the  old  comrade  of  many  who 
thronged  the  Forum.  He  told  his  story,  how  that  in  the  late 
wars,  the  enemy  had  burnt  his  house  and  plundered  his  little 
farm ;  that  to  replace  his  losses,  he  had  borrowed  money  of  a 
Patrician,  that  his  cruel  creditor  (in  default  of  payment)  had 
thrown  him  into  prison,  J  and  tormented  him  with  chains  and 
scourges.     At  this  sad  tale,  the  passions  of  the  people  rose  high. 

*  Levit.  XXV.  23-31. 

f  A  well-known  German  historian  calls  the  Spartans  by  tho  name  of 
"  stunted  Romans."     There  is  much  resemblance  to  be  traced. 

:}:  Such  prisons  were  called  ergastula,  and  afterwards  became  the  places  for 
keeping  slaves  in. 


92  ROME  UNDER  THE  PATRICIANS.  Book  IL 

Appius  was  obliged  to  conceal  himself;  while  Servilias  under- 
took to  plead  the  cause  of  the  Plebeians  with  the  Senate. 

Meantime  news  came  to  the  city  that  the  Roman  territory  was 
invaded  by  the  Volscian  foe.  The  Consuls  proclaimed  a  levy; 
but  the  stout  yeomen,  one  and  all,  refused  to  give  in  their  names 
and  take  the  military  oath.  Servilius  now  came  forward,  and 
proclaimed  by  edict,  that  no  citizen  should  be  imprisoned  for 
debt  so  long  as  the  war  lasted,  and  that  at  the  close  of  the  war 
he  would  propose  an  alteration  of  the  law.  The  Plebeians  trusted 
him,  and  the  enemy  was  driven  back.  But  when  the  popular 
Consul  returned  with  his  victorious  soldiers,  he  was  denied  a 
triumph ;  and  the  Senate,  led  by  Appius,  refused  to  make  any 
concession  in  favour  of  the  debtors. 

The  anger  of  the  Plebeians  rose  higher  and  higher;  when 
again  news  came  that  the  enemy  were  ravaging  the  lands  of 
Rome.  The  Senate,  well  knowing  that  the  power  of  the  Consuls 
would  avail  nothing,  since  Appius  was  regarded  as  a  tyrant,  and 
Servilius  would  not  choose  again  to  become  an  instrument  for 
deceiving  the  people,  appointed  a  Dictator  to  lead  the  citizens 
into  the  field.  But  to  make  the  act  as  popular  as  might  be, 
they  named  M.  Valerius,  a  descendant  of  the  great  Poplicola. 
The  same  scene  was  repeated  over  again.  Valerius  protected 
the  Plebeians  against  their  creditors  while  they  were  at  war,  and 
promised  them  relief  when  war  was  over.  But  when  the  danger 
was  gone  by,  Appius  again  prevailed;  the  Senate  refused  to 
listen  to  Valerius ;  and  the  Dictator  laid  down  his  office,  calling 
gods  and  men  to  witness  that  he  was  not  responsible  for  his 
breach  of  faith. 

§  8.  The  Plebeians  whom  Valerius  had  led  forth  were  still 
under  arms,  still  bound  by  their  military  oath ;  and  Appius,  with 
the  violent  Patricians,  refused  to  disband  them.  The  army, 
therefore,  having  lost  Valerius,  their  proper  general,  chose  two 
of  themselves,  L.  Junius  Brutus  and  L.  Sicinius  Bellutus  by 
name,  and  under  their  command  they  marched  northwards  and 
occupied  the  hill  which  commands  the  junction  of  the  Tiber  and 
the  Anio.  Here,  at  a  distance  of  about  two  miles  from  Rome, 
they  determined  to  settle  and  form  a  new  city,  leaving  Rome  to 
the  Patricians  and  their  Clients.  But  the  latter  were  not  willing 
to  lose  the  best  of  their  soldiery,  the  cultivators  of  the  greater 
part  of  the  Roman  territory,  and  they  sent  repeated  embassies  to 
persuade  the  seceders  to  return.  They,  however,  turned  a  deaf 
ear  to  all  promises ;  for  they  had  too  often  been  deceived. 
Appius  now  urged  the  Senate  and  Patricians  to  leave  the  Plebeians 
to  themselves ;  the  Nobles  and  their  Clients,  he  said,  could  well 
maintain  themselves  in  the  city  without  such  base  aid. 


Chap.  YIL  THE  TRIBUNATE.  93 

§  9.  But  wiser  sentiments  prevailed.  T.  Lartius,  and  M.  Va- 
lerius, both  of  whom  had  been  Dictators,  with  Menenius  Agrippa, 
an  old  Patrician  of  popular  character,  were  empowered  to  treat 
with  the  people.  Still  their  leaders  were  unwilling  to  listen,  till 
old  Menenius  addressed  them  in  the  famous  fable  of  the  Belly 
and  the  Members  : — 

"  In  times  of  old,"  said  he,  "  when  every  Member  of  the  body 
could  think  for  itself,  and  each  had  a  separate  will  of  its  own, 
they  all,  with  one  consent,  resolved  to  revolt  against  the  Belly. 
They  knew  no  reason,  they  said,  why  they  should  toil  from  morn- 
ing till  night  in  its  service,  while  the  Belly  lay  at  its  ease  in  the 
midst  of  all,  and  indolently  grew  fat  upon  their  labours.  Ac- 
cordingly, they  agreed  to  support  it  no  more.  The  feet  vowed 
they  would  carry  it  no  longer;  the  hands  that  they  would  do 
no  more  work;  the  teeth  that  they  would  not  chew  a  morsel 
of  meat,  even  were  it  placed  between  them.  Thus  resolved,  the 
Members  for  a  time  showed  their  spirit  and  kept  their  resolution  ; 
but  soon  they  found,  that  instead  of  mortifying  the  Belly,  they 
only  undid  themselves :  they  languished  for  awhile,  and  per- 
ceived  too  late  that  it  was  owing  to  the  Belly  that  they  had 
strength  to  work  and  courage  to  mutiny." 

§  10.  The  moral  of  this  fable  was  plain.  The  people  readily 
applied  it  to  the  Patricians  and  themselves ;  and  their  leaders 
proposed  terms  of  agreement  to  the  Patrician  messengers.  They 
required  that  the  debtors  who  could  not  pay  should  have  their 
debts  cancelled;  and  that  those  who  had  been  given  up  into 
slavery  (addicti)  should  be  restored  to  freedom.  This  for  the 
past.  And  as  a  security  for  the  future,  they  demanded  that 
two  of  themselves  should  be  appointed  for  the  sole  purpose  of 
protecting  the  Plebeians  against  the  Patrician  magistrates,  if 
they  acted  cruelly  or  unjustly  towards  the  debtors.  The  two 
officers  thus  to  be  appointed  were  called  Tribunes  of  the  Plebs. 
Their  persons  were  to  be  sacred  and  inviolable  during  their  year 
of  office,  whence  their  office  is  called  "sacrosancta  Potestas." 
They  were  never  to  leave  the  city  during  that  time  ;  and  their 
houses  were  to  be  open  day  and  night,  that  all  who  needed  their 
aid  might  demand  it  without  delay. 

§  11.  This  concession,  apparently  great,  was  much  modified 
by  the  fact  that  the  Patricians  insisted  on  the  election  of  the 
Tribunes  being  made  at  the  Comitia  of  the  Centuries,  in  which 
they  themselves  and  their  wealthy  clients  could  usually  com- 
mand a  majority.*     In  later  times,  the  number  of  the  Tribunes 

*  That  the  election  must  have  been  so  conducted  is  manifest  from  Liv.  ii,  56, 
where  he  says  that  the  object  of  the  PubliUan  Law  was  to  take  away  from  the 
Patricians  the  power  of  "per  clientium   suffragia  creandi  quos  vellent  tri- 


94  ROME  UNDER  THE  PATRICIANS.  Book  II. 

was  increased  to  five,  and  afterwards  to  ten.  They  were 
elected  at  the  Comitia  of  the  Tribes,  as  we  shall  have  to  notice 
presently.  They  had  the  privilege  of  attending  all  sittings  of  the 
Senate,  though  they  were  not  considered  members  of  that  famous 
body.  Above  all,  they  acquired  the  great  and  perilous  power  of 
the  Veto,  by  which  any  one  of  their  number  might  stop  any 
law,  or  annul  any  decree  of  the  Senate,  without  cause  or  reason 
assigned.  This  right  of  Veto  was  called  the  right  of  Inter- 
cession. 

On  the  spot  where  this  treaty  was  made,  an  altar  was  built  to 
Jupiter,  the  Causer  and  Banisher  of  Fear ;  for  the  Plebeians  had 
gone  thither  in  fear  and  returned  from  it  in  safety.  The  place 
was  called  Mons  Sacer,  or  the  Sacred  Hill,  for  ever  after,  and  the 
laws  by  which  the  sanctity  of  the  tribunitian  office  was  secured 
were  called  the  Leges  Sacratse. 

§  12.  The  Tribunes  were  not  properly  magistrates  or  officers, 
for  they  had  no  express  functions  or  official  duties  to  discharge. 
They  were  simply  Representatives  and  Protectors  of  the 
Plebs.  At  the  same  time,  however,  with  the  institution  of  these 
protective  officers,  the  Plebeians  were  allowed  the  right  of 
having  two  ^diles  chosen  from  their  own  body,  whose  business 
it  was  to  preserve  order  and  decency  in  the  streets,  to  provide 
for  the  repair  of  all  buildings  and  roads  there,  with  other 
functions  partly  belonging  to  police-officers,  and  partly  to  com-* 
missioners  of  public  works. 

bunos."  When,  therefore,  Asconius  (in  Gorndianam,  p.  16,  ed.  OreUi)  says 
"Trit-ori  Plehis  Comitiis  Ouriatis  creati,"  and  when  Dionysius  (vi.  89,  ix.  41) 
follows  tho  same  notion,  there  must  be  some  mistake. 


Tarpeian  Rock. 


CHAPTER    VIII. 

AGRARIAN  LAW.   THE  ELECTION  OF  THE  TRIBUNES  TRANSFERRED 
TO  THE  TRIBES. 


1.  Sp.  Cassius,  Patrician,  patron  of  the  Plebeians :  proposes  an  Agrarian 
LoTw.  §  2.  Nature  of  Agrarian  Laws.  §  3.  The  Patricians  allow  Law  to 
pass.     §  4,  Sp.  Cassius  condenjued  for  aiming  at  kingly  power.     §  5.  Hii 


96  ROME  UNDER  THE  PATRICIANS.  Book  11 

fall  increases  power  of  Patricians :  seven  Consulships  of  Fabii.  §  6.  But 
boldness  of  Tribunes  also  increases :  a  Consul  impeached  by  Tribune  Genu- 
cius,  who  is  murdered,  §  1.  Volero  Publilius  refuses  to  enhst.  §  8. 
Chosen  Tribune :  Publilian  Law,  enacting  that  Tribunes  should  be  chosen 
by  Tribes.  §  9.  Second  Appius  Claudius  elected  Consul  to  oppose  Law : 
in  vain.     Five  Tribunes  henceforth  elected  at  Comitia  Tributa. 

§  1.  The  small  beginning  of  political  independence  which  the 
Plebeians  had  gained  by  the  institution  of  the  Tribunate,  seemed 
likely  to  be  much  furthered  by  the  unexpected  appearance  of  a 
patron  of  their  order  in  the  ranks  of  the  Patricians  themselves. 
This  was  Spurius  Cassius,  a  notable  man.  He  was  three  times 
Consul.  In  his  second  Consulship  he  concluded  a  league  with 
the  Latins,  and  in  his  third  Consulship  a  similar  league  with  the 
Hernicans,  by  which  the  united  people  of  Rome,  Latium,  and 
the  Hernicans  bound  themselves  to  check  the  alarming  advance 
lately  made  by  the  Volscians.  But  of  this  we  will  speak  in  the 
next  chapter.  At  present  we  have  to  treat  of  another  remark- 
able act  of  the  third  Consulship  of  Sp.  Cassius,  which  was  thp 
proposal  of  the  first  Agrarian  Law. 

§  2.  Great  mistakes  formerly  prevailed  on  the  nature  of  tl;  - 
Roman  laws  familiarly  termed  Agrarian.  It  was  supposed  thai 
by  these  laws  all  land  was  declared  common  property,  and  that 
at  certain  intervals  of  time  the  state  assumed  possession,  and 
made  a  fresh  distribution  thereof  to  all  citizens,  rich  and  poor. 
It  is  needless  to  make  any  remarks  on  the  nature  and  conse- 
quences of  such  a  law ;  sufficient  it  will  be  to  say,  what  is  now 
known  to  all,  that  at  Rome  such  laws  never  existed,  never  were 
thought  of.  The  lands  which  were  to  be  distributed  by  Agra- 
rian laws  were  not  private  property,  but  the  property  of  the  state. 
They  were,  originally,  those  Public  Lands  which  had  been  the 
Domain  of  the  Kings  ;  and  which  were  increased  whenever  any 
city  or  people  was  conquered  by  the  Romans,  because  it  was  an 
Italian  practice  to  confiscate  the  lands  of  the  conquered,  in 
whole  or  in  part,  to  the  use  and  benefit  of  the  conquerinjr 
people. 

Now  at  this  time,  as  has  been  shown,  the  Patrician  Burgesses 
in  effect  constituted  the  Populus,  and  they  had  occupied  the 
greater  part,  if  not  all,  of  this  Public  Land.  This  land,  as  has 
also  been  said,  chiefly  consisted  of  pasturage  ;  and  it  w  as  ma- 
nifest that  if  the  Plebeians  could  add  to  their  small  farms,  which 
were  mostly  in  tillage,  the  right  of  feeding  cattle  upon  these 
lands,  their  means  would  be  much  increased,  and  they  were 
likely  to  become  much  less  dependent  upon  the  rich  Patriciar- 


Chap.  Tia  SP.  CASSIUS.  97 

§  3.  It  is  said  in  the  Annals  that  Servius  Tullius  was  author 
of  the  first  Agrarian  regulations.  He  divided,  we  are  told,  part  of 
the  domain  land  among  the  poorer  Plebeians,  probably  at  the  rate 
of  seven  jugera  (about  4^  acres)  a  man  ;  for  this  is  the  rule  that 
we  find  adopted  at  the  expulsion  of  the  Kings.*  Whether  these 
ancient  assignments  of  land  took  eff'ect,  and  whether  the  pro- 
posal of  Spurius  Cassius  was  merely  intended  to  carry  them  into 
execution,  or  was  a  further  law  of  the  same  character,  we  have 
no  means  of  judging.  On  either  supposition,  the  relief  of  the 
Plebeians  would  be  of  the  same  kind.  And  as  the  Patricians  en- 
joyed the  use  and  profit  of  all  Public  Lands  that  had  not  already 
been  divided,  it  is  not  unnatural  that  they  should  have  resisted 
any  such  law  with  the  utmost  vehemence  and  pertinacity. 

Such  indeed  was  the  case.  But  Sp.  Cassius,  the  proposer  of  the 
law,  was  Consul  for  the  third  time  (486  b.c).  His  services  to  the 
state  had  been  great ;  his  official  power  was  great.  The  remem- 
brance of  the  Secession  to  the  Sacred  Mount  was  yet  fresh  ; 
and  the  law,  after  passing  the  Centuriate  Comitia,  was  not  re- 
jected by  the  Patrician  Burgesses  in  their  Curiae.  They  calculated 
that  it  would  be  more  easy  to  thwart  the  execution  of  the  law, 
than  to  prevent  its  being  passed.     And  they  calculated  rightly. 

§  4.  But  though  the  Patricians  had  yielded  thus  far,  they  only 
waited  for  an  opportunity  of  seeking  vengeance.  When  Sp. 
Cassius  laid  down  his  Consulship,  that  opportunity  arrived.  It 
was  said,  that  in  the  Leagues  formed  with  the  Latins  and  Her- 
nicansf  he  had  granted  terms  too  favourable  to  these  people, 
and  was  seeking  to  make  himself  despotic  lord  of  Rome  by  means 
of  foreigners,  as  Tarquin  had  done.  It  appears  that  there  was 
some  colour  for  this  last  accusation.  Indeed,  it  is  not  unlikely, 
that  a  man  such  as  Spurius  Cassius  may  have  contemplated 
overthrowing  the  patrician  Oligarchy,  and  making  himself  a  King 
like  Servius  Tullius.  But  whether  his  views  were  simply  ambi- 
tious, or  whether  they  were  directed  to  the  true  interests  of  the 
community,  the  very  name  of  King  had  become  hateful  to  Roman 
ears.  Sp.  Cassius  was  accused  by  Kseso  Fabius,  then  head 
of  one  of  the  most  powerful  patrician  Gentes.  He  was  tried,  no 
doubt  before  a  patrician  court,  found  guilty,  and  condemned  to 
die  the  death  of  a  traitor.  He  was  scourged  and  beheaded,  and 
his  house  razed  to  the  ground. 

Such  was  the  end  of  Spurius  Cassius,  a  man  little  mentioned 
in  the  Annals  of  Rome,  and  who  would  be  forgotten,  were  it  not 
that  the  mere  record  of  his  acts  at  home  and  abroad,  the  Agra- 
rian law,  and  the  treaties  concluded  by  him  with  the  Latins  and 
Hernicans,  have  worthily  preserved  his  name.  His  enterprise 
*  Plin.  Hist.  Nat.  xyiu.  4.  t  See  Chapt.  ix.  §  6. 

5 


98  ROME)  UNDER  THE  PATRICIANS.  Book  IL 

and  his  end  have  been  aptly  compared  with  those  of  Agis  at 
Sparta,  or  of  Marino  Faliero  at  Venice,  who  like  him  endea- 
voured to  overthrow  the  power  of  the  close  and 'selfish  oligarchy 
to  which  they  respectively  belonged. 

§  5.  It  is  remarkable  that  for  seven  successive  years  after  this 
event,  a  Fabius  appears  as  one  of  the  two  Consuls ;  and  we  con- 
stantly find  one  Consul  in  the  interest  of  the  high  patrician 
party,  while  the  other  indicates  more  popular  sentiments.  These 
signs,  together  with  some  indistinct  notices  in  two  of  our  ancient 
authorities,  led  Niebuhr  to  conclude  that  at  this  time  the  Patri- 
cians obtained  the  power  of  electing  one  of  the  Consuls  at  their 
own  Curiate  Assembly,  while  in  some  years  they  even  appointed 
both.  Later  inquiries,  however,  have  made  it  probable  that  the 
Consuls  were  always  elected  at  the  great  Assembly  of  the  Classes 
and  Centuries.  The  great  influence  which  the  Patricians  had  in 
this  Assembly,  by  means  of  their  own  wealth  and  that  of  their 
Clients,  must  have  given  them  at  least  a  great  preponderance  in 
all  elections ;  and  it  is  possible,  that  for  the  sake  of  peace,  some 
arrangement  may  have  been  made  by  which  one  Consul  was  ge- 
nerally returned  in  the  Patrician  interest,  and  the  other  in  the 
Plebeian.  Such  compromises  are  common  in  all  elections.  But 
when  party-spirit  ran  very  high,  the  Patricians  might  return  both 
of  the  chief  magistrates  themselves.* 

§  6.  The  same  preponderating  influence  which  enabled  the 
Patricians  to  command  the  consular  elections,  gave  them  power 
also  to  control  the  choice  of  the  Tribunes  of  the  Plebs,  except 
that  as  both  Consuls  must  be  Patricians,  so  both  Tribunes  must 
be  Plebeians.  It  is  evident,  that  in  order  to  make  the  Tribunes 
really  the  representatives  and  protectors  of  their  order,  they 
must  be  chosen  by  that  order.  Still,  notwithstanding  the  mode 
of  their  election,  energetic  men  had  been  found  to  put  forth  the 
power  with  which  they  were  invested  by  the  sanctity  of  the  tri- 
bunitian  oflice.  The  Patricians  had  successfully  impeded  the 
execution  of  the  Agrarian  law  of  Cassius.  But  three  years  after, 
a  Tribune  named  Maenius,  declared  that  he  would  prevent  the 
militia  from  being  called  out  to  take  the  field  against  the 
Volscian  and  ^quian  foe,  till  this  grievance  was  redressed.  He 
offered,  that  is,  in  virtue  of  his  protective  powers,  to  secure  any 
plebeian  soldier  against  the  power  of  the  Consul,  should  he  refuse 
to  obey  the  order  to  give  in  his  name  for  active  service  ;  and 
another  Tribune,  named  Licinius,  renewed  the  same  attempt  in 
the  next  year.  These  first  essays  of  their  newly  gained  power 
were  the  origin  of  that  tremendous  intercessory  force,  which  in 

*  On  this  question  see  Niebuhr,  ii.  1*79  sqq.,  with  the  remarks  of  Becker, 
AnUqq.  ii.  part  ii.  p.  93. 


Chap.  YIII.  SP.  CASSIUS.  99 

later  times  was  so  freely  exercised.  At  pres'^nt  the  attempt 
proved  an  empty  threat.  The  Consuls  held  their  levy  outside 
the  walls  of  the  city,  where  they  possessed  power  of  life  and 
death,  and  where  the  Tribunes'  protective  power  availed  not. 
The  next  attempt  of  the  plebeian  chiefs  was  more  successful. 
The  Tribunes  of  the  year  476  b.c.  publicly  indicted  the  Consul 
Menenius,  son  of  him  who  had  done  good  service  to  the  state  at 
the  Secession,  for  suffering  the  Fabian  Gens  to  be  overpowered 
by  the  Veientines,  of  which  we  shall  speak  presently  ;  and  the 
Consul  was  condemned  to  pay  a  fine.  At  length,  three  years 
after  (473),  matters  were  brought  to  issue  by  the  Tribune  Genu- 
cius,  who  impeached  the  Consuls  of  the  previous  year  for  pre- 
venting the  execution  of  the  Agrarian  la^..  Consternation  pre- 
vailed among  the  Patricians.  The  condemnation  of  Menenius 
by  the  Centuries,  notwithstanding  the  votes  of  the  Clients, 
struck  them  with  dismay  ;  and  they  resolved  on  striking  a  blow 
calculated  to  prevent  such  attempts  in  future.  On  the  day  of 
trial  the  Tribune  appeared  not.  His  friends  sought  him  at' home. 
He  was  found  murdered  in  his  chamber. 

§  7.  But  the  effect  produced  was  contrary  to  expectation.  The 
flame  which  the  Patricians  expected  to  smother,  was  fanned  to 
greater  violence.  The  Consuls  ordered  a  levy  to  take  the  field, 
confidently  expecting  tame  submission.  But  when  one  Volero  Pub- 
lilius,  who  had  served  as  a  Centurion,  was  called  out  as  a  private 
soldier,  he  refused  to  give  his  name,  and  appealed  to  the  Tribunes 
for  protection.  They  hung  back,  terrified  by  the  fate  of  Genu- 
cius.  But  Volero  threw  himself  among  his  compatriots ;  a  tu- 
mult arose,  and  the  Consuls  were  obliged  to  take  refuge  in  the 
Senate-house. 

§  8.  Volero  Publilius  was  chosen  one  of  the  Tribunes  for  the  en- 
suing year ;  and  he  straightway  proposed  a  law,  by  which  it  was 
provided  that  the  Tribunes  and  JEdiles  of  the  Plebs  should  be 
elected  by  the  Plebeians  themselves  at  the  Assembly  of  the  Tribes 
in  the  Forum,  not  at  the  Assembly  of  the  Centuries  in  the  P'ield 
of  Mars.     This  is  usually  called  the  Publilian  law  of  Volero. 

§  9.  For  a  whole  year,  the  Patricians  succeeded  in  putting  off 
the  law.  But  the  Plebeians  were  determined  to  have  it.  Volero 
was  re-elected  Tribune  ;  and  C.  Laetorius,  a  man  of  great  resolu- 
tion, was  chosen  as  his  colleague  :  facts  which  show  that  in 
Reasons  of  excitement  the  people  were  able  to  procure  the  elec- 
tion of  their  own  friends  even  before  the  passing  of  the  first  Pub- 
lilian law. 

The  more  violent  among  the  Patricians  now  prepared  to  pre- 
vent this  measure  from  being  accepted  by  any  means.  App. 
Claudis,  son    of  him  whose   haughty   opposition   had   provoked 


100  ROME  UNDER  THE  PATRICIANS.  Book  H. 

the  secession  to*  the  Sacred  Mount,  had  succeeded  his  father  as 
the  bitterest  and  most  determined  foe  of  the  Plebs,  and  was 
chosen  Consul  by  his  party.  The  law  was  again  brought  forward 
by  the  new  Tribunes ;  and  the  new  Consul,  attended  by  his  lictors, 
appeared  at  the  Comitia  of  the  Tribes  to  interrupt  the  proceed- 
ings. Lsetorius  ordered  him  to  withdraw  ;  and  a  general  riot 
followed,  which  was  only  stopped  by  the  interveiition  of  the 
other  Consul,  T.  Quinctius.  But  the  Tribunes  were  resolved  to 
have  their  law  carried,  and  by  a  sudden  movement  they  occupied 
the  Capitol  itsfelf,  and  defied  all  the  attacks  of  the  Patricians. 
Appius  proposed,  as  of  old,  to  reduce  them  by  force,  but  the 
milder  counsels  of  his  colleague  again  prevailed,  and  the  Patricians 
(by  the  authority  of  the  Senate)  passed  the  Publilian  law. 

In  the  next  year  (470)  five  Tribunes  were  elected  by  the 
Plebeians  themselves,  without  let  or  hindrance  from  the  Patrician 
Burgesses.  Thus,  no  doubt,  these  officers  became  real  pro- 
tectors of  their  brethren.  But  their  powers  were  too  large  and 
unrestricted,  and  the  fruits  of  the  absolute  veto  which  they 
afterwards  learned  to  exercise  will  amply  appear  in  the  course 
cf  our  subsequent  narrative. 


I©  MA, 
Coin  bearing  the  DioscurL 


rs4^/fif 


Tivoli,  looking  over  the  Campagna. 


CHAPTER    IX. 

WARS    AND  FOREIGN  AFFAIRS  FROM  THE    BATTLE  OF  LAKE    REGILLUS 
TO  THE  DECEMVIRATE.       (496 450  B.C.) 

§  1.  Great  decrease  of  Roman  power.  §  2.  Vagueness  in  history  of  "Wars; 
famous  Legends.  §  3.  Volscian  Wars :  Legend  of  Coriolanus.  §  4.  ^quian 
Wars:  Legend  of  Cincinnatus.  §  5.  Yeientine  Wars:  Legend  of  Fabian 
Gens.  §  6,  Leagues  formed  by  Spurius  Cassius  with  the  Latins  and  Her- 
nicans  the  true  barriers  against  ^qui  and  Volsci.  §  7.  Importance  of  these 
Leagues  to  Latins  as  well  as  to  Rome.     §  8.  Duration  of  Latin  League. 

§  1.  While  the  two  Orders  were  thus  engaged  in  struggling  for 
rights  and  privileges  in  the  city,  they  were  hard  pressed  upon 
their  frontiers  by  the  advancing  power  of  the  Volscians  and  the 
>^quians. 

Nothing  can  show  the  decrease  of  Roman  power  more  than  the 
facts  which  are  incidentally  disclosed  by  this  history.  It  appears 
that,  soon  after  the  Secession,  the  Volscians,  descending  from 
their  hills,  had  taken  not  only  the  remote  Latin  cities  of  Terra- 
cina,  Circeii,  Antium,  Satricum,  and  others  ;   but  also  captured 


102  ROME  UNDER  THE  PATRICIANS.  Book  XL 

Lavinium,  Corioli,  Lavici,  Pedum,  and  other  cities  within  sight 
of  Kome.  The  Aequians  also  pressed  on  from  the  north-east; 
at  one  time  they  were  in  possession  of  the  citadel  of  Tusculura, 
and  shut  up  the  Roman  Consul  within  the  Roman  territory. 

At  the  same  time,  the  Etruscans  of  Veii,  who  had  recovered 
the  lands  taken  from  them  by  Rome  under  the  later  Kings,  con- 
tinually appeared  in  force  upon  the  opposite  banks  of  the  Tiber, 
and  threatened  the  Janiculum,  which  the  Romans  still  retained. 

§  2.  To  the  readers  of  Livy  nothing  is  more  wearying  than  the 
monotonous  iteration,  with  which  he  repeats  the  story  of  the 
victories  won  by  Roman  Consuls,  over  enemies  who  always  appear 
next  year  unbroken  and  ready  for  fresh  conflicts.  He  himself 
felt  the  weariness  in  recording  these  unsubstantial  conflicts,  and 
we  shall  here  not  think  it  necessary  to  follow  him.* 

But  there  are  some  famous  legends  connected  with  these  three- 
fold wars,  which  cannot  be  omitted  by  any  writer  of  Roman 
history.  These  are  the  legends  of  Coriolanus,  of  Cincinnatus, 
and  of  the  Fabian  Gens.  The  exact  time  to  which  they  refer  is 
uncertain ;  nor  is  it  material  to  determine. 

§  3.  Legend  of  Coriolanus  and  the  Yolscians. 

Caius  Marcius  was  a  youth  of  high  patrician  family,  descended 
from  the  Sabine  king,  Ancus  Marcius;  and  he  was  brought  up 
by  his  mother  Volumnia,  a  true  Roman  matron,  noble  and  ge- 
nerous, proud  and  stern,  implacable  towards  enemies,  unfor- 
giving towards  the  faults  of  friends.  Caius  grew  up  with  all  the 
faults  and  virtues  of  his  mother,  and  was  soon  found  among  the 
chief  opponents  of  the  Plebeians.  He  won  a  civic  crown  of  oak 
for  saving  a  fellow-citizen  at  the  battle  of  Lake  Regillus,  when 
he  was  seventeen  years  of  age.  But  he  gained  his  chief  fame  in 
the  Volscian  wars.  For  the  Romans,  being  at  war  with  this 
people,  attacked  Corioli,  a  Latin  city  which  then  had  fallen  into 
the  hands  of  the  Yolscians.  But  the  assailants  were  driven  back 
by  the  garrison ;  when  Caius  Marcius  rallied  the  fugitives,  turned 
upon  his  pursuers,  and,  driving  them  back  in  turn,  entered  the 
gates  along  with  them ;  and  the  city  fell  into  the  hands  of  the 
Romans.  For  this  brave  conduct  he  was  named  after  the  city 
which  he  had  taken,  Caius  Marcius  Coriolanus. 

Now  it  happened,  after  this,  that  the  Roman  people  being  much 
distressed  by  having  their  lands  ravaged  in  war,  and  tillage  being 
neglected,  a  great  dearth  ensued.  Then  Gelon,  the  Greek  king 
of  Syracuse,  sent  them  ships  laden  with  corn  to  relieve  the 
distress.     It  was  debated  in  the  Senate  how  this  corn  should  be 

*  "  Non  dubito"  (he  says  naively),  "  praeter  satietatem,  tot  jam  libria 
assidua  bella . . .  logentibus  id  quoque  succursurum  (quod  mihi  miraculo  fuit), 
unde  toties  victis  Volscis  et  Acquis  suflfecerint  milites." — vi.  12. 


Chap.  IX  CORIOLANUS.  103 

distributed.  Some  were  for  giving  it  away  to  the  poorer  sort ; 
some  were  for  selling  it  at  a  low  price ;  but  Coriolanus,  who  was 
greatly  enraged  at  the  concessions  that  had  been  made  to  the 
Plebeians,  and  hated  to  see  them  protected  by  the  new  officers, 
the  Tribunes,  spoke  vehemently  against  these  proposals,  and 
said  :  "  Why  do  they  ask  us  for  corn  ?  They  have  got  their 
Tribunes.  Let  them  go  back  to  the  Sacred  Hill,  and  leave  us  to 
rule  alone.  Or  let  them  give  up  their  Tribunes,  and  then  they 
shall  have  the  corn."  This  insolent  language  wrought  up  the 
Plebeians  to  a  height  of  fury  against  Caius  Marcius,  and  they 
would  have  torn  him  in  pieces;  but  their  Tribunes  persuaded 
them  to  keep  their  hands  oft";  and  then  cited  him  before  the 
Comitia  to  give  account  of  his  conduct.  The  main  body 
of  the  Patricians  were  not  inclined  to  assist  Coriolanus ;  so, 
after  some  violent  struggles,  he  declined  to  stand  his  trial,  but 
left  Rome,  shaking  the  dust  from  his  feet  against  his  thank- 
less countrymen  (for  so  he  deemed  them),  and  vowing  that  they 
should  bitterly  repent  of  having  driven  Caius  Marcius  Coriolanus 
into  exile." 

He  went  straight  to  Antium,  another  Latin  city  which  had 
become  the  capital  of  the  Volscians,  and  going  to  the  house  of 
Attus  Tullius,  one  of  the  chief  men  of  the  nation,  he  seated  him- 
self near  the  hearth  by  the  household  gods,  a  place  which  among 
the  Italian  nations  was  held  sacred.  When  Tullius  entered,  the 
Koman  rose  and  greeted  his  former  enemy  :  "My  name  (he  said) 
is  Caius  Marcius :  my  surname,  Coriolanus — the  only  reward 
now  remaining  for  all  my  services.  I  am  an  exile  from  Rome, 
ray  country;  I  seek  refuge  in  the  house  of  my  enemy.  If  ye 
will  use  my  services,  I  will  serve  you  well ;  if  ye  would  rather 
take  vengeance  on  me,  strike,  I  am  ready." 

Tullius  at  once  accepted  the  ofter  of  the  "  banished  lord  ;"  and 
determined  to  break  the  treaty  which  there  then  was  between 
his  people  and  the  Romans.  But  the  Volscians  were  afraid  to 
go  to  war.  So  Tullius  had  recourse  to  fraud.  It  happened  that 
one  Titus  Atinius,  a  Plebeian  of  Rome,  was  warned  in  a  dieam  to 
go  to  the  Consuls,  and  order  them  to  celebrate  the  Great  Games 
over  again,  because  they  had  not  been  rightly  performed  the  first 
time.  But  he  was  afraid  and  would  not  go.  Then  his  son  fell 
sick  and  died ;  and  again  he  dreamt  the  same  dream  ;  but  still 
he  would  not  go.  Then  he  was  himself  stricken  with  palsy; 
and  so  he  delayed  no  longer,  but  made  his  friends  carry  him  on 
a  litter  to  the  Consuls.  And  they  believed  his  words,  and  the 
Great  Games  were  begun  again  with  increased  pomp  ;  and  many 
of  the  Volscians,  being  at  peace  with  Rome,  came  to  see  them. 
^Jpon  this  Tullius  went  secretly  to  the  Consuls,  and  told  them 


104  EOME  UNDER  THE  PATRICIANS.  Book  IL 

that  his  countrymen  were  thronging  to  Rome,  and  he  feared 
they  had  mischief  in  their  thoughts.  Then  the  Consuls  laid  this 
secret  information  before  the  Senate;  and  the  Senate  decreed 
that  all  Volscians  should  depart  from  Rome  before  sunset. 
This  decree  seemed  to  the  Volscians  to  be  a  wanton  insult, 
and  they  went  home  in  a  rage.  Tullius  met  them  on  their  way 
home  at  the  fountain  of  Ferentina,  where  the  Latins  had  been 
wont  to  hold  their  councils  of  old ;  and  he  spoke  to  them,  and 
increased  their  anger,  and  persuaded  them  to  break  off  their 
treaty  with  the  Romans.  So  the  Volscians  made  war  against 
Rome,  and  chose  Attus  Tullius  and  Caius  Marcius  the  Roman 
to  be  their  commanders. 

The  army  advanced  against  Rome,  ravaging  and  laying  waste 
all  the  lands  of  the  Plebeians,  but  letting  those  of  the  Patricians 
remain  untouched.  This  increased  the  jealousy  between  the 
Orders,  and  the  Consuls  found  it  impossible  to  raise  an  army  to 
go  out  against  the  enemy.  Coriolanus  took  one  Latin  town 
after  another,  and  even  the  Volscians  deserted  their  own  general 
to  serve  under  his  banners.  He  now  advanced  and  encamped  at 
the  Cluilian  Foss,  within  five  miles  of  the  city. 

Nothing  was  now  to  be  seen  within  the  walls  but  consterna 
tion  and  despair.  The  temples  of  the  gods  were  filled  with 
suppliants;  the  Plebeians  themselves  pressed  the  Senate  to  make 
peace  with  the  terrible  Coriolanus.  Meantime  the  enemy 
advanced  to  the  very  gates  of  the  city,  and  at  length  the  Senate 
agreed  to  send  five  men,  chiefs  among  the  Patricians,  to  turn 
away  the  anger  of  their  countryman.  He  received  them  with 
the  utmost  sternness ;  said  that  he  was  now  general  of  the  Vol- 
scians, and  must  do  what  was  best  for  his  new  friends ;  that  if 
they  wished  for  peace  they  must  restore  all  the  lands  and  places 
that  had  been  taken  from  the  Volscians,  and  must  admit  these 
people  to  an  equal  league,  and  put  them  on  an  equal  footing  with, 
the  Latins.  The  deputies  could  not  accept  these  terms,  so  they 
returned  to  Rome.  The  Senate  sent  them  back,  to  ask  for 
milder  terms;  but  the  haughty  exile  would  not  suffer  them  to 
enter  his  camp. 

Then  went  forth  another  deputation,  graver  and  more  solemn 
than  the  former, — the  Pontiffs,  Flamens,  and  Augurs,  all  attired 
in  their  priestly  robes,  who  besought  him,  by  all  that  he  held 
sacred,  by  the  respect  he  owed  to  his  country's  gods,  to  give 
them  assurance  of  peace  and  safety.  He  treated  them  with 
grave  respect,  but  sent  them  away  without  relaxing  any  of  his 
demands. 

It  seemed  as  if  the  glory  of  Rome  were  departing,  as  if  the 
crown  were  about  to  be  transferred  to  the  cities  of  the  VolsciaiiS.  • 


Chap.  IX.  CORIOLANUS.  105 

But  not  so  was  it  destined  to  be.  It  chanced  that  as  all  the 
women  were  weeping  and  praying  in  the  temples,  the  thought 
arose  among  them  that  they  might  effect  what  Patricians 
and  Priests  had  alike  failed  to  do.  It  was  Valeria,  the 
sister  of  the  great  Valerius  Poplicola,  who  first  started  the 
thought,  and  she  prevailed  on  Volumnia,  the  stern  mother  of 
the  exile,  to  accompany  the  mournful  train.  With  them  also 
W3nt  Virgilia,  his  wife,  leading  her  two  boys  by  the  hand,  and  a 
CiOwd  of  other  women.  Coriolanus  beheld  them  from  afar,  as 
ho  was  sitting  on  a  raised  seat  among  the  Volscian  chiefs,  and 
resolved  to  send  back  them  also  with  a  denial.  But  when  they 
came  near,  and  he  saw  his  mother  at  the  head  of  the  sad  pro- 
cession, he  sprang  from  his  seat,  and  was  about  to  kiss  her.  But 
she  drew  back  with  all  the  loftiness  of  a  Roman  matron,  and 
said — "  Art  thou  Caius  Marcius,  and  am  I  thy  mother  ?  or  art 
thou  the  general  of  the  Volscian  foe,  and  I  a  prisoner  in  his 
camp  ?  Before  thou  kissest  me,  answer  me  that  question." 
Caius  stood  silent,  and  his  mother  went  on :  "  Shall  it  be  said 
that  it  is  to  me — to  me  alone — that  Rome  owes  her  conqueror 
and  oppressor  ?  Had  I  never  been  a  mother,  my  country  had  still 
boen  free.  But  I  am  too  old  to  feel  this  misery  long.  Look  to 
thy  wife  and  little  ones ;  thou  art  enslaving  thy  country,  and  with 
it  thou  enslavest  them."  The  fierce  Roman's  heart  sunk  before 
the  indignant  words  of  her  whom  he  had  feared  and  respected 
from  his  childhood ;  and  when  his  wife  and  children  hanging 
about  him  added  their  soft  prayers  to  the  lofty  supplications  of 
his  mother,  he  turned  to  her  with  bitterness  of  soul,  and  said — 
"  O  my  mother,  thou  hast  saved  Rome,  but  lost  thy  son  !" 

So  he  drew  off  his  army,  and  the  women  went  back  to  Rome 
and  were  hailed  as  the  saviours  of  their  country.  And  the 
Senate  ordered  a  temple  to  be  built  and  dedicated  to  "  Woman's 
Fortune"  (Fortuna  Muliebris)  ;  and  Valeria  was  the  first  priestess 
of  the  temple.* 

But  Coriolanus  returned  to  dwell  among  the  Volscians;  and 
Tullius,  who  had  before  become  jealous  of  his  superiority,  ex- 
cited the  people  against  him,  saying  that  he  had  purposely 
r3pared  their  great  enemy  the  city  of  Rome,  even  when  it  was 
within  their  grasp.  So  he  lost  favour,  and  was  slain  in  a  tumult ; 
and  the  words  he  had  spoken  to  his  mother  were  truly  fulfilled. 

This  is  the  famous  Legend  of  Coriolanus,  which  is  dear 
to  us,  because  it  has  been  wrought  by  Shakspere  into  one  of  his 
noblest  tragedies.  Nothing  can  exceed  the  truth  and  force  with 
which  he  has  drawn  the  character  of  the  haughty  Patrician  : 
but  it  must  be  observed  that  the  Tribunes  and  Plebeians  of  tha 
*  That  of  Fortuna  Virilis  had  been  built  by  Servius  Tullius. 
5* 


106  ROME  U:N'DER  THE  PATRICIANS.  Book  XL 

play  rather  represent  the  turbulent  mob  of  the  times  of  Marius 
and  Caesar,  than  the  sturdy  countrymen  who  formed  the  people 
of  Rome  in  those  early  days. 

§  4.  Legend  of  Cincinnatus  and  the  ^quians. 

In  the  course  of  these  wars,  Minucius,  one  of  the  Consuls, 
suffered  himself  to  be  cut  off  from  Rome  in  a  narrow  valley  of 
Mount  Algidus,  and  it  seemed  as  if  hope  of  delivery  there  was 
none.  However,  five  horsemen  found  means  to  escape  and 
report  at  Rome  the  perilous  condition  of  the  Consul  and  his  army. 
Then  the  other  Consul  consulted  the  Senate,  and  it  was  agreed 
that  the  only  man  who  could  deliver  the  army  was  L.  Quinc- 
tius  Cincinnatus.  Therefore  this  man  was  named  Dictator,  and 
deputies  were  sent  to  acquaint  him  with  his  high  dignity. 

Now  this  Lucius  Quinctius  was  called  Cincinnatus,  because  he 
wore  his  hair  in  long  curling  locks  (cincinni)  ;  and,  though  he 
was  a  Patrician,  he  lived  on  his  own  small  farm,  like  any  ple- 
beian yeomen.  This  farm  was  beyond  the  Tiber,*  and  here  he 
lived  contentedly  with  his  wife  Racilia. 

Two  years  before  he  had  been  Consul,  and  had  been  brought 
into  great  distress  by  the  conduct  of  his  son  Kseso.  This  Kseso 
Quinctius  was  a  wild  and  insolent  young  man,  who  despised  the 
Plebeians,  and  hated  their  Tribunes,  like  Coriolanus.  Like  Corio- 
lanus,  he  was  impeached  by  the  Tribunes,  but  on  very  different 
grounds.  One  Volscius  Fictor  alleged  that  he  and  his  brother, 
an  old  and  sickly  man,  had  been  attacked  by  Kseso  and  a  party 
of  young  Patricians  by  night  in  the  Suburra  ;  his  brother  had 
died  of  the  treatment  then  received.  The  indignation  of  the 
people  rose  high ;  and  Kseso,  again  like  Coriolanus,  was  forced  to 
go  into  exile.  After  this  the  young  patricians  became  more 
insolent  than  ever,  but  they  courted  the  poorest  of  the  people, 
hoping  to  engage  them  on  their  side  against  the  more  respect- 
able Plebeians.  Next  year  all  Rome  was  alarmed  by  finding  that 
the  Capitol  had  been  seized  by  an  enemy  during  the  night.  This 
enemy  was  Appius  Herdonius,  a  Sabine,  and  with  him  was  asso- 
ciated a  band  of  desperate  men,  exiles  and  runaway  slaves.  The 
first  demand  he  made  was  that  all  Roman  exiles  should  be 
restored.  The  Consul,  P.  Valerius,  collected  a  force,  and  took 
the  Capitol.  But  he  was  himself  killed  in  the  assault,  and  L. 
Quinctius  Cincinnatus,  father  of  the  banished  Kseso,  was  chosen 
to  succeed  him.  When  he  heard  the  news  of  his  elevation,  he 
turned  to  his  wife  and  said, — "  I  fear,  Racilia  our  little  field 
must  remain  this  year  unsown."     Then  he  assumed  the  robe  of 

*  "Within  the  entrenched  limits  of  Janiculum,  we  must  suppose  ;  for  all  the 
rest  of  the  Trans-Tiberine  land  had  been  restored  in  the  time  of  Porsenca  to 
the  Veientines. 


Chap.  IX.  CINCINNATUS.  107 

state,  and  went  to  Rome.  Now  it  was  believed  that  Kaeso  liad 
been  concerned  in  the  desperate  enterprise  that  had  just  been  de- 
feated. What  had  become  of  him  was  unknown;  but  that  he  was 
already  dead  was  pretty  certain ;  and  his  father  was  very  bitter 
against  the  Tribunes  and  their  party,  to  whom  he  attributed  his 
son's  disgrace  and  death.  P.  Valerius,  the  Consul,  had  persuaded 
the  Plebeians  to  join  in  the  assault  of  the  Capitol,  by  promising  to 
gain  them  further  privileges  :  this  promise  Cincinnatus  refused  to 
keep,  and  used  all  his  power  to  frustrate  the  attempts  of  the  Tri- 
bunes to  gain  its  fulfilment.  At  the  end  of  his  year  of  office,  how- 
ever, when  the  Patricians  wished  to  continue  him  in  the  consul- 
ship, he  positively  declined  the  offer,  and  returned  to  his  rustic  life 
as  if  he  had  never  left  it. 

It  was  two  years  after  these  events,  that  the  deputies  of  the 
Senate,  who  came  to  invest  him  with  the  ensigns  of  dictatorial 
power,  found  him  working  on  his  little  farm.  He  was  clad  in 
his  tunic  only  ;  and  as  the  deputies  advanced,  they  bade  him  put 
on  his  toga,  that  he  might  receive  the  commands  of  the  Senate  in 
seemly  guise.  So  he  wiped  off  the  dust  and  sweat,  the  signs  of 
hibour,  and  bade  his  wife  fetch  his  toga,  and  asked  anxiously 
whether  all  was  right  or  no.  Then  the  deputies  told  him  how  the 
army  was  beset  by  the  ^quian  foe,  and  how  the  Senate  looked  to 
him  as  the  saviour  of  the  state.  A  boat  was  provided  to  carry  him 
over  the  Tiber ;  and  when  he  reached  the  other  bank,  he  wa 
greeted  by  his  family  and  friends  and  the  greater  part  of  th( 
Senate,  who  followed  him  to  the  city,  while  he  himself  walked  in 
state,  with  his  four-and-twenty  lictors. 

Cincinnatus  then  chose  L,  Tarquitius  as  his  Master  of  the  Horse. 
This  man  was  a  Patrician,  but,  like  the  Dictator,  was  poor, — so 
poor,  that  he  could  not  keep  a  horse,  but  was  obliged  to  serve 
among  the  foot-soldiers. 

That  same  day  the  Dictator  and  his  Master  of  the  Horse  came 
down  into  the  Forum,  ordered  all  shops  to  be  shut,  and  all  busi- 
ness to  be  suspended.  All  men  of  the  military  age  were  to  meet 
them  in  the  Field  of  Mars  before  sunset,  each  man  with  five  day*-' 
provisions  and  twelve  stakes  ;  the  older  men  were  to  get  the  pro- 
visions ready,  while  the  soldiers  were  preparing  the  stakes.  Thus 
all  was  got  ready  in  time  :  the  Dictator  led  them  forth  ;  and  they 
marched  so  rapidly,  that  by  midnight  they  had  reached  Mount 
Algidus,  where  the  army  of  the  Consul  was  hemmed  in. 

Then  the  Dictator,  when  he  had  discovered  the  place  of 
the  enemy's  army,  ordered  his  men  to  put  all  their  baggage 
down  in  one  place,  and  then  to  surround  the  enemy's  camp. 
They  obeyed,  and  each  one  raising  a  shout,  began  digging  the 
trench  and  fixing  his  stakes,  so  as  to  form  .a  palisade  round  the 


108  ROME  UNDER  THE  PATRICIANS.  Book  ii. 

enemy.  The  Consul's  army,  which  was  hemmed  in,  heard  the 
shout  of  their  brethren,  and  flew  to  arms ;  and  so  hotly  did  they 
fight  all  night,  that  the  JEquians  had  no  time  to  attend  to  the  new 
foe,  and  next  morning  they  found  themselves  hemmed  in  on  all 
sides  by  the  trench  and  palisade,  so  that  they  were  now  between 
two  Roman  armies.  They  were  thus  forced  to  surrender.  The  Dic- 
tator required  them  to  give  up  their  chiefs,  and  made  their  whole 
army  pass  under  the  yoke,  which  was  formed  by  two  spears  fixed 
upright  in  the  ground,  and  a  third  bound  across  them  at  the  top. 

Cincinnatus  returned  to  Rome  amid  the  shouts  and  exultation 
of  his  soldiers  :  they  gave  him  a  golden  crown,  in  token  that  he 
had  saved  the  lives  of  many  citizens ;  and  the  Senate  decreed  that 
he  should  enter  the  city  in  triumph. 

So  Cincinnatus  accomplished  the  purpose  for  which  he  had  been 
made  Dictator  in  twenty-four  hours.  One  evening  he  marched 
forth  to  deliver  the  Consul,  and  the  next  evening  he  returned  vic- 
torious. 

But  he  would  not  lay  down  his  high  office  till  he  had  avenged 
his  son  Kaeso.  Accordingly  he  summoned  Volscius  Fictor,  the 
accuser,  and  had  him  tried  for  perjury.  The  man  was  condemned 
and  banished  ;  and  then  Cincinnatus  once  more  returned  to  his 
wife  and  farm. 

§  5.  Legend  of  the  Fabian  Gens  and  the  Veientines. 

It  has  already  been  related  that,  after  the  final  expulsion  of  the 
Tarquins,  the  Patricians  withdrew  from  the  Plebeians  those 
rights  which  they  had  originally  obtained  from  King  Servius,  and 
which  had  been  renewed  and  confirmed  to  them  during  the  time 
that  the  Tarquins  were  endeavouring  to  return.  And  for  a 
number  of  years  it  appears  that  the  Fabii  engrossed  a  great 
share  of  this  power  to  themselves.  For  we  find  in  the  lists  of 
Consuls  that  for  seven  years  running  (from  485  to  479  b.c),  one 
of  the  two  Consuls  was  always  a  Fabius.  Now  these  Fabii  were 
the  chief  opponents  of  the  Agrarian  Law  ;  and  Kseso  Fabius,  who 
was  three  times  Consul  in  the  said  seven  years,  was  the  person 
who  procured  the  condemnation  of  Sp.  Cassius,  the  great  friend 
of  the  Plebeians.  This  Kaeso,  in  his  second  Consulship,  found 
himself  as  unpopular  as  Appius  Claudius.  His  soldiers  refused 
to  fight  against  the  enemy.  But  in  his  third  Consulship,  which 
fell  in  the  last  of  the  seven  years,  he  showed  an  altered  spirit, 
hi  and  all  his  house.  For  the  Fabii  saw  the  injustice  they  had 
been  guilty  of  towards  the  Plebeians,  and  the  injury  they 
had  been  doing  to  the  state ;  and  Kaeso  himself  came  forward 
and  proposed  that  the  Agrarian  Law  of  Sp.  Cassius  should  be 
carried  into  full  efi'ect.  But  the  Patricians  rejected  the  proposal 
with  scorn ;  and  so  the  whole  Fabian  Gens  determined  to  leave 


Chap.  IX.  THE  FABII  AT  THE  CREMERA.  109 

Rome  altogether.  They  thought  they  could  serve  their  country 
better  by  warring  against  the  Veientines  than  by  remaining  at 
home.  So  they  assembled  together  on  the  Quirinal  Hill,  in  all 
three  hundred  and  six  men,  besides  their  clients  and  followers,  and 
they  passed  under  the  Capitol,  and  went  out  of  the  city  by  the 
right-hand  arch  of  the  Carmental  gate.*  They  then  crossed  the 
Tiber,  and  marked  out  a  place  on  the  little  river  Cremera,  which 
flows  into  the  Tiber  below  Veii.  Here  they  fortified  a  camp,  and 
sallied  forth  to  ravage  the  lands  of  the  Veientines  and  drive  their 
cattle. 

So  they  stood  between  Rome  and  Veii  for  more  than  a  year's 
time,  and  the  Romans  had  peace  on  that  side,  whereas  the  Veien- 
tines suff'ered  greatly.  But  there  was  a  certain  day,  the  Ides  of 
February,!  which  was  always  held  sacred  by  the  Fabii,  when  they 
offered  solemn  sacrifices  on  the  Quirinal  Hill  J  to  the  gods  of  their 
Gens.  On  this  day,  Kaeso,  their  chief,  led  them  forth  for  Rome ; 
and  the  Veientines,  hearing  of  it,  lay  in  ambush  for  them,  and 
they  were  all  cut  off.  And  the  Plebeians  greatly  mourned  the 
loss  of  their  patrician  friends,  and  Menenius,  the  Consul,  who 
vvas  encamped  near  at  hand,  but  did  not  assist  them,  was  accused 
by  the  Tribunes  of  treacherously  betraying  them,  as  has  been 
above  recorded.§ 

But  one  young  Fabius,  who  was  then  a  boy,  was  left  behind  at 
Rome  when  the  rest  of  his  Gens  went  forth  to  settle  on  the  Cre- 
mera. And  he  (so  it  was  said)  was  the  father  of  the  Fabii  who 
were  afterwards  so  famous  in  the  history  of  Rome. 

After  this,  it  is  said,  the  men  of  Veii  asked  and  obtained  a  peace 
of  forty  years. 

§  6.  Though  these  poetic  legends  are  so  much  more  copious 
than  the  scanty  facts  recorded  by  the  Annals,  these  last  furnish 
us  with  the  true  account  of  the  manner  in  which  the  victorious 
inroads  of  the  Volscians  and  ^quians  were  turned  back,  and 
their  encroachments  stayed.  Here  also  the  name  of  Spurius 
Cassius,  albeit  not  celebrated  in  the  legends,  must  claim  our 
chief  attention.  The  patrician  minstrels  who  sang  of  Coriolanus 
and  Cincinnatus  left  his  acts  unno'ticed.  But  not  the  less  may 
we  be  sure  that  it  was  the  Leagues  formed  by  him  with  the 

*  Called  the  right  Janvs  or  Janua.     So  Ovid  says  {Fasti,  ii.  201): — 
"  Carmenti  Port*  dextro  via  proxima  Jano  est : 
Ire  per  hanc  noli  quisquis  es :  omen  habet." 
\  "  Haec  ftiit  ille  dies,  in  quo  Veientibns  arvis 

Ter  centum  Fabii,  ter  cecidere  duo." — Ovro,  Fasti,  ii.  195. 
X  This  seems  to  show  that  they  were  Sabines  of  the  Titian  tribe.     Se* 
Niebuhr,  vol.  i.  note  810. 
§  Chapt  viii.  §  6. 


110  ROME  UNDER  THE  PATRICIANS.  Book  II. 

Latins  and  Hernicans  which  really  stemmed  the  tide  of  conquest, 
and  saved  Latium  from  the  dominion  of  these  Oscan  tribes.  The 
first  of  these  Leagues  was  made  in  the  second  Consulship  of  Cas- 
sius  (b.c.  493),  the  second  in  the  third  Consulship  (b.c.  486).  It 
was  stipulated  by  the  first  that  the  people  of  Rome  and  Latium 
should  form  a  combined  army  for  the  purpose  of  repelling  the 
invader  ;  their  Legions  were  united  under  the  same  forms,  and  in 
like  manner ;  and  it  is  probable  that  in  one  year  a  Roman  Con- 
sul, in  another  a  Latin  Dictator,  took  the  supreme  command. 
The  League  with  the  Hernicans  was  probably  of  a  less  intimate 
nature.  In  both  it  seems  to  have  been  agreed  that  all  lands 
taken  from  the  enemy  should  be  shared  alike  by  the  combined 
nations. 

§  7.  The  geographical  sketch  above  given  will  show  the  im- 
portance of  these  Leagues,  especially  of  the  second,  for  the  defence 
of  Rome.  The  League  of  Rome  and  Latium  was  as  much  a  de- 
fensive measure  on  the  part  of  the  Latins  as  on  that  of  the  Romans. 
It  was  chiefly  Latin  towns  that  had  become  the  booty  of  the  con- 
querors. The  Hernicans,  in  their  upland  valleys,  were  probably 
less  exposed  to  the  common  danger.  But  their  position  betweei 
the  Volscian  and  ^quian  hills  was  such,  that  when  either  of  thes; 
tribes  sallied  down  to  attack  the  cities  of  Latium,  their  flank  and 
rear  lay  exposed  to  the  assaults  of  the  Hernicans.  We  have  no 
detailed  accounts  to  show  how  these  advantages  were  used.  But 
from  the  time  of  these  Leagues  we  may  date  the  declining  power 
of  the  Oscan  tribes,  who  had  one  time  overrun  Latium,  and  pre- 
sented themselves  before  the  walls  of  Rome.  Velitrse,  Antium, 
Satricum,  and  other  places  were  recovered  ;  and  to  Antium  a 
colony  was  sent  to  restore  its  wasted  population. 

§  8.  The  League  formed  by  Spurius  Cassius  with  the  Latins, 
cemented  as  it  was  by  common  interest  and  common  danger,  re- 
mained unaltered  till  the  Gauls  broke  into  Latium,  and  with  their 
furious  onslaught  confounded  all  that  existed  of  order  and  associa- 
tion. The  formation  of  an  alliance  which  lasted  unbroken  foi 
more  than  a  century,  and  which  then  gave  way  under  the  pressure 
of  an  unforeseen  calamity,  speaks  of  no  ordinary  prudence  and 
foresight  on  the  part  of  him  who  formed  it.  Yet  this  act  was,  as 
we  have  seen,  turned  into  an  article  of  impeachment  against  Spu- 
rius Cassius.* 

*  Chapt  viii.  §  4. 


Castor  and  Pollux. 


CHAPTER    X 


CONTINUED    STRUGGLE    BETWEEN    THE    ORDERS.       THE  DECEMVIRATE. 
(470—449  B.C.) 

§  1.  Progress  of  Plebeians :  Colony  of  Antium .  impeachment  of  second  Appius. 
§  2.  Great  pestilence.  .  §  3.  Reform-bill  of  Terentilius  Harsa.  §  4.  Violent 
scenes  at  Rome.  §  5.  Compromise :  Triumvirs  appointed  to  report  upon 
Laws  of  Solon  at  Athens.  §  6,  "l^llc  Land  on  the  Aventine  parcelled  out 
among  Plebeians.  §  7.  Return  of  Triumviri.  §  8.  Appointment  of  De- 
cemviri ;  their  functions :  third  Appius  Claudius  their  chief.  §  9.  Ten 
Tables  completed.  §  10.  Resignation  of  first  Decemvirs :  successors  elected, 
including  Appius.  §  11.  Change  in  bearing  of  Appius :  despotism  of  new- 
Decemvirs.  §  12.  Two  Tables  added  to  Code.  §  13.  Appius  and  col- 
leagues retain  oflBce  for  a  second  year.  §  14.  Wars  break  out  with  ^quians 
and  Sabines.  §  15.  Legend  of  Siccius  Dentatus.  §  16.  Legend  of  Vir- 
ginia. §  n.  Second  Secession  to  Mons  Sacer:  Decemvirs  resign.  §  18. 
L.  Valerius  and  M.  Horatius  sent  to  negotiate  between  Senate  and  Ple- 
beians: Ten  Tribunes  elected.  §19.  Restoration  of  Consulship  ;  Valerius 
and  Horatius  elected.  §  20.  Valerio-Horatian  Laws.  §  21.  Triumph  of 
new  Consuls  over  Sabines  and  ^quians.  §  22.  Appius  impeached  and  dies 
in  prison:  Appius  executed:  the  rest  pardoned.  §  23.  Attempt  tore-elect 
Consuls  and  Tribunes. 

§  1.  It  has  been  shown  how  the  Patrician  Burgesses  endeavoured 
to  wrest  independence  from  the  Plebs  after  the  battle  of  Lake 
Regilhis ;  and  how  the  latter,  ruined  by  constant  wars  with  the 
neighbouring  nations,  compelled  to  make  good  their  losses  by 
borrowing  money  from  patrician  creditors,  and  liable  to  become 
bondsmen  in  default  of  payment,  at  length  deserted  the  city,  and 
only  returned  on  condition  of  being  protected  by  Tribunes  of 
their  own  ;  and  how,  lastly,  by  the  firmness  of  Publilius  Volero 
and  Lajtorius,  they  obtained  the  right  of  electing  these  Tribunes 
at  their  own  assembly,  the  Comitia  of  the  Tribes.     It  has  also 


112  ROME  UNDER  THE  PATRICIANS.  Book  IL 

been  shown  that  the  great  Consul  Spurius  Cassius  endeavoured 
to  relieve  the  commonalty  by  an  Agrarian  law,  so  as  to  better 
their  condition  permanently. 

The  execution  of  the  Agrarian  law  was  constantly  evaded, 
as  we  have  seen.  But,  on  the  conquest  of  Antium  from  the 
Volscians  in  the  year  468  b.c,  a  colony  was  sent  thither ;  and 
this  was  one  of  the  first  examples  of  a  distribution  of  public 
land  to  poorer  citizens,  which  answered  two  purposes — the  im- 
provement of  their  condition,  and  the  defence  of  the  place  against 
the  enemy. 

Nor  did  the  Tribunes,  now  made  altogether  independent  of 
the  Patricians,  fail  to  assert  their  power.  One  of  the  first  per- 
sons who  felt  the  force  of  their  arm  was  the  second  Appius 
Claudius.  This  Sabine  noble,  following  his  father's  example,  had, 
after  the  departure  of  the  Fabii,  led  the  opposition  to  the  Pub- 
lilian  law.  When  he  took  the  field  against  the  Volscians,  his 
soldiers  would  not  fight ;  and  the  stern  commander  put  to  death 
every  tenth  man  in  his  legions.  For  the  acts  of  his  consulship  he 
was  brought  to  trial  by  the  Tribunes,  M.  Duillius  and  C.  Sicinius. 
Seeing  that  the  event  was  certain,  the  proud  Patrician  avoided 
humiliation  by  suicide.* 

§  2.  Nevertheless  the  border  wars  still  continued,  and  the 
Plebeians  still  suff"ered  much.  To  the  evils  of  debt  and  want 
were  added  about  this  time  the  horrors  of  pestilential  disease, 
which  visited  the  Roman  territory  several  times  at  that  period. 
In  one  year  (b.c.  464)  the  two  Consuls,  two  of  the  four  Augurs, 
and  the  Curio  Maximus,  who  was  the  Head  of  all  the  Patricians, 
were  swept  off" :  a  fact  which  implies  the  death  of  a  vast  number 
of  less  distinguished  persons.  The  government  was  adminis- 
tered by  the  Plebeian  JEdiles,  under  the  control  of  senatorial 
Interreges.f  The  Volscians  and  ^quians  ravaged  the  country 
up  to  the  walls  of  Rome  ;  and  the  safety  of  the  city  must  be  attri- 
buted to  the  Latins  and  Hernicans,  not  to  the  men  of  Rome. 

§  3.  Meantime  the  Tribunes  had  in  vain  demanded  a  full 
execution  of  the  Agrarian  law.  But  in  the  year  462  b.c,  one  of 
the  Sacred  College,  by  name  C.  Terrentilius  Harsa,  came  forward 
^ith  a  bill,  of  which  the  object  was  to  give  the  Plebeians  a  surer 
footing  in  the  state.  This  man  perceived  that  as  long  as  the 
Consuls  retained  their  almost  despotic  power,  and  were  elected 
by  the  influence  of  the  Patricians,  this  Order  had  it  in  their 
power  to  thwart  all  measures,  even  after  they  were  passed,  which 
tended  to  advance  the  interests  of  the  Plebeians.  He  therefore 
no  longer  demanded  the  execution  of  the  Agrarian  law,  but  pro- 

*  So  says  Dionys.  ix.  51.     "  Morbo  moritur,"  says  Livy,  ii.  61, 
f  Liv.  iii.  G-8, 


chap.X.  terentilian  Law,  lia 

posed  that  a  commission  of  Ten  Men  (decemviri)  should  be 
appointed  to  draw  up  constitutional  laws  for  regulating  the  future 
relations  of  the  Patricians  and  Plebeians. 

§  4.  The  Reform  Bill  of  Terentilius  was,  as  might  be  supposed, 
vehemently  resisted  by  the  Patrician  Burgesses.  But  the  Ple- 
beians supported  their  champion  no  less  warmly.  For  five  con- 
secutive years  the  same  Tribunes  were  re-elected,  and  in  vain 
endeavoured  to  carry  the  bill.  This  was  the  time  which  least 
fulfils  the  character  which  we  have  claimed  for  the  Roman 
people — patience  and  temperance,  combined  with  firmness  in  their 
demands.  To  prevent  the  Tribunes  from  carrying  their  law,  the 
younger  Patricians  thronged  to  the  Assemblies,  and  interfered 
with  all  proceedings ;  Terentilius,  they  said,  was  endeavouring 
to  confound  all  distinction  between  the  Orders.  Some  scenes 
occurred  which  seem  to  show  that  both  sides  were  prepared  for 
civil  war. 

In  the  year  460  b.c.  the  city  was  alarmed  by  hearing  that  the 
Capitol  had  been  seized  by  a  band  of  Sabines  and  exiled  Romans, 
under  the  command  of  one  Herdonius.*  Who  these  exiles  were 
is  uncertain.  But  we  have  seen,  in  the  legend  of  Cincinnati! s, 
that  Kaeso  Quinctius,  the  son  of  that  old  hero,  was  an  exile. 
It  has  been  inferred,  therefore,  that  he  was  among  them,  that 
the  Tribunes  had  succeeded  in  banishing  from  the  city  the 
most  violent  of  their  opponents,  and  that  these  persons  had 
not  scrupled  to  associate  themselves  with  Sabines  to  recover 
their  homes.  The  Consul  Valerius,  aided  by  the  Latins  of  Tus- 
culum,  levied  an  army  to  attack  the  insurgents,  on  condition 
that  after  success  the  law  should  be  fiiUy  considered.  The  exiles 
were  driven  out,  and  Herdonius  was  killed.  But  the  Consul  fell 
in  the  assault ;  and  the  Patricians,  led  by  old  Cincinnatus,  refused 
to  fulfil  his  promises. 

Then  followed  the  danger  of  the  ^quian  invasion,  to  which  the 
legend  of  Cincinnatus,  as  given  above,  refers.  The  stern  old  man 
used  his  dictatorial  power  quite  as  much  to  crush  the  Tribunes 
at  home,  as  to  conquer  the  enemies  abroad. 

One  of  the  historians  tells  us  that  in  this  period  of  seditious 
violence,  many  of  the  leading  Plebeians  were  assassinated,  as  the 
Tribune  Genucius  had  been  ;  and  to  this  time  only  can  be  attri- 
buted the  horrible  story  mentioned  by  more  than  one  writer, 
that  nine  Tribunes  were  burnt  alive  at  the  instance  of  their 
colleague  Mucius.f     Society  was  utterly  disorganised.      The  two 

*  The  oircumfitances,  as  related  in  the  legend,  have  already  been  given  in 
the  story  of  Cincinnatus. 

\  Dio  Oassius,  Fragm&nt.  Vatican,  xxii.,  and  in  the  abridgment  by  Zonaras, 
Yh,  17.     Compare  Yaler.  Max.  vi.  3,  §  2.     The  latter  atrributes  it  to  the  time 


114  ROME  UNDER  THE  PATRICIANS.  Book  II 

Orders  were  on  the  brink  of  civil  war.  It  seemed  as  if  Rome 
was  to  become  the  city  of  discord,  not  of  law.  Happily,  there 
were  moderate  men  in  both  Orders.  Now,  as  at  the  time  of 
the  Sacession,  their  voices  prevailed,  and  a  compromise  was 
arranged. 

§  5.  In  the  eighth  year  after  the  first  promulgation  of  the 
Terentilian  law,  this  compromise  was  made  (454  b.c).  The  law 
itself  was  no  longer  pressed  by  the  Tribunes.  The  Patricians,  on 
the  other  hand,  so  far  gave  way  as  to  allow  Three  Men  (triumviri) 
to  be  appointed,  who  were  to  travel  into  Greece,  and  bring  back 
a  copy  of  the  laws  of  Solon,  as  well  as  the  laws  and  institutes 
of  any  other  Greek  states,  which  they  might  deem  good  and 
useful.  These  were  to  be  the  groundwork  of  a  new  Code  of 
Laws,  such  as  should  give  fair  and  equal  rights  to  both  Orders, 
and  restrain  the  arbitrary  power  of  the  Patrician  Magistrates. 

§  6.  Another  concession  made  by  the  Patrician  Lords  was  a 
small  instalment  of  the  Agrarian  law.  L.  Icilius,  Tribune  of  the 
Plebs,  proposed  that  all  the  Aventine  hill,  being  Public  Land, 
should  be  made  over  to  the  Plebs,  to  be  their  quarter  for  ever, 
as  the  other  hills  were  occupied  by  the  Patricians  and  their 
Clients.  This  hill,  it  will  be  remembered,  was  consecrated  to 
the  godijss  Diana  (Jana),*  and  though  included  in  the  walls  of 
Servias,  was  yet  not  within  the  sacred  limits  (pomoerium)  of  the 
patrician  city.  After  some  opposition,  the  Patricians  suffered 
this  Icilian  law  to  pass,  in  hopes  of  soothing  the  anger  of  the 
Plebeians.  The  land  was  parcelled  out  into  building-sites.  But 
as  there  was  not  enough  to  give  a  separate  plot  to  every  plebeian 
householder  that  wished  to  live  in  the  city,  one  allotment  was 
assigned  to  several  persons,  who  built  a  joint  house  in  Jlats  or 
stories,  each  of  which  was  inhabited  (as  in  Edinburgh  and  in  most 
foreign  towns)  by  a  separate  family .f 

§  7.  The  three  men  who  had  been  sent  into  Greece  returned 
in  the  third  year  (452  b.c).  They  found  the  city  free  from 
domestic  strife,  partly  from  the  concessions  already  made,  partly 
from  expectation  of  what  was  now  to  follow,  and  partly  from  the 
effect  of  a  pestilence  which  had  broken  out  anew. 

§  8.  So  far  did  moderate  counsels  now  prevail  among  the  Pa- 
tricians, that  after  some  little  delay  they  agreed  to  suspend  the 
ordinary  government  by  the  Consuls  and  other  officers,  and  in 

of  Spurius  Cassius.  But  it  must  have  been  after  the  year  441  b.c.  ;  for  in 
that  year  the  numbar  of  Tribunes  first  became  ten. 

*  Chapt.  iii.  §  27. 

f  These  houses,  or  blocks  of  houses,  jomtly  occupied  by  several  families, 
were  in  Roman  phrase  called  insuloa  (the  term  isola  is  still  so  used),  while  the 
term  domus  was  restricted  to  the  mansion  occupied  by  a  single  wealthy  family. 


Chap.  X.  DECEMVIRATE.  115 

their  stead  to  appoint  a  Council  of  Ten,  who  were  during  their 
existence  to  be  entrusted^  with  all  the  functions  of  government. 
But  they  were  to  have  a  double  duty  :  they  were  not  only  an  ad- 
ministrative, but  also  a  legislative  council.  On  the  one  hand,  they 
were  to  conduct  the  government,  administer  justice,  and  command 
the  armies.  On  the  other,  they  were  to  draw  up  a  Code  of  Laws, 
by  which  equal  justice  was  to  be  dealt  out  to  the  whole  Roman 
People,  to  Patricians  and  Plebeians  alike,  and  by  which  especially 
the  authority  to  be  exercised  by  the  Consuls,  or  chief  magistrates, 
was  to  be  clearly  determined  and  settled. 

This  supreme  Council  of  Ten,  or  Decemvirs,  was  first  appointed 
in  the  year  450  b.c.  They  were  all  Patricians.  At  their  head 
stood  Appius  Claudius  and  T.  Genucius,  who  had  already  been 
chosen  Consuls  for  this  memorable  year.  This  Appius  Claudius, 
the  third  of  his  name,  was  son  and  grandson  of  those  two  patri- 
cian chiefs  who  had  opposed  the  leaders  of  the  Plebeians  so  vehe- 
mently in  the .  ipatter  of  the  tribunate.  But  he  affected  a  dif- 
ferent conduct  from  his  sires.  He  was  the  most  popular  man 
of  the  whole  council,  and  became  in  fact  the  sovereign  of  Rome. 
At  first  he  used  his  great  power  well ;  and  the  first  year's 
government  of  the  Decemvirs  was  famed  for  justice  and  mo- 
deration. 

§  9.  They  also  applied  themselves  diligently  to  their  great 
work  of  law-making ;  and  before  the  end  of  the  year,  had  drawn 
up  a  Code  of  Ten  Tables,  which  were  posted  in  the  Forum,  that 
all  citizens-  might  examine  them,  and  suggest  amendments  to 
the  Decemvirs.  After  due  time  thus  spent,  the  Ten  Tables 
were  confirmed  and  made  law  at  the  Comitia  of  the  Centuries. 
By  this  Code  equal  justice  was  to  be  administered  to  both  Orders 
without  distinction  of  persons. 

§  10.  At  the  close  of  the  year,  the  first  Decemvirs  laid  down 
their  office,  just  as  the  Consuls  and  other  officers  of  state  had 
been  accustomed  to  do  before.  They  were  succeeded  by  a 
second  set  of  ten,  who  for  the  next  year  at  least  were  to 
conduct  the  government  like  their  predecessors.  The  only 
one  of  the  old  Decemvirs  re-elected  was  Appius  Claudius. 
The  Patricians,  indeed,  endeavoured  to  prevent  even  this,  and 
to  this  end  he  was  himself  appointed  to  preside  at  the  new  elec- 
tions ;  for  it  was  held  impossible  for  a  chief  magistrate  to  return 
his  own  name,  when  he  was  himself  presiding.  But  Appius 
scorned  precedents.  He  returned  himself  as  elected,  together 
with  nine  others,  men  of  no  name,  while  two  of  the  great 
Quinctian  Gens  who  off'ered  themselves  were  rejected. 

Of  the  new  Decemvirs,  it  is  certain,  that  three,*  and  it  is  pro- 
*  Sp.  Oppius,  Q.  Poetelius,  C.  Duillius. 


116  ROME  UNDER  THE  PATRICIANS  Book  II 

bable  that  five,  were  Plebeians.  Appius,  with  the  plebeian 
Oppius,  held  the  judicial  office,  and  remained  in  the  city ;  and 
these  two  seem  to  have  been  regarded  as  the  chiefs.  The  other 
six  commanded  the  armies  and  discharged  the  duties  previously 
assigned  to  the  Quaestors  and  ^diles. 

§  11.  The  first  Decemvirs  had  earned  the  respect  and  esteem 
of  their  fellow-citizens.  The  new  Council  of  Ten  deserved  the 
hatred  which  has  ever  since  cloven  to  their  name.  Appius  now 
threw  off  the  mask  which  he  had  so  long  worn,  and  assumed  his 
natural  character — the  same  as  had  distinguished  his  sire  and 
grandsire  of  unhappy  memory.  He  became  an  absolute  despot. 
His  brethren  in  the  council  offered  no  hindrance  to  his  will : 
even  the  plebeian  decemvirs,  bribed  by  power,  fell  into  his  way 
of  action  and  supported  his  tyranny.  They  each  had  twelve 
lictors,  who  carried  fasces  with  the  axes  in  them,  the  symbol  of 
absolute  power,  as  in  the  times  of  the  Kings ;  so  that  it  was  said, 
Rome  had  now  twelve  Tarquins  instead  of  one,  and  120  armed 
lictors  instead  of  12.  All  freedom  of  speech  ceased.  The  Senate 
was  seldom  called  together.  The  leading  men.  Patricians  and 
Plebeians,  left  the  city.  The  outward  aspect  of  things  was  that 
of  perfect  calm  and  peace  ;  but  an  opportunity  only  was  want- 
ing for  the  discontent  which  was  smouldering  in  all  men's 
hearts  to  break  out  and  show  itself. 

§  12.  By  the  end  of  the  year  the  Decemvirs  had  added  two 
more  Tables  to  the  Code,  so  that  there  were  now  Twelve  Tables. 
But  these  two  last  were  of  a  most  oppressive  and  arbitrary  kind, 
devoted  chiefly  to  restore  the  ancient  privileges  of  the  patrician 
caste.  Of  these  Tables  we  will  speak  presently  ;  but  here  it  should 
be  observed  that  they  were  made  laws  not  by  the  vote  of  the 
People,  but  by  the  simple  edict  of  the  Decemvirs. 

§  13.  It  was,  no  doubt,  expected  that  the  second  Decemvirs 
also  would  have  held  Comitia  for  the  election  of  successors.  But 
Appius  and  his  colleagues  showed  no  intention,  and  when  the  year 
came  to  a  close  they  continued  to  hold  office  as  if  they  had  been 
re-elected.  So  firmly  did  their  power  seem  to  be  established,  that 
we  hear  not  of  any  endeavour  being  made  to  induce  them  to 
resign. 

}  §  14.  In  the  course  of  this  next  year  (449  B.C.),  the  border  wars 
were  renewed.  On  the  north  the  Sabines,  and  the  ^quiana 
on  the  north-east,  invaded  the  Roman  country  at  the  same  time. 
The  latter  penetrated  as  far  as  Mount  Algidus,  as  in  458  b.c, 
when  they  were  routed  by  old  Cincinnatus.  The  Decemvirs 
probably,  like  the  Patrician  Burgesses  in  former  times,  regarded 
these  inroads  not  without  satisfaction ;  for  they  turned  away  the 
mind  of  the  people  from  their  sufferings  at  home.     Yet  from 


Chap.  X.  DECEMVIRATE.  117 

these  very  wars  sprung  the  events  which  overturned  their  power 
and  destroyed  themselves. 

Two  armies  were  levied,  one  to  check  the  Sabines,  the  other 
to  oppose  the  ^quians,  and  these  were  commanded  by  the  six 
military  Decemvirs.  Appius  and  Oppius  remained  to  administer 
affairs  at  home.  But  there  was  no  spirit  in  the  armies.  Both 
were  defeated ;  and  that  which  was  opposed  to  the  ^quians  was 
compelled  to  take  refuge  within  the  walls  of  Tusculum. 

Then  followed  two  events  which  were  preserved  in  well-known 
legends,  and  which  give  the  popular  narrative  of  the  manner  in 
which  the  power  of  the  Decemvirs  was  overthrown. 

§  15.  Legend  of  Siccius  Dentatus. — In  the  army  sent  against 
the  Sabines,  Siccius  Dentatus  was  known  as  the  bravest  man. 
He  was  then  serving  as  a  centurion;  he  had  fought  in  120 
battles;  he  had  slain  eight  champions  in  single  combat;  had 
saved  the  lives  of  fourteen  citizens ;  had  received  forty  wounds, 
all  in  front ;  had  followed  in  nine  triumphal  processions ;  and 
had  won  crowns  and  decorations  without  number.  This  gallant 
veteran  had  taken  an  active  part  in  the  civil  contests  between 
the  two  orders,  and  was  now  suspected  by  the  Decemvirs 
commanding  the  Sabine  army,  of  plotting  against  them.  Ac- 
cordingly, they  determined  to  get  rid  of  him ;  and  for  this  end 
they  sent  him  out  as  if  to  reconnoitre,  with  a  party  of  soldiers, 
who  were  secretly  instructed  to  murder  him.  Having  discovered 
their  design,  he  set  his  back  against  a  rock,  and  resolved  to  sell 
his  life  dear.  More  than  one  of  his  assailants  fell,  and  the  rest 
stood  at  bay  around  him,  not  venturing  to  come  within  sword's 
length ;  when  one  wretch  climbed  up  the  rock  behind  and 
crushed  the  brave  old  man  with  a  massive  stone.  But  the  man- 
ner of  his  death  could  not  be  hidden  from  the  army ;  and  the 
generals  only  prevented  an  outbreak  by  honouring  him  with  a 
magnificent  funeral. 

Such  y-^.s  the  state  of  things  in  the  Sabine  army. 

§  16.  Legend  of  Virginia. — The  other  army  had  a  still  grosser 
outrage  to  complain  of.  In  this,  also,  there  was  a  notable; 
centurion,  Virginius  by  name.  His  daughter  Virginia,  just  ripen- 
ing into  womanhood,  beautiful  as  the  day,  was  betrothed  to  L. 
Icilius,  the  Tribune  who  had  carried  the  law  for  allotting  the 
Aventine  Hill  to  the  Plebeians.  Appius  Claudius,  the  Decemvir, 
jaw  her  and  lusted  to  make  her  his  own.  And  with  this  view, 
he  ordered  one  of  his  clients,  M.  Claudius  by  name,  to  lay  hands 
upon  her  as  she  was  going  to  her  school  in  the  Forum,  and  to 
claim  her  as  his  slave.  The  man  did  so ;  and  when  the  cries  of 
her  nurse  brought  a  crowd  round  them,  M.  Claudius  insisted 
on  taking  her  before  the  Decemvir,  in  order  (as  he  said)  to  have 


118  ROME  UNDER  THE  PATRICIANS.  Book  II. 

the  case  fairly  tried.  Her  friends  consented ;  and  no  sooner  had 
Appius  heard  the  matter,  than  he  gave  judgment  that  the 
maiden  should  be  delivered  up  to  the  claimant,  who  should  be 
bound  to  produce  her  in  case  her  alleged  father  appeared  to  gain- 
say the  claim.  Now  this  judgment  was  directly  against  one  of 
the  laws  of  the  Twelve  Tables,  which  Appius  himself  had  framed ; 
for  therein  it  was  provided,  that  any  person  being  at  freedom 
should  continue  free,  till  it  was  proved  that  such  person  was  a 
slave.  Icilius,  therefore,  with .  Numitorius  the  uncle  of  the 
maiden,  boldly  argued  against  the  legality  of  the  judgment ;  and 
at  length  Appius,  fearing  a  tumult,  agreed  to  leave  the  girl  in 
their  hands  on  condition  of  their  giving  bail  to  bring  her  before 
him  next  morning;  and  then,  if  Virginius  did  not  appear,  he 
would  at  once  (he  said)  give  her  up  to  her  pretended  master. 
To  this  Icilius  consented;  but  he  delayed  giving  bail,  pretending 
that  he  could  not  procure  it  readily ;  and  in  the  meantime  he 
sent  off  a  secret  message  to  the  camp  on  Algidus,  to  inform  Vir- 
ginius of  what  had  happened.  As  soon  as  the  bail  was  given, 
Appius  also  sent  a  message  to  the  Decemvirs  in  command  of  that 
army,  ordering  them  to  refuse  leave  of  absence  to  Virginius. 
But  when  this  last  message  arrived,  Virginius  was  already  half- 
way on  his  road  to  Rome ;  for  the  distance  was  not  more  than 
twenty  miles,  and  he  had  started  at  nightfall. 

Next  morning  early,  Virginius  entered  the  Forum  leading  his 
daughter  by  the  hand,  both  clad  in  mean  attire.  A  great  num- 
ber of  friends  and  matrons  attended  him ;  and  he  went  about 
among  the  people  entreating  them  to  support  him  against  the 
tyranny  of  Appius.  So  when  Appius  came  to  take  his  place  on 
the  judgment  seat,  he  found  the  Forum  full  of  people,  all  friendly 
to  Virginius  and  his  cause.  But  he  inherited  the  boldness  as 
well  as  the  vices  of  his  sires,  and  though  he  saw  Virginius  stand- 
ing there,  ready  to  prove  that  he  was  the  maiden's  father,  he  at 
once  gave  judgment  against  his  own  law,  that  Virginia  should 
be  given  up  to  M.  Claudius,  till  it  should'  be  proved  that 
she  was  free.*  The  wretch  came  up  to  seize  her,  and  the 
lictors  kept  the  people  from  him.  Virginius,  now  despairing  of 
deliverance,  begged  Appius  to  allow  him  to  ask  the  maiden  whe- 
ther she  were  indeed  his  daughter  or  no.  "If,"  said  he,  "1 
find  I  am  not  her  father,  I  shall  bear  her  loss  the  lighter."  Un- 
der this  pretence  he  drew  her  aside  to  a  spot  upon  the  northern 
side  of  the  Forum   (afterwards   called  the  Novre  Tabern{r),f  and 

*  This  was  called  vindicias  in  servitutem  dare.  Vindex  was  the  legal  term 
for  claimant;  vindicce  was  the  claim  to  possession.  The  opposite  judgment 
was  vindicias  in  libertatem  dare.  The  person  who  claimed  another  as  slave  or 
free  was  said  asserere  aliquem  in  servitutem,  or  in  libertatem. 

f  See  Chap.  iii.  §  11. 


Chap.  X.  FALL  OF  DECEMVIRATK  119 

here,  snatching  up  a  knife  from  a  butcher's  stall,  he  cried  :  "  In 
this  way  only  can  I  keep  thee  free ;" — and  so  saying,  stabbed  her 
to  the  heart.  Then  he  turned  to  the  tribunal  and  said :  "  On 
thee,  Appius,  and  on  thy  head  be  this  blood."  Appius  cried  out 
to  seize  "  the  murderer  :"  but  the  crowd  made  way  for  Virginius, 
and  he  passed  through  them  holding  up  the  bloody  knife,  and 
went  out  at  the  gate  and  made  straight  for  the  army.  There, 
when  the  soldiers  had  heard  his  tale,  they  at  once  abandoned 
their  decemviral  generals,  and  marched  to  Rome.  They  were 
soon  followed  by  the  other  army  from  the  Sabine  frontier;  for 
to  them  Icilius  had  gone,  and  Numitorius ;  and  they  found  willing 
ears  among  men  who  were  already  enraged  by  the  murder  of  old 
Siccius  Dentatus.  So  the  two  armies  joined  their  banners,  elected 
new  generals,  and  encamped  upon  the  Aventine  Hill,  the  quarter 
of  the  Plebeians. 

Meantime,  the  people  at  home  had  risen  against  Appius ;  and, 
after  driving  him  from  the  Forum,  they  joined  their  armed  fellow 
citizens  upon  the  Aventine.     There  the  whole  body  of  the  com- 
mons, armed  and  unarmed,  hung  like  a  dark  cloud  ready  to  burst 
upon  the  city. 

§  17.  Whatever  may  be  the  truth  of  the  legends  of  Siccius  and 
Virginia,  there  can  be  no  doubt  that  the  conduct  of  the  Decem- 
virs had  brought  matters  to  the  verge  of  civil  war.  At  this 
juncture  the  Senate  met ;  and  the  moderate  party  so  far  prevailed 
as  to  send  their  own  leaders,  M.  Horatius  Barbatus  and  L.  Valerius 
Potitus,  to  negotiate  with  the  insurgents.  The  Plebeians  were 
ready  to  listen  to  the  voices  of  these  men ;  for  they  remembered 
that  the  Consuls  of  the  first  year  of  the  Republic,  when  the  Patri- 
cian Burgesses  were  friends  to  the  Plebeians,  were  named  Va- 
lerius and  Horatius ;  and  so  thef  appointed  M.  Duillius,  a  former 
Tribune  to  be  their  spokesman.  _^ut  no  good  came  of  it.  And 
Duillius  persuaded  the  Plebeians  to  leave  the  city,  and  once  more 
to  occupy  the  Sacred  Mount. 

Then  remembrances  of  the  great  Secession  came  back  upon 
the  minds  of  the  Patricians ;  and  the  Senate  observing  the  calm 
and  resolute  bearing  of  the  plebeian  leaders,  compelled  the  Decem- 
virs to  resign,  and  sent  back  Valerius  and  Horatius  to  negotiate 
anew. 

§  18.  The  leaders  of  the  Plebeians  demanded: — 1st,  That  the 
Tribuneship  should  be  restored,  and  the  Comitia  Tributa  recog- 
nised. 2ndly,  That  a  right  of  appeal  to  the  People  against  the 
power  of  the  supreme  magistrate  should  be  secured.  3rdly,  That 
full  indemnity  should  be  granted  to  the  movers  and  promoters 
of  the  late  Secession.  4thly,  That  the  Docemvirs  should  be 
burnt  alive. 


120  ROME  UNDER  THE  PATRICIAiS'S.  Book  IL 

Of  these  demands  the  deputies  of  the  Senate  agreed  to  the 
three  first;  but  the  fourth,  they  said,  was  unworthy  of  a  free 
people ;  it  was  a  piece  of  tyranny,  as  bad  as  any  of  the  worst 
acts  of  the  late  government ;  and  it  was  needless,  because  any 
one  who  had  reason  of  complaint  against  the  late  Decemvirs 
might  proceed  against  them  according  to  law.  The  Plebeians 
listened  to  these  words  of  wisdom,  and  withdrew  their  savage 
demand.  The  other  three  were  confirmed  by  the  Fathers,  and  the 
Plebeians  returned  to  their  quarters  on  the  Aventine.  Here  they 
held  an  Assembly  according  to  their  Tribes,  in  which  the  Pontifex 
Maximus  presided  ;*  and  they  now  for  the  first  time  elected  Ten 
Tribunes — first  Virginius,  Numitorius,  and  Icilius,  then  Duillius 
and  six  others  :  so  full  were  their  minds  of  the  wrong  done  to  the 
daughter  of  Virginius;  so  entirely  was  it  the  blood  of  young 
Virginia  that  overthrew  the  Decemvirs,  even  as  that  of  Lucretia 
had  driven  out  the  Tarquins. 

§  19.  The  Plebeians  had  now  returned  to  the  city,  headed  by 
their  ten  Tribunes,  a  number  which  was  never  again  altered  so 
long  as  the  tribunate  continued  in  existence.  It  remained  for 
the  Patricians  to  redeem  the  pledges  given  by  their  agents 
Valerius  and  Horatius,  on  the  other  demands  of  the  plebeian 
leaders. 

The  first  thing  to  settle  was  the  election  of  the  supreme  magis- 
trates. The  Decemvirs  had-  fallen,  and  the  state  was  without  any 
executive  government. 

It  has  been  supposed,  as  we  have  above  said,  that  the  govern- 
ment of  the  Decemvirs  was  intended  to  be  perpetual.  The 
Patricians  gave  up  their  Consuls,  and  the  Plebeians  their 
Tribunes,  on  condition  that  each  order  was  to  be  admitted  to  an 
equal  share  in  the  new  decemviral  college.  But  the  Tribunes 
were  now  restored  in  augmented  number,  and  it  was  but  natural 
that  the  Patricians  should  insist  on  again  occupying  all  places  in 
the  supreme  magistracy.  By  common  consent,  as  it  would  seem, 
the  Comitia  of  the  Centuries  met,  and  elected  to  the  consulate 
the  two  Patricians  who  had  shown  themselves  the  friends  of  both 
Orders — L.  Valerius  Potitus,  and  M.  Horatius  Barbatus. 

Properly  speaking,  these  were  the  first  Consuls,  though  (in 
accordance  with  common  custom)  this  name  has  been  used  to 
designate  the  supreme  magistrates  from  the  beginning  of  the 
Republic.  But  we  are  told  by  the  Roman  historians  that  before 
the  year  449   b.c.  these  officers  were  known  by  the  name  of 

*  Usually  the  Tribunes  themselves  conducted  the  business  of  the  Comitia 
Tributa.  But  at  present  there  were  no  Tribunes.  The  presence  of  the  Chief 
Pontiff,  although  a  Patrician,  would  give  a  peculiar  force  to  the  restoration  of 
the  leges  sacrcUce  of  the  tribunate. 


Chap.  X.  FALL  OF  DECEMVIR  ATE.  121 

pR^TORS.*  Strictly,  therefore,  Valerius  and  Horatius  were  the 
first  Consuls. 

§  20,  As  soon  as  they  were  installed  in  office  they  proceeded 
to  redeem  the  pledges  they  had  given  to  the  Plebeian  leaders  by 
bringing  forward  certain  popular  laws,  which  from  them  are  com- 
monly called  the  Valerio-Horatian  Laws. 

(1.)  First,  they  solemnly  renewed  the  old  law  of  Valerius  Pop- 
licola,  by  which  it  was  provided  that  every  Roman  citizen  should 
have  an  Appeal  to  the  People  against  the  power  of  the  supreme 
magistrate.  This  had  been  sanctioned  by  the  Ten  Tables  of  the 
Decemvirs,  and  some  remarks  on  the  nature  of  the  right  will  be 
found  in  the  next  chapter.  It  must  here  be  noticed  that  probably 
the  "People"  designated  in  the  old  law  of  Poplicola  was  the 
Assembly  of  Patrician  Burgesses,  whereas  now  it  meant  the 
general  Assembly  of  the  Centuries. 

To  the  law  as  proposed  by  the  Consuls,  the  Tribune  Duillius 
added  the  terrible  penalty  already  inflicted  on  nine  Tribunes,  and 
threatened  to  the  Decemvirs  that  "  whoso  transgressed  it  should 
be  burnt  alive."f 

(2.)  Secondly,  it  was  enacted  that  the  Assembly  of  the  Tribes 
should  receive  legislative  power,  and  their  measures  should,  like 
the  laws  passed  at  the  Centuriate  Comitia,  have  authority  over 
the  whole  body  of  citizens — Patricians  and  Plebeians.  Hitherto 
the  Plebi-scita,  or  resolutions  of  the  Plebs,  had  been  made  merely 
for  regulating  their  own  aff'airs,  and  had  not  the  force  of  law. 
Henceforth  they  became  laws  binding  on  all  the  Body  Politic^ 
We  shall  have  occasion  to  return  to  this  subject  hereafter.  At 
present  it  will  be  enough  to  note  that,  as  will  appear  from  our 
review  of  the  laws  of  the  Twelve  Tables,  the  Decemvirs  had 
included  in  the  plebeian  or  local  Tribes  the  Patricians  and  their 
Clients ;  so  that  the  claim  of  the  Comitia  Tributa  to  obtain  legis- 
lative authority  was  no  exclusive  privilege  conferred  on  the 
Plebeians. 

§  21.  The  second  of  these  laws  soon  showed  itself  in  operation. 
It  will  be  remembered  that  two  armies  had  been  sent  by  the 
Decemvirs  to  meet  the  Sabines  and  the  ^quians  in  the  field. 
When  these   armies  marched  to  Rome  to  take  vengeance  upon 

*  See  Liv.  iii.  54.  They  were  called  Praetors  in  the  Laws  of  the  XII.  Tables 
(Plin.,  Hist.  Nat.  xviii.  3).  The  derivation  of  consul  and  consulere  is  evidently 
the  same,  namely  the  preposition  cum  or  cow,  implying  joint  deliberation  and 
common  action.     Niebuhr  compares  it  to  proesul  from  proi,  exul  from  ex. 

f  ZCJvrag  KaraKavdr/vai,  Piodor.  xii.  25.  Livy  (iii.  55)  says  that  the  of- 
fepders  were  "  to  be  scourged  and  beheaded."  But  the  practice  of  burning 
seems  at  that  time  to  have  been  the  last  penalty. 

X  The  terms  of  the  enactment,  as  given  by  Livy,  are ; — "  Ut  C[uo4  tnbVltUB 
plebes  jussiaset,  pojmlum  teoeret," 

6 


122  ROME  UNDER  THE  PATRICIANS.  Book  IL 

Appius  and  liis  colleagues,  the  enemy  was  left  to  pursue  their 
ravages  unchecked,  except  by  the  Latins  and  Ilernicans.  The 
new  Consuls  now  held  a  levy.  Names  were  willingly  given  in, 
and  they  were  soon  ready  to  take  the  field  at  the  head  of  men 
devoted,  to  them  for  their  good  services.  Victories  were  gained ; 
but  when  Valerius  and  Horatius  returned  at  the  head  of  their 
troops,  and  halted  in  the  Campus  Martins  (according  to  custom), 
that  they  might  enter  the  city  in  triumphal  procession,  the  Senate 
refused  them  this  honour.  Upon  this,  L.  Icilius,  Tribune  of  the 
Plebs,  obtained  a  vote  from  the  people  assembled  in  their  Tribes, 
by  which  it  was  ordained  that  the  friends  of  the  Plebs  should 
enjoy  their  triumph  in  despite  of  the  senatorial  ill-will ;  and  the 
Senate  saw  themselves  compelled  to  give  way. 

§  22.  Meanwhile  the  Decemvirs  had  been  left  personally  unmo- 
lested; but  Virginius,  now  a  Tribune,  singled  out  Appius  as  the 
chief  offender,  and  impeached  him.  The  proud  Patrician  scorned 
submission,  and  descended  into  the  Forum,  surrounded  by  a 
crowd  of  young  men  of  his  own  order.  Virginius  ordered  him 
to  be  arrested,  and  refused  to  hold  him  to  bail  unless  he  could 
prove  "  that  he  had  not  assigned  Virginia  into  bondage  till  sho 
was  proved  free."  This  was  impossible,  and  he  was  thrown  into 
prison  to  await  his  trial  before  the  assembled  people.  But  to  such 
degradation  he  could  not  stoop;  and,  like  his  father,  he  put  an 
end  to  his  own  life  in  prison. 

Then  Sp.  Oppius,  the  chief  among  the  Plebeian  Decemvirs,  the 
friend  and  imitator  of  Appius  the  Patrician,  was  accused  by 
Numitorius  and  executed.  The  goods  of  both  were  confiscated 
to  the  state  (publicata  sunt).  But  when^some  of  the  plebeian 
leaders  would  have  gone  on  to  impeach  the  other  Decemvirs, 
then  M.  Duillius,  the  Tribune,  came  forward,  and  by  his  power  of 
veto  stayed  all  further  proceedings.  "  Enough  had  been  done," 
he  said,  "  to  vindicate  justice  and  uphold  freedom.  Further  pun- 
ishments would  bear  the  semblance  of  revenge,  and  make  it 
still  more  difficult  to  reconcile  the  two  orders."  Happy  is  the 
people  which  has  leaders  who  in  the  heat  and  tumult  of  triumph 
can  gain  even  greater  honours  by  moderation,  than  by  the  firm- 
ness displayed  in  the  conduct  of  the  struggle ! 

§  23.  In  all  these  proceedings  no  security  had  yet  been  taken 
for  the  election  of  Consuls  more  favourable  to  plebeian  claims. 
The  late  refusal  of  the  Senate  to  authorise  the  triumph  of  Vale- 
rius and  Horatius,  and  the  zeal  of  the  young  Patricians  to  obtain 
the  acquittal  of  Appius,  were  not  encouraging  signs  for  future 
peace.  The  more  ardent  of  the  plebeian  leaders,  therefore,  pro- 
posed that  the  Consuls  and  Tribunes  now  in  office  should  be  con- 
tinued without   re-election  for  the  succeeding  year.     But,  with 


cJHAP.  X.  FALL  OF  DEOEMVIRATE.  123 

the  moderation  that  had  marked  all  their  proceedings,  the  Consuls 
declined  this  honour  for  themselv  es ;  and  Duillius  the  Tribune,  on 
his  part,  declared  that  he  could  not  receive  any  \  otes  tendered  for 
reappointing  himself  or  any  of  his  present  colleagues.  But  many 
of  the  Plebeians  persisted  in  voting  in  this  sense :  and  in  conse- 
quence only  five  of  the  new  candidates  obtained  votes  sufficient  for 
^neir  election.  These  five  then  chose  other  five  to  complete  the 
College  of  Ten. 

Thus  closed  the  remarkable  year  in  which  the  Decemvirs  were 
overthrown,  and  a  new  beginning  of  independence  made  for  the 
commonalty  of  Rome.  But  before  we  continue  our  narrative,  it 
will  be  proper  to  add  a  chapter  on  the  famous  code  of  laws  left 
behind  by  the  Decemvirs ;  for  though  they  were  passed  away, 
and  their  government  was  forgotten,  their  laws  endured  for  many 


*  This  was  called  codptatio:  see  Chapt.  xxiv.  §  3.  One  of  the  Tribunes  now 
elected,  L.  Trebonius,  introduced  a  law  by  which  it  was  enacted  that  hereafter 
the  election  of  the  Tribunes  should  be  kept  open  till  all  ten  received  the  due 
n  amber  of  votes. 


vAJiii  ot  p.  Porci:u<  LKca,  author  of  the  Law  of  A.ppet:i 


CHAPTER   XI. 

THE    CODE    OF    THE    TWELVE    TABLES, 

§  1.  Pew  remains  of  the  XII  Tables.  *§  2.  Diflference  of  character  in  the  first 
X  and  last  II  Tables.  §  3,  Political  ordinances  of  the  X  Tables.  §  4.  Laws 
for  protection  of  Person  and  Property.  §  5.  Iniquitous  provisions  of  the  II. 
Tables.     §  6   Advantages  resulting  from  the  Code  to  the  Plebeians. 

§  1.  The  Twelve  Tables  were  considered  as  the  foundation  of  all 
law,*  and  Cicero  always  mentions  them  with  the  utmost  reverence. 
But  only  fragments  remain,  and  those  who  have  bestowed  the 
greatest  labour  in  examining  these  can  give  but  an  imperfect  ac- 
count of  their  original  form  and  contents. 

§  2.  It  is  probable  that  the  purpose  of  Terentilius  and  his  fol- 
lowers, in  urging  the  framing  of  a  Code  of  laws,  was  to  establish 
an  equality  of  rights  for  both  orders — Patricians  and  Plebeians, 
Lords  and  Commons.  Now  it  will  be  seen  in  the  following  short 
statement  that  some  laws  had  a  contrary  effect,  and  tended  to 
widen  the  breach.  These  unequal  laws  were  believed  by  the  an- 
cients to  belong  to  the  Two  last  Tables,  which  were  enacted  by 
the  second  Decemvirs,  and  which  were  unduly  favourable  to  the 
extreme  patrician  party,  while  the  Ten  Tables  of  the  first  Decem- 
virs were  just  and  equal  for  all.f 

§  3.  We  will  first  review  the  political  ordinances  of  these  Ten 
Tables,  by  which  the  first  Decemvirs  sought  to  establish  equality 
between  the  Orders. 

(1.)  It  has  been  already  stated  that  they  divided  the  supreme 
authority.  All  the  old  offices  were,  for  the  time  at  least,  abro- 
gated ;  and  the  state  was  to  be  governed  by  a  Council  of  ten,  con- 
sisting of  five  Patricians  and  five  Plebeians.  This  reasonable  rule 
fell  to  the  ground  when  the  Decemvirate  was  abolished  ;  and  hence 
the  contentions  between  the  Orders  were  renewed  (as  we  shall  see) 
with  great  virulence. 

(2.)  The  Patricians  and  their  Clients  were  now  probably  first 
included  in  the  Plebeian  Tribes ;  and  when  we  speak  of  Clients, 
we  must  now  comprehend   also  the   Freedmen  {lihertini)^\  who 

*  Livy  (iii.  34)  calls  them  "fons  omnis  publici  privatique  juris." 

f  Cicero  de  Republica,  ii.  37.     So  Appius  boasts  at  the  close  of  the  first 

decemvirate — "se  .  .  omnia  jura  summis  infimisque  sequasse,"     Liv.  iii.  34. 
X  They  were  called  lihertini  absolutely,  but  Uberti  in  reference  to  their 

patron.     Thus  Tiro  was  Cicero's  libertus,  but  when  spoken  of  simply  he  was  a 

Uhertinus. 


Chap.  XL  CODE  OF  THE  TWELVE  TABLES.  125 

were  a  large  and  increasing  class.*  Further,  the  three  old  Patri- 
cian Tribes  now,  or  before  this,  became  obsolete ;  and  henceforth 
a  Patrician  was  known  not  as  a  Ramnian,  a  Titian,  or  a  Lucerian, 
but  as  a  Burgess  of  the  Pollian,  Papirian,  or  some  other  local 
Tribe.  The  term  Populus  Romanus,  which  (as  before  remarked) 
had  been  applicable  in  some  measure  to  the  united  body  of  Patri- 
cians and  Plebeians  since  the  time  when  both  Orders  were  com- 
prehended in  the  Comitia  of  the  Centuries,  was  now  more  properly 
and  strictly  so  used, — though  the  time  of  their  perfect  union  was 
yet  to  come. 

(3.)  In  consequence  of  this  ordinance  a  great  alteration  followed 
both  in  the  Comitia  Centuriata  and  in  the  Comitia  Tributa ;  but 
as  these  alterations  were  rather  future  consequences  of  the  last- 
mentioned  ordinance,  than  a  distinct  ordinance  of  the  Decemvirs, 
it  will  be  more  convenient  to  notice  them  hereafter.f 

§  4.  We  will  now  notice  a  few  provisions  of  those  laws,  which  were 
intended  to  protect  the  person  and  property  of  private  citizens. 

(1.)  It  was  enacted  that  any  person  claimed  as  a  Slave  should 
be  left  at  freedom  till  such  time  as  the  alleged  master  proved  his 
claim  good.  This  was  the  law  violated  by  Appius  in  the  case  of 
Virginia. 

(2.)  The  power  of  a  Father  over  his  Children  was  made  less 
absolute.  By  the  old  law  the  son  was  as  much  at  the  mercy  of 
his  father  (in  potestate  patris)  as  a  slave.  Henceforth  by  three 
sales,  real  or  fictitious,  the  son  might  acquire  independence  or  be- 
come sui  juris. 

(3.)  The  law  of  Debt  was  left  in  its  former  state  of  severity  .J 
But  the  condition  of  borrowing  money  was  made  easier;  for  it 
was  made  illegal  to  exact  higher  interest  than  ten  per  cent.  For 
that  this  is  the  meaning  of  fcenus  unciarium  has  been  clearly 
proved  by  Niebuhr.  Uncia  (derived  from  unus)  is  one  of  the 
twelve  units  into  which  the  as  was  divided,  each  being  one-twelfth 
part  of  the  whole.  Now  y^g  of  the  capital  is  S\  per  cent. ;  but  as 
the  old  Roman  year  was  only  ten  months,  we  must  add  two 
months'  interest  at  the  same  rate ;  and  this  amounts  to  ten  per 
cent,  for  the  year  of  twelve  months. 

(4.)  No  Private  Law  or  privilegium — that  is  a  law  to  impose 
any  penalty  or  disability  on  a  single  citizen,  similar  in  character 
to  our  bills  of  attainder — was  to  be  made.|| 

*  All  slaves  who  became  free  remained  attached  to  their  former  master  as 
his  freedmen,  and  he  was  now  called  not  their  master  (dominus),  but  their  pa- 
tron (patronus),  the  very  same  term  which  was  used  in  respect  to  his  clients.  It 
is  indeed  probable  that  the  increase  in  the  number  of  slaves  and  freedmen  was 
among  the  causes  of  the  gradual  decay  of  the  relation  of  patrons  and  clients, 

f  See  Chapt.  xxxv.  §  11  sqq.  X  ^^^  above,  Chapt.  vii.  ^  7. 

I  Cicero  pro  Sestio  30,  pro  Domo  17, 


126  ROME  UNDER  THE  PATRICIANS.  Book  XL 

(5.)  There  waste  be  an  Appeal  to  the  People  from  the  sentence 
of  every  magistrate ;  and  no  citizen  was  to  be  tried  for  his  life 
except  before  the  Comitia  of  the  Centuries. 

It  is  remarkable  how  constantly  laws  of  this  kind  were  renewed, 
from  the  time  of  the  first  law  of  appeal  passed  by  Valerius  Pop- 
licola  in  the  first  year  of  the  Republic.  The  right  of  Appeal 
was  one  of  the  demands  made  by  Duillius  on  behalf  of  the  Ple- 
beians at  the  fall  of  the  Decemvirs ;  and  one  of  the  first  acts  of 
the  new  Consuls  was  to  provide  that  there  should  be  such  appeal. 
All  these  laws  were  finally  absorbed  in  that  of  Porcius  Lajca, 
passed  nearly  two  centuries  after  (b.c.  256).  This  was  the  famous 
Porcian  law  "  de  capite  et  tergo  civium,"  by  which  it  was  enacted 
that  no  Roman  citizen  should  be  put  to  death  or  scourged  without 
trial  before  the.  Centuries.*  These  laws  may  be  compared  to  our 
Act  of  Habeas  Corpus,  which  provides  that  no  man  shall  be  im- 
prisoned by  the  sovereign  or  his  officers  without  having  his  person 
produced  in  open  court  and  allowed  a  fair  trial.  And  as  in  turbu- 
lent times  this  Act  is  sometimes  suspended  by  the  proclamation 
of  military  law,  so  at  Rome  the  laws  of  appeal  might  be  suspended. 
This  was  done  in  the  earlier  times  by  the  appointment  of  a  Dic- 
tator, and  afterwards  by  a  resolution  of  the  Senate,  "  that  th- 
Consuls  should  see  that  the  commonwealth  suffered  no  injury .'V 
By  such  a  resolution  the  Consuls  were  invested  with  dictatorial 
power ;  they  possessed  the  imperium  within  the  walls  of  the  city, 
and  might  put  any  dangerous  citizen  to  death.  Thus  it  was  that 
the  Senate  proceeded  against  the  Gracchi,  and  against  the  Catili- 
narian  conspirators. 

(6.)  With  regard  to  the  laws  of  inheritance  and  contracts,  they 
are  of  too  intricate  and  technical  a  nature  to  be  satisfactorily 
treated  in  a  work  like  this.  The  decemviral  laws  on  this  head 
generally  made  the  conveyance  of  property  easier  and  more  cer- 
tain, favoured  the  power  of  leaving  property  by  will,  and  endeav- 
oured to  secure  the  fulfilment  of  contracts.  These  laws  are  well 
worth  careful  study,  for  they  are  the  foundation  of  the  great  Code  of 
laws  known  in  later  times  by  the  name  of  the  Roman  or  Civil  Law, 
which  still  prevails  in  Italy,  Germany,  and  other  parts  of  Europe. 

§  5.  On  the  whole,  therefore,  it  is  clear  that  the  legislation  of 
the  first  decemviral  council  was  honest  and  fair,  and  really  tended 
to  introduce  equal  rights  both  in  law  and  government  for  the 
whole  nation. 

But  there  are  some  laws  which  had  a  directly  contrary  effect, 

*•  This  was  the  law  by  which  St.  Paul  "  appealed  to  Caesar" — for  the  Em- 
peror then  represented  the  Roman  People.  The  phrases  varied: — Provoco  ad 
Populum,  AppeUo  Ccesarem.     See  the  Coin  at  the  end  of  the  last  Chapter. 

f  "  Videant  consules,  ne  quid  detriment!  capiat  Respublica." 


Chap.  XL  CODE  OF  THE  TWELVE  TABLES.  127 

and  these  (as  has  been  said)  are,  by  the  ancients,  attributed  to  the 
Two  last  Tables  of  the  Code. 

(1.)  The  old  law  or  custom  prohibiting  all  Intermarriage  (con- 
nubium)  between  the  two  Orders  was  now  formally  confirmed,  and 
thus  a  positive  bar  was  put  to  what  is  conjectured  to  have  been 
the  primary  aim  of  Terentilius  and  the  Tribunes,  namely  to  procure 
an  equalisation  of  the  two  Orders.  No  such  consummation  could 
be  looked  for,  when  the  Code  of  national  law  proclaimed  them  to 
be  of  different  races,  unfit  to  mingle  one  with  the  other. 

It  is  impossible  to  conceive  any  enactment  that  could  more 
tend  to  dissever  the  two  Orders,  and  produce  greater  bitterness 
of  feeling  between  them.  At  the  time  of  passing  it  the  law  was 
thought  to  be  injurious  chiefly  to  the  Plebeians ;  and  to  their  feel- 
ings and  their  pride  it  was  injurious.  But  the  class  to  whom  it 
was  really  most  injurious  was  the  Patrician ;  for  if  they  had  been 
compelled  to  intermarry  among  themselves  they  would  soon  have 
dwindled  into  a  very  small  number  of  families,  as  has  been  proved 
by  experience  in  many  cases.*  It  is  probable  that  the  wiser  and 
more  moderate  of  the  Patricians  knew  this,  and  therefore  it  was 
that  this  law  was  repealed  shortly  after,  without  much  opposition, 
by  the  Tribune  Canuleius. 

(2.)  To  this  may  be  added  the  celebrated  law  by  which  any 
one  who  wrote  lampoons  or  libels  on  his  neighbours  was  liable  to 
be  deprived  of  civil  rights  (diminutio  capitis).  By  this  law  the 
poet  Naevius  was  punished,  when  he  assailed  the  great  family  of 
the  Metelli.f 

(3.)  We  may  also  mention  that  no  attempt  was  made  to  divide 
the  Public  Land  more  equitably.  Hence  we  shall  find  that  Agra- 
rian Laws  remained  a  ready  instrument  in  the  hands  of  all  ene- 
mies of  the  Patricians  and  wealthy  Plebeians,  whether  true  patriots 
or  brawling  demagogues. 

§  6.  But,  notwithstanding  these  unequal  laws,  there  can  be  no 
doubt  that  by  the  Code  of  the  Twelve  Tables  the  Plebeians  gained 
a  considerable  step  towards  the  adjustment  of  their  differences  with 
the  Patrician  Lords.  It  was  nearly  eighty  years  before  these  dif- 
ferences were  completely  settled,  when  the  Licinian  Laws  again 
admitted  the  Plebeians  to  the  supreme  offices  of  the  state. 

*  Niebuhr  quotes  the  case  of  the  baronial  families  of  Bremen,  who  by  such 
restricted  marriages  were  in  fifty  years  diminished  by  one-third.  By  the  Act 
of  Union  with  Scotland  it  was  forbidden  to  create  any  more  Scottish  peerages. 
At  the  Union.  154  Peers  were  on  the  Roll.  In  1812  71  of  this  list  had  disap- 
peared. A  few  of  these  were  forfeited,  and  some  dormant;  but  far  the  greater 
number  were  extinct, — and  this,  though  there  was  no  law  prohibiting  mar- 
riage with  commoners. 

f  Chapt.  xxxvii.  §  14, 


CHAPTER   XII. 

SEQUEL  OF  THE  DECEMVIRATE.       MILITARY  TRIBUNATE.       GENERAL 
HISTORY  TO  THE  WAR  WITH  VEIL        (448 406  B.C.) 

§  1.  Many  Patricians  go  over  to  the  Plebeians,  §  2.  Canuleian  Law  far 
legalising  Intermarriage  of  Orders.  §  3  Proposition  to  throw  open  Con- 
sulship to  Plebeians:  compromise  by  appointment  of  Military  Tribunes. 
§  4.  Nugatory  nature  of  concession.  Creation  of  Censorship.  §  5.  Survey 
of  whole  time  of  Military  Tribunate:  three  periods.  §  6.  Reasons  for 
Plebeians  demanding  so  little.  §  7.  Quaestors  increased  from  two  to  four: 
admission  of  Plebeians  to  Quaestorship.  §  8.  Probably  at  same  time  to 
Senate.  §  9.  Summary.  §  10.  Popularity  of  Sp.  Mselius,  a  knight; 
struck  dead  by  C.  ServHius  Ahala.  §  11.  Stories  of  twoPostumii:  their 
severity. 

§  1.  In  the  first  joy  which  followed  the  fall  of  the  Decemvirs, 
there  seems  to  have  been  a  great  disposition  in  the  moderate  men 
of  both  sides  to  confide  in  the  good  intentions  of  the  opposite 
party.  This  appeared  fully  in  the  conduct  of  the  Consuls  and  of 
Duillius,  the  most  influential  of  the  Tribunes.  But  the  greater 
part  of  the  Patricians,  especially  the  young  men,  in  whom  the 
pride  of  blood  was  hottest,  seem  only  to  have  made  concessions  in 
the  hope  of  recalling  them  on  the  first  opportunity.  It  could  not 
be  concealed  that  the  Tribunes  and  the  Comitia  Tributa  had  re- 
ceived a  great  accession  of  power;  and  it  was,  apparently,  for  the 
sake  of  wielding  this  power  in  their  own  interest  that  at  this  time 
we  hear  of  Senators  offering  themselves  for  the  Tribunate,  and  of 
Patricians  laying  aside  the  dignity  of  their  birth,  and  obtaining 
adoption  into  Plebeian  families ;  nay,  at  this  time,  we  read  that 
Patricians,  or  those  who  had  been  Patricians,  were  chosen  into  the 
college  of  the  Tribunes.* 

§  2.  But  the  greatest  omission  in  the  arrangement  eftected 
by  the  Consuls  and  Tribunes  of  the  year  449  b.c.  was,  that 
they  had  not  insisted  on  the  repeal  of  the  invidious  law,  ratified 

.  *  Livy  (iii.  65)  distinctly  states  that  of  the  five  Tribunes  chosen  by  their 
colleagues,  in  default  of  due  election  (see  Chapt.  x.  §  23),  two  were  Patricians, 
and  that  a  similar  attempt  was  made  at  a  later  period  (v.  10).  If  this  was 
done  without  the  Patricians  having  been  previously  made  Plebeians,  it  must 
be  set  down  to  the  disorder  of  the  times ;  for  to  the  latest  period,  after  all 
other  political  distinctions  had  ceased,  a  man  of  Patrician  blood  could  not  be- 
come a  Tribune  without  having  been  adopted  as  a  Plebeian.  The  fact  that  at 
this  time  "  many  Patricians  renounced  their  birth  to  become  Tribunes"  is 
stated  by  Zonaras  (the  Epitomator  of  Dio  Cassius),  vii.  15, 


Chap.  XII.  CANULEIAK  LAW.  l29 

lately  by  the  Twelve  Tables,  by  which  the  Intermarriage  of  the 
Orders  was  prohibited.  Attention  was  perhaps  called  to  this  by  the 
sight  of  Patricians  seeking  the  Tribunate ;  and  in  the  fourth  year 
after  the  deposition  of  the  Decemvirs,  an  enterprising  college  of 
Tribunes  made  it  fully  understood  that  the  claims  of  the  Plebeians 
were  yet  unsatisfied.  Nothing  short  of  social  and  political  equality 
would  allay  the  contests  which  had  been  raging,  and  were  sure  to 
rage  again,  till  the  wall  of  severance  raised  up  by  oligarchical  pride 
were  broken  down. 

'  With  these  views,  C.  Canuleius,  one  of  the  Tribunes  of  the  year 
445  B.C.,  gave  notice  of  a  bill  which  should  make  the  marriage  of 
the  two  Orders  legitimate.  And  at  the  same  time  his  nine  col- 
leagues spoke  of  bringing  forward  a  measure  which  should  throw 
open  the  Consulship  to  Patricians  and  Plebeians  alike. 

Scenes  of  great  violence  followed  the  introduction  of  these  bills, 
as  before,  when  Terentilius  Harsa  was  striving  for  his  law.  We 
are  not  informed  of  the  particulars ;  but  at  length  the  Tribunes, 
despairing  of  success,  a^'ain  led  the  Plebeians  out  of  the  city,  and 
in  this  third  Secession  they  occupied  the  Janiculum.*  If,  they 
said,  the  Patricians  deemed  their  fellow  citizens  unworthy  to 
marry  with  them,  if  their  blood  would  not  mingle,  if  they  were 
different  races  of  men, — it  were  better  that  they  separate.  Here, 
however,  as  before,  the  Secession  gave  strength  to  the  moderate 
party,  and  it  was  agreed  by  the  Patricians  to  allow  the  Canuleian 
law  to  pass  without  further  opposition.  This  was  in  itself  a  revo- 
lution. It  destroyed  the  existence  of  the  Patricians  as  a  caste.  It 
was  now  conceded  that  the  two  Orders  were  equal  in  blood,  and 
that  children  born  of  a  mixed  marriage  were  in  law  entitled  to  the 
same  rank  and  privileges  as  those  of  pure  patrician  descent.f  This 
change,  more  than  any  other,  promoted  that  complete  amalgama- 
tion of  the  two  Orders,  which  followed  so  rapidly  in  the  next 
seventy  or  eighty  years. 

§  3.  The  Canuleian  bill  had  become  law.  The  proposal  of  the 
nine  Tribunes  to  open  the  Consulship  remained.  Against  this,  the 
Patrician  Burgesses  made  a  firmer  stand.  They  had  yielded  the 
most  dearly  prized  of  their  social  privileges;  they  resolved  to 
maintain  their  political  powers  untouched.  The  Consuls,  they 
argued,  had  sacred  duties  to  perform  ;  it  was  their  business  to 
icall  together    the    Centuriate  Assembly  and  preside  over  it,  foi 

•  *  "  Tertiam  seditionem  incitavit  matrimoniorum  dignitas,  ut  plebeii  cum 
patriciis  jungerentur:  qui  tumultus  in  monte  Janiculo  duce  Canulcio  Trib- 
Pleb.  exarsit." — Florus,  i.  25.  Tliis  secession  is  not  mentioned  by  Livy  or 
Dionysius. 

f  See  tbe  eloquent  speech  which  Livy  puts  into  the  mouth  of  Canulehis, 
iii,  3-5.  It  anticipates  the  pregnant  argument  of  Shylock :  "  Hath  not  a  Jew 
eyes?  ...  fed  with  the  same  food,  hurt  with  the  same  weapons,"  ko. 

6* 


130  ROME  UNDER  THE  PATRICIANS.  Book  II 

none  could  take  the  auspices  and  pciforni  tlie  sacred  duties  asso- 
ciated witli  this  business  except  those  in  whose  veins  ran  pure 
patrician  blood.  Thus  was  again  raised  the  very  question  which 
ought  to  have  been  set  to  rest  for  ever  by  the  Canuleian  law. 
The  different  nature,  as  it  were,  of  Patricians  and  Plebeians  was 
still  made  a  reason  for  excluding  the  latter  from  the  highest  offices 
of  state. 

After  much  altercation  and  long  delays,  a  compromise  was  agreed 
to,  as  in  the  case  of  the  Terentilian  law.  Till  a  satisfactory  ar- 
rangement could  be  made  with  respect  to  the  Consulship  the  chief 
executive  power  was  committed  to  officers  who  bore  the  name  of 
Military  Tribunes,  or  Tribunes  with  Consular  authority.*  They 
were  to  be  elected,  like  the  Consuls,  by  the  Centuries,  and  Plebe- 
ians,  as  well  as  Patricians,  were  to  be  eligible. 

§  4.  It  seems,  at  first  sight,  as  if  by  this  concession  the  Patrici- 
ans had  given  up  more  than  was  demanded  by  the  nine  Tribunes. 
They  asked  for  one  of  the  Consulships ;  all  the  places  in  the  Mili- 
tary Tribunate  were  opened  to  them.  However,  on  examination, 
it  turns  out  that  these  apparent  concessions  were  more  than  bal- 
anced by  other  portions  of  the  arrangement. 

(1.)  The  Patricians  felt  quite  sure,  by  their  influence  in  the 
Comitia  of  the  Centuries,  that  they  should  secure  most  of  the 
places  in  the  new  tribunitian  college.  But  if  this  seemed  unlikely, 
the  Senate  had  the  power  of  suspending  the  new  magistracy  and 
ordering  an  election  of  Consuls  for  any  given  year. 

(2.)  The  office  of  Prefect  of  the  City  seems  to  have  been  called 
into  greater  prominency  now  than  before.  In  the  absence  of  the 
Kings  or  Consuls  it  had  been  usual  to  invest  one  of  the  lead- 
ing Senators  with  this  high  office.  But  now  it  seems  to  have  be- 
come almost  permanent.  His  business  was  to  preside  in  the  Senate 
and  in  the  courts  of  justice,  and  to  execute  all  those  high  execut- 
ive functions  which  were  associated  with  regal  and  consular 
dignity. 

(3.)  In  the  very  year  after  the  establishment  of  Military  Tri- 
bunes, two  new  officers  of  state,  called  Censors,  were  appointed. 
These  were  both  Patricians.  Their  business  was  to  hold  the  Cen- 
sus, and  perform  the  solemn  rites  with  which  every  lustrum,  or 
period  of  five  years,  was  initiated ;  and  their  office  was  to  last  for 
the  whole  of  this  period.  In  later  times  the  Censors  obtained  a 
very  great  and  commanding  power,  and  became  the  chief  and 
crowning  dignity  which  a  Roman  burgess  could  reach.  But  it 
cannot  be  doubted  that  the  cause  of  their  creation  was  to  take  out 
of  the  hands  of  the  Military  Tribunes  some  of  the  most  important 

*  Their  proper  title  was  tribuni  militares  consulari  potestate,  or  consulari 
imperio. 


Chap.  XIL  MILITARY  TRIBUNATE.  131 

functions  attaching  to  the  office  of  Consul.  It  is  nowhere  said 
that  the  Military  Tribunes  could  not  take  the  auspices.  But  it  is 
said  that  none  of  them  ever  enjoyed  a  triumph ;  the  Patrician 
Tribunes  would  not  claim  this  honour,  lest  it  should  also  be 
granted  to  their  Plebeian  Colleagues.  Probably  the  auspices  were 
always  taken  by  the  Censors,  or  (when  there  were  no  Censors)  by 
the  Prefect  of  the  City. 

It  is  evident,  therefore,  that  the  concessions  made  in  the  compro- 
mise of  the  year  444  b.c.  were  rather  apparent  than  real.  Even 
if  the  Plebeians  had  succeeded  in  filling  all  the  places  in  the  Mili- 
tary Tribunate,  which  was  not  to  be  expected,  yet  the  Prefect  of 
the  City  and  the  Censors  were  there  to  maintain  the  claim  of  the 
Patricians  to  exclusive  management  of  the  Comitia  Centuriata, 
with  its  sacred  attributes,  the  framing  of  the  list  of  citizens,  the 
assessment  for  taxation  and  military  service. 

§  5.  We  must  now  anticipate  matters  a  little,  to  see  how  this  sys- 
tem worked  in  practice. 

The  time  during  which  the  Military  Tribunate  lasted  may  be 
divided  into  three  periods:  (1),  eighteen  years  (444 — 427  b.c),  in 
which  Military  Tribunes,  three  in  immber,  were  elected  only  five 
times,  and  Consuls  in  the  remaining  years;  (2),  twenty-one  years 
(426 — 406  B.C.),  in  which  we  count  fourteen  colleges  of  Military 
Tribunes,  consisting  of  four  in  each  year,  except  twice,  when  the 
number  of  three  recurs;*  (3)  thirty-nine  years  (405 — 36*7  b.c.)  in 
which  Consuls  are  found  only  twice,  while  the  annual  number  of 
Military  Tribunes  amounts  to  six,  except  in  three  years,f  when 
they  are  eight. 

It  appears,  then,  that  in  the  first  period  the  Military  Tribunes 
formed  an  exception  to  the  rule.  Out  of  seventeen  annual  magis- 
tracies, there  were  at  least  twelve  sets  of  Consuls ;  and  even  in 
the  five  years  when  there  were  three  Military  Tribunes  there  were 
Censors  by  their  side. 

But  in  the  year  434  b.c.  L.  ^milius  Mamercus,  himself  a  Patri- 
cian, and  a  man  of  highest  distinction,^  introduced  a  change.  He 
was  in  that  year  invested  with  the  office  of  Dictator,  for  the 
purpose  of  conducting  the  war  in  Lower  Etruria,  of  which  we  shall 
speak  in  the  next  chapter.  His  services,  however,  were  not  re- 
quired in  the  field ;  but  he  brought  in  a  law  by  which  the  Censors 
were  allowed  eighteen  months  for  the  purpose  of  executing  their 
business,  and  then  were  required  to  lay  down  their  office ;  so  that 
if  Censors  were  elected  for  each  lustrum,  there  would  be  three 
years  and  a  half  in  each  of  these  quinquennial  periods  during 
which  there  were  no  Censors.     We  know    not  what  were   the 

*  Namely,  the  years  418,  408,  B.C.  f  Namely,  403,  380,  379,  B.a 

X  He  was  three  times  Dictator. 


132  ROME  UNDER  THE  PATRICIANS.  Book  II. 

motives  of  ^milius  in  this  transaction.  So  angry  were  the  Patri- 
cians, that  the  next  Censors  disgraced  this  eminent  man  by  depriv- 
ing him  of  his  political  rights  as  a  Burgess  of  Rome.  It  is  shortly 
after  this  law  took  effect  that  we  first  hear  of  four  Military  Tri- 
bunes ;  and  the  conjecture  of  Niebuhr  is  now  commonly  accepted, 
namely,  that  the  fourth  Tribune  was  the  Praefectus  Urbis,  and 
therefore  necessarily  a  Patrician.* 

The  third  period  begins  with  the  siege  of  Veii.  From  this  time 
the  Military  Tribunate  becomes  the  rule,  and  the  Consulship  the 
exception.  The  number  now  appears  fixed  at  six  :  for  the  three 
years  in  which  eight  are  counted,  it  is  probable  that  the  two  addi- 
tional names  were  those  of  the  Censors.f  One  of  them  was  no 
doubt  always  the  Prefect  of  the  City,  and  he  was  supreme. 

It  may  be  observed  that  it  was  not  till  the  year  400  b.c.  that 
even  a  single  Plebeian  obtained  a  place  in  the  college.  After  this, 
however,  the  inferior  order  commonly  obtained  their  due  share  of 
places,  and  in  one  year  they  even  formed  a  majority. 

§  6.  It  may  be  matter  of  surprise  that  the  Plebeians  were 
content  with  so  little.  No  doubt,  the  first  thing  they  looked  to 
was  their  own  personal  well-being;  as  yet  they  cared  little  for 
political  rights.  All  their  movements  had  rather  tended  to  secu- 
rity of  life  and  property  than  to  possession  of  power.  They 
sought  for  Tribunes  of  the  Plebs,  to  protect  the  poor  debtors  from 
the  oppression  of  rich  creditors.  They  demanded  an  equal  Code 
of  laws,  that  they  might  have  known  rights,  not  dependent  on  the 
will  of  patrician  courts  of  law.  They  claimed  the  right  of  Appeal 
from  the  judgment  of  the  supreme  magistrate ;  that  their  per- 
sons might  be  secure  from  the  arbitrary  power  of  patrician 
praetors.  The  only  exception  is  the  second  Valerian  Law,  by 
which  the  Assembly  of  the  Tribes  obtained  the  power  of  making 
laws.  But  for  some  time  to  come  even  these  laws  had  to  do 
only  with  questions  of  life  and  property ;  the  Plebeians  did  not 
yet  interfere  with  political  matters,  such  as  peace  and  war. 
Just  so,  the  Commons  of  England,  from  their  first  assembly  in 
Parliament  to  the  time  of  James  L,  confined  themselves  to  laws 
aifecting  their  own  personal  interests,  and  to  voting  money  for 
the  purposes  of  government :  and  when  they  attempted  to  go 
further  in  Elizabeth's  time,  they  were  sternly    rebuked  by  that 

*  418  B.C.,  when  there  were  only  three  Tribunes,  was  a  censorial  year,  and 
therefore  a  patrician  prefect  was  not  required.  408  b.c.,  when  there  were  also 
but  three,  remains  a  problem. 

f  This  is  certainly  the  case  in  403  B.C.,  where  Livy  (v.  1)  and  Plutarch 
( Vit.  CamilL  2)  reckon  the  Censors  Camillus  and  Postumius  among  the  eight 
Military  Tribunes.  In  the  years  380,  379  B.C.,  Diodorus  alone  names  eight 
Tribunes.  The  Censors  of  these  years,  however,  ^re  not  n^me4  »wong  thea^ 
eight. 


Chap.  XIL  QU^STORES  CLASSICI.  133 

imperious  sovereign  for  presuming  to  "meddle  with  matters  of 
state." 

§  7.  We  may  assume  that  the  period  between  the  Canuleian 
Law  and  the  siege  of  Veii,  when  the  Military  Tribunate  seems 
first  to  have  been  regularly  established,  was  a  period  of  pro- 
visional government,  during  which  all  public  relations  were  ex- 
tremely unsettled.  The  few  events  that  are  preserved  by  the 
annalists  fully  indicate  this  state  of  things.  Throughout  the 
two  first  periods  of  the  Military  Tribunate,  the  Patrician  Bur- 
gesses are  evidently  struggling  hard  to  maintain  their  political 
supremacy.  At  first  Consulships  are  general ;  the  very  first 
election  to  the  Military  Tribunate  was^et  aside  by  the  augurs, 
and  the  same  thing  happens  more  than  once :  but  at  length 
consular  years  become  rare,  and  after  the  beginning  of  the  siege 
of  Veii  almost  disappear.  In  the  year  421  b.c.  the  Plebeians 
were  admitted  to  another  office  of  state  hitherto  confined  to  the 
Patricians,  namely,  the  Quaestorship.  The  Quaestors  now  spoken 
of  are  the  Qu^stores  Classici,  so  called  because  they  were  ori- 
ginally named  by  King  Servius  as  paymasters  of  the  Classes,  or 
great  military  bodies,  into  which  he  divided  all  the  people  :  and 
they  must  be  distinguished  from  the  Qusestores  Parricidii,  or 
Perduellionis.*  As  time  went  on,  the  duties  of  the  Qusestores 
Classici,  now  called  simply  Quaestors,  multiplied  ;  and  it  was 
thought  necessary  to  appoint  four  instead  of  two.  On  this,  the 
Tribunes  of  the  Plebs  demanded,  that  two  of  the  four  should 
be  Plebeians,  and  after  some  little  opposition  this  was  conceded. 
Some  time  aher,  the  number  of  the  Quaestors  was  again  doubled ; 
and  in  later  times  they  became  indefinite  in  number,  since  every 
general  and  every  governor  of  a  province  had  a  Quaestor  attached 
to  his  staff". 

§  8.  Now  it  was  the  custom  (as  we  know  in  after-times)  to  fill 
up  vacancies  in  the  Senate  from  those  who  had  served  as  Quaes- 
tors ;  and  probably  it  was  so  from  the  beginning.  When,  there- 
fore, there  were  eight  Quaestors,  the  Censors  at  the  commencement 
of  each  lustrum  would  find  forty  men,  out  of  whom  new  Senators 
were  to  be  chosen ;  and  as  these  forty  had  all  been  elected 
Quaestors  by  the  People  in  their  Centuries,  it  is  plain  that  the 
Senate  was  indirectly  chosen  by  the  People.  This  regulation, 
whenever  introduced,  diminished  very  much  the  arbitrary  power 
of  the  Censors  in  choosing  new  Senators.  Moreover,  it  gave 
the  Plebeians  admission  into  the  Senate — a  most  important  pri- 
vilege, which  was  granted  we  know  not  exactly  when,  but 
probably  from  their  first  admission  to  the  Quaestorship.  For  we 
find  P.  Licinius  Calvus  spoken  of  as  "  an  old  senator,"  just 
*Chapt.  u.  §  2. 


134  ROME  UNDER  THE  PATRICIANS.  Book  II. 

at  the  close  of  the  Veientine  war  (in  390  b.c.),*  and  he  was  a 
Plebeian.  Now,  as  the  Plebeians  were  admitted  to  the  Quajstor- 
ship  in  421  B.C.  (about  20  years  before),  it  may  reasonably  be 
supposed  that  this  P.  Licinius  was  one  of  the  first  plebeian 
Quaestors,  and  that  he  with  other  Plebeians  was  placed  by  the 
next  Censors  on  the  roll  of  the  Senate. 

§  9.  Therefore  we  see  the  Plebeians  admitted  to  the  Military 
rribuneship,  by  law  in  444  b.c,  and  actually  in  400 ;  to  the 
Qusestorship  in  421,  and  to  the  Senate  probably  at  the  same  time. 
The  political  disunion  of  the  Orders  was  fast  disappearing,  and  but 
for  the  Gallic  invasion,  which  interrupted  all  peaceful  reforms, 
would  have  ended  sooner^han  was  actually  the  fact. 

§  10.  Yet  there  remained  many  signs  of  discord  and  discontent, 
though  of  less  violence  than  in  the  time  of  Terentilius.  Of  these 
the  subjoined  narratives  will  afford  sufficient  evidence. 

The  year  440  b.c.  was  the  beginning  of  several  seasons  of 
dearth  and  scarcity.  To  relieve  the  distress  of  the  poor,  a  new 
office,  called  the  Mastership  of  the  Market  (Prsefectura  Annonse), 
was  created ;  and  the  Patrician  L.  Minucius  was  the  first  who 
held  this  office.  But  the  poorer  sort  among  the  Plebeians,  im- 
patient with  hunger,  complained  that  his  measures  were  slow 
and  ineffectual;  and  their  discontent  was  still  further  increased 
by  the  suspicious  liberality  of  Sp.  Melius,  a  wealthy  Plebeian 
Knight.  This  man  employed  his  money  in  buying  up  corn, 
which  he  distributed  for  little  or  nothing  among  the  poorer 
citizens.  He  thus  became  exceedingly  popular ;  and  he  was  sus- 
pected by  the  Patricians  of  a  wish  to  raise  himself  to  kingly  power. 
The  unhappy  man  paid  dearly  for  his  ambition  or  generosity. 
One  of  the  Consuls  of  the  year  was  T.  Quinctius  Capitolinus,  one  of 
the  most  vehement  of  the  Patricians,  who  determined  to  crush 
the  attempts  of  Mselius.  To  this  end  he  named  a  Dictator,  and 
the  person  chosen  was  the  old  hero  L.  Quinctius  Cincinnatus, 
his  kinsman,  well  known  as  a  bitter  enemy  of  the  Plebeians, 
who  now  reappears  for  a  moment  upon  the  stage.  The  aged 
Dictator  entered  on  his  office  with  all  the  eagerness  of  youth ; 
he  named  C.  Servilius  Ahala  his  Master  of  the  Horse ;  during 
the  night  he  occupied  the  Capitol  and  all  the  strong  places  in 
the  city.  Next  morning  he  took  his  seat  in  the  Forum,  and 
sent  Ahala  to  summon  Mselius  before  his  tribunal.  Maelius 
knew  that  his  case  was  desperate;  for  the  Dictator  being  ap- 
pointed, the  right  of  Appeal  to  the  Centuries  w^as  for  the  time 
suspended.  He  therefore  refused  to  obey  the  summons ;  and, 
on  his  refusal,  Ahala  struck  him  dead  upon  the  spot.  Then  the 
Dictator  gave  judgment  that  the  act  was  necessary  and  justifi- 
*  "  Vetus  Senator."— Liv.  v.  12. 


Chap.  XII.  STORIES  OF  TWO  POSTUMIL  135 

able  :  he  treated  Maelius  as  a  condemned  traitor,  and  ordered  his 
house  to  be  levelled  with  the  ground.  The  place  was  called  the 
yEquiraa^lium.  His  stores  of  corn  were  sold  at  a  low  rate  to  the 
poor  Plebeians  by  Minucius. 

Cicero  and  the  ancients  always  praise  the  conduct  of  Ahala,  and 
represent  him  to  have  saved  the  commonwealth  by  his  firmness 
and  decision.  On  the  other  hand,  the  Plebeians  of  his  own  time 
considered  Majlius  as  a  martyr  to  their  cause;  and  so  great  was 
their  indignation  that  Ahala,  fearing  to  be  indicted  for  murder, 
was  obliged  to  leave  Rome. 

Which  is  the  true  view  of  the  case — whether  Maelius  was  a  self- 
ish demagogue  or  a  true  patriot,  or  something  between  the  two — 
it  is  impossible  for  us  in  our  ignorance  to  say.  But  suspicions  are 
raised  in  his  favour  by  remarking  that  the  members  of  the  Quinc- 
tian  Gens  were  generally  violent  and  tyrannical ;  and,  further,  by 
the  notice  that  L.  Minucius,  the  patrician  Master  of  the  Market, 
changed  his  mode  of  conduct  after  the  death  of  Maelius  so  much  as 
to  desert  his  own  order  and  become  a  Plebeian.* 

§  11.  Still  more  angry  feeling  is  indicated  by  two  narratives 
relating  to  members  of  the  haughty  Postumian  Gens. 

In  the  year  431  b.c,  Rome  was  threatened  by  a  combined 
attack  from  the  ^quians  and  Volscians ;  and  to  oppose  it  A.  Pos- 
tumius  Tubertus  was  named  Dictator.  He  defeated  the  enemy, 
but  only  by  enforcing  the  most  rigorous  discipline — so  rigorous, 
that  he  condemned  his  own  son  to  death  because  he  had  pre- 
sumed to  attack  the  enemy,  though  he  conquered  them,  without 
orders.  The  story  of  the  severity  of  the  Roman  father  is  better 
known  in  the  case  of  T.  Manlius,  which  occurred  nearly  100  years 
later. 

Again,  in  the  year  414  b.c,  M.  Postumius  Regillensis  was 
Military  Tribune,  and  warmly  opposed  an  agrarian  law,  by 
which  it  was  proposed  to  divide  among  the  poor  Plebeians 
certain  lands  which  had  been  taken  from  the  ^quians  of  Lavici 
and  Bola.  As  commander  of  the  army,  he  threatened  to  use  his 
absolute  power  (imperium)  in  punishing  any  soldier  who  had 
dared,  or  should  dare  to  further  this  agrarian  law ;  and  he  made 
good  his  word  by  refusing  them  all  share  in  the  plunder  of  Bola. 
So  exasperated  were  the  men  by  this  conduct,  that  they  rose  in 
mutiny,  and  stoned  their  general  to  death — a  rare  instance  of  in- 
subordination among  the  soldiers  of  Rome.  For  a  time,  however, 
this  violence,  as  is  usually  the  case,  gave  advantage  to  the  enemies 
of  the  Plebeians  ;  and  for  some  years  the  Patricians  succeeded  in 
having  Consuls  elected  instead  of  Military  Tribunes. 

■     *  livy,  iv.  16. 


Emissary  of  Alban  Lake. 


CHAPTER  XIII. 

WARS  SINCE  THE   DECEMVIRATE.       SIEGE  OF  VEIL       (448 391   B.C.) 

§  1.  Steady  advance  of  Romaas  on  side  of  ^quians  and  Volscians.  §  2. 
Lower  Etniria,  at  peace  since  fall  of  Fabii.  §  3.  Renewal  of  hostilities: 
Cossus  wins  spolia  opima  from  Lars  Tolumnius.  §  4.  Yeii :  siege  begins 
in  400  B.C.  §  5.  Appointment  of  M.  Furius  CamUlus  as  Dictator.  §  6. 
Legend  of  Overflow  of  Alban  Lake.  §  7.  Legend  of  Capture  of  'Veii  in 
tenth  year  of  war.      §  8.   Camillus  takes  Falerii  (story  of  schoolmaster), 


Chap.  XIII.  WARS  SINCE  THE  DECEMVIR  ATE.  137 

Sutrium,  Nepete  :  truce  with  Yolsinii.  §  9.  Project  of  removing  from 
Rome  to  Veii,  defeated.  §10.  Unpopularity  of  Camillus :  his  banishment. 
§  11.  Estimate  of  his  conduct:  his  parting  prayer. 

§  1.  Since  the  victory  gained  by  the  Consuls  Valerius  and  Hora- 
tius  over  the  Sabines,  no  molestation  had  been  experienced  from 
that  quarter.  The  Leagues  formed  by  the  great  Consul  Sp.  Cas- 
sius  had  checked  the  advance  of  the  Opican  nations  on  the  east, 
particularly  of  the  Volscians.  These  successes  continued.  The 
towns  of  Lavici  and  Bola  were  recovered  from  the  ^quians ; 
Anxur  won  from  the  Volscians,  then  lost,  but  again  won.  Colo- 
nies sent  to  Ardea  in  442  b.c,  and  to  Velitrae  in  404,  shut  out 
the  Volscians  from  the  coast-lands ;  while  northern  Latium  was 
secured  by  another  Colony  planted  at  Lavici  in  418.  While  the 
narratives  of  these  wars  are  uncertain  and  exaggerated,  it  is  clear 
that  there  was  a  steady  progress  on  the  part  of  the  Latin  arms : 
the  Opican  arms  were  gradually  being  forced  back  into  their 
mountains.  A  great  change  had  taken  place  since  they  had  been 
in  occupation  of  the  Alban  Hills,  and  threatened  the  very  gates  of 
Rome. 

§  2.  But  if  less  positive  results  were  obtained  against  the  Opi- 
cans  on  the  east,  a  war  took  place  against  the  Etruscans  beyond 
the  Tiber,  which  ended  in  the  first  considerable  addition  to  the 
Roman  territory  that  had  been  received  since  the  fall  of  the 
monarchy. 

It  will  be  recollected  that  ancient  Etruria  was  described  as 
being  divided  into  two  portions  by  the  Ciminian  hills ;  but  the 
whole  Etruscan  nation  was  considered  as  constituting  twelve  great 
communities,  of  which  twelve  cities  formed  the  centres.*  All 
these  communities  were  independent  of  each  other,  being  governed 
by  oligarchies,  while  the  mass  of  the  population  were  their  clients 
or  serfs.  For  general  national  purposes  these  twelve  cities  formed 
a  federation,  and  their  common  meeting-place  was  the  Fanum  Vol- 
tumnse,  which  lay  on  the  northern  slope  of  the  Ciminian  range. 
When  the  nation  engaged  in  common  war,  it  was  usual  for  them 
to  elect  a  common  chiefj  under  the  title  of  Lar  or  Lars.  Such  was 
Porsenna  of  Clusium. 

Since  the  days  of  Lars  Porsenna,  Rome  had  carried  on  a  desul- 
tory war  with  the  Veientines,  as  with  her  neighbours  on  the  eastern 
frontier.  But  since  the  fatal  day  on  which  the  great  Fabian  Gens 
perished  on  the  Cremera,  there  had  been  a  cessation  of  these  feuds. 
The  quarrel  was  thus  renewed. 

§  3.  Fidense  was  an  ancient  town  on  the  Sabine  side  of  the 
Tiber,  opposite  the  Cremera,  not  more  than  six  or  seven  miles 
from  Rome.  It  was  a  Roman  Colony,  but  it  had  repeatedly  re- 
*  See  the  description  of  their  country,  Chapt.  vi.  §  9. 


138  EOME  UNDER  THE  PATRICIANS.  Book  n. 

volted  and  expelled  the  colonists.  The  last  time  that  this  hap- 
pened the  Fidenatians  called  on  Lars  Tolumnius  of  Veii  to  defend 
them  from  the  Romans.  He  raised  an  army  of  his  own  people 
combined  with  the  men  of  Capena  and  the  Faliscans,  and  marched 
against  Rome.  The  Romans  prevailed,  and  A.  Cornelius  Cossus, 
one  of  the  Military  Tribunes,  slew  the  Veientine  king  with  his 
own  hand :  the  linen  cuirass  which  he  took  and  offered  up  to 
Jupiter  was  long  preserved,  and  the  Emperor  Augustus  himself 
pointed  out  to  Livy  that  in  the  inscription  upon  it  Cossos  called 
himself  Consul  instead  of  Military  Tribune,  in  order  that  he  might 
have  the  credit  of  winning  the  spolia  opima.*  After  this  victory, 
Fidense  was  -taken  and  razed  to  the  ground :  a  truce  was  made  with 
Veii. 

§  4.  This  truce  ended  in  the  year  407  b.c,  and  the  Veientines 
entreated  the  assistance  of  their  Etruscan  kinsfolk  against  the  City 
of  the  Seven  Hills.  They  met  at  the  Fanum  Voltumnse  ;  but  the 
northern  states  were  in  fear  of  the  Gauls,  who  were  threatening  to 
overrun  their  country,!  and  Veii  was  left  to  defend  herself.  She 
was  no  mean  rival — as  large  as  Rome,  well-peopled,  not  more  than 
twelve  miles  distant ;  and,  from  the  preparations  made  on  the  part 
of  Rome,  it  was  plain  that  the  war  must  end  in  the  destruction  of 
one  city  or  the  other.  The  Veientines,  however,  did  not  dare 
again  to  meet  the  Romans  in  the  field,  and  allowed  their  city  to  be 
invested.  This  was  the  first  time  that  the  Roman  militia  kept  the 
field  for  a  continuance.  Hitherto  the  men  had  gone  forth  for  a 
short  campaign,  but  now  they  were  obliged  to  remain  in  the  field 
for  the  whole  year,  in  order  effectually  to  blockade  the  enemy's  city. 
Hence  it  became  necessary  to  pay  the  army  for  the  whole  year, 
instead  of  furnishing  them  with  a  small  allowance  for  the  summer's 
campaign.^; 

§  5.  But  the  siege  lasted  several  years  without  any  progress  on 
the  part  of  the  Romans.  Their  soldiers  were  (as  we  have  said)  a 
kind  of  militia,  unused  to  the  work  of  a  regular  siege ;  and  the 
Veientines,  assisted  now  by  the  people  of  Capena  and  Falerii,  met 
them  in  the  field  and  defeated  them.  A  panic  fear  spread  from 
the  army  to  Rome  ;  the  matrons  crowded  to  the  temples ;  the 
Senate  met  and  ordered  that  a  Dictator  should  be  appointed.  The 
choice  fell  on  M.  Furius  Camillus,  a  great  name,  which  is  now 
mentioned  for  the  first  time. 

*  Liv.  iv.  20.  For,  as  Military  Tribune,  he  could  not  be  sole  commander 
of  the  legions. 

f  They  had  expelled  the  Etruscans  from  the  valley  of  the  Po,  but  when  this 
took  place  is  quite  unknown.     Introduct.  Sect.  ii.  §  9. 

I  The  regular  pay  {stipendium)  was  100  asses  a  month,  or  in  later  times  a 
denarius  every  three  days.  Of  the  mode  in  which  the  pay  was  raised  an  ac- 
count wiU  be  given  in  Chapt.  xxxvi.  §  7. 


Chap.  nil.  SIEGE  OF  YEIt.  l39 

From  about  the  time  of  his  appointment  the  story  of  the  siege 
passes  into  an  heroic  legend,  like  those  of  Coriolanus  and  the 
Fabii.     Thus  it  runs. 

§  6.  The  panic  fear  which  overpowered  the  people  in  the  seventh 
year  of  the  war  was  not  caused  by  defeat  alone.  It  was  magnified 
by  prodigies  and  marvels  :  for  Avhen  summer  was  now  far  spent, 
the  Alban  Lake,  which  stands  high  on  the  Alban  Hills  without 
any  visible  outlet  for  its  waters,  began  to  rise,  and  at  length  poured 
itself  upon  the  plain  below.  Prayers  and  sacrifice  availed  not;  the 
waters  still  flowed  on.  Then  the  Senate  sent  to  consult  the  oracle 
at  Delphi  what  should  be  done  to  avert  the  mischief. 

Meantime  an  old  Veientine  soothsayer  was  heard  to  laugh  at 
the  Romans  who  were  encamped  by  Veil ;  "  for,"  said  he,  "  it  is 
written  in  the  Book  of  Fate  that  Veil  shall  never  be  taken  till  the 
waters  of  the  Alban  Lake  find  a  passage  into  the  sea."  A  Roman 
centurion  who  heard  this  persuaded  the  old  man  to  come  forth 
and  advise  him  about  certain  matters  of  his  own  :  then  he  seized 
the  old  man,  and  the  generals  sent  him  to  Rome  to  be  examined 
by  the  Senate.  But  the  Senate  paid  no  heed  to  him  till  the  mes- 
sengers returned  from  Delphi,  and  said  the  same  things  as  the  old 
Veientine  soothsayer.  Then  they  set  to  work  and  made  a  great 
tunnel  leading  from  the  south-western  part  of  the  lake  to  the 
river  Anio  ;  and  so  the  waters  escaped  into  the  river,  and 
flowed  down  with  its  waters  into  the  sea.  The  tunnel,  called  in 
Latin  an  emissarium  or  out-letter,  to  which  the  legend  refers, 
still  remains.  It  is  hewn  through  hard  volcanic  rock  for  a 
distance  of  nearly  three  miles,  measuring  about  five  feet  in  height 
and  three  in  breadth.*  It  would  be  a  great  work  even  in  these 
days.f 

When  the  Veientines  found  that  the  fates  were  about  to  be 
fulfilled,  they  sent  messengers  to  ask  for  peace.  But  the  Senate 
turned  a  deaf  ear  to  their  prayers ;  whereupon  one  of  the  messen- 
gers said,  "  It  is  written  truly  that  our  city  should  fall ;   but  it 

*  See  the  Section  and  Plan  at  the  head  of  this  Chapter.  The  Alban  stone 
is  noted  for  its  hardness.  To  check  fires  at  Rome,  the  Emperor  Augustus  or- 
dered that  a  portion  of  every  new  house  should  be  of  Alban  or  Gabian  stone. 
— The  interpreters  suppose  that  these  enigmatical  orders  darkly  hinted  at  the 
operation  of  mining,  by  which  (as  the  legend  says)  Yeii  was  taken. 

\  There  is  a  similar  emissarium  to  let  off  the  waters  of  the  Fucine  Lake 
(Lake  of  Colano)  in  the  -^quian  mountains.  It  was  executed  in  the  time  of 
the  Emperor  Claudius,  and  is  three  miles  in  length  from  the  edge  of  the  lake 
to  the  bed  of  the  Liris.  Its  height  is  about  ten  feet,  and  its  breadth  six. 
Thirty  thousand  men  were  engaged  for  eleven  years  in  the  work ;  and  after  all, 
it  failed.  In  our  own  days,  a  company  has  been  formed  to  complete  the  work, 
the  calculated  expense  being  160,000Z.  These  facts  will  give  some  notion  of 
the  greatness  of  the  work  of  draining  the  Alban  Lake,  which  was  successfully 
executed  in  the  infancy  of  the  Roman  Republic. 


140  EOME  UNDER  THE  PATRICIANS.  Book  IL 

is  also  written  (though  ye  know  it  not),  that  if  Veii  should  fall, 
Rome  shall  be  destroyed  also."  But  still  the  Senate  listened  not, 
and  M.  Furius  Camillus  was  appointed  Dictator,  as  has  been  told 
before. 

§  7.  Camillus  dallied  not  with  the  work.  He  was  not  con' 
tented  with  blockading  the  city  as  before,  but  began  a  mine  which 
was  to  open  into  the  citadel ;  and  when  this  was  ready  for  spring- 
ing, he  sent  for  all  citizens  to  come  from  Rome  and  share  in  the 
plunder. 

As  the  Romans  stood  in  the  mine,  so  runs  the  Legend,  the  King 
of  the  Veii  was  offering  a  sacrifice  to  Juno  in  the  citadel ;  and  they 
heard  the  soothsayer  declare  that  whoever  completed  that  sacrifice 
should  prevail.  Then  Camillus  gave  the  sign,  and  the  Veientines 
were  astounded  to  see  armed  Romans  rise  from  the  floor  beneath 
their  feet.  So  they  and  their  king  were  slain,  and  the  Romans 
completed  the  sacrifice.  And  Camillus  sent  a  band  of  young  men 
dressed  in  white,  with  hands  clean  from  blood,  to  carry  the  statue 
of  the  great  goddess  Juno  to  Rome.  But  they,  not  daring  to 
touch  her,  asked  whether  she  were  willing  to  go  ;  and  then  (it  is 
said)  she  nodded  assent,  and  the  statue  was  placed  in  a  new  tem- 
ple dedicated  to  her  upon  the  Aventine. 

Thus  fell  Veii,  like  Troy,  in  the  tenth  year  of  the  war,  and  the 
people  obtained  a  great  booty.  And  Camillus  entered  Rome,  and 
descended  the  Sacred  Way,  and  went  up  to  the  Capitol  in  a  car 
drawn  by  four  white  horses,  like  the  chariot  of  the  sun.  Never 
had  general  so  triumphed  before,  and  old  men  feared  that  the  ven- 
geance of  the  gods  might  come  upon  his  pride. 

§  8.  Veii  had  fallen,  and  her  few  allies  were  not  left  unpunished. 
First,  the  Romans  attacked  and  utterly  destroyed  Capena ;  then 
Camillus,  who  was  now  a  Military  Tribune,  went  against  Falerii, 
the  chief  city  of  the  Falisci,*  which  also  fell  an  easy  prey  to  the 
Roman  arms.  The  story  goes  that  when  he  appeared  before  this 
city  a  certain  schoolmaster,  who  taught  the  sons  of  all  the  chief 
men,  brought  them  out  by  stealth  and  offered  to  put  them  into  the 
hands  of  the  Romans.  But  Camillus,  scorning  the  baseness  of  the 
man,  ordered  that  his  hands  should  be  tied  behind  him,  and  that 
the  boys  should  flog  him  back  again  into  the  town;  "for  Romans," 
said  he,  "  war  not  with  boys,  but  with  men."  Then  the  Falis- 
cans,  won  by  his  noble  conduct,  willingly  surrendered  their  city 
(b.c.  394). 

Soon  after  Sutrium  and  Nepete  also  surrendered,  and  as 
Caere  was  an  ancient  ally  of  Rome,  her  power  was  paramount  in 

*  These  Faliscans,  though  in  Etruria,  were  not  Etruscans.  Yirgil  calls  them 
^qui  Fcdisci  {^n.  vii.  695).  Probably  they  were  of  the  Opican  race,  which 
inhabited  the  country  before  the  incoming  of  the  Etruscans. 


Chap.  XIIL  SIEGE  OF  VEIL  141 

all  the  district  south  of  the  Ciminian  forest.  Nor  was  this  all, 
Three  years  later  they  came  in  collision  with  the  powerful  city 
of  Volsinii,  (Bolsena),  north  of  the  Ciminian  range,  and  won  a 
battle.  A  peace  of  twenty  years  was  then  concluded.  Doubtless 
the  same  reasons  had  prevented  the  northern  Etruscans  from 
aiding  their  southern  compatriots,  and  now  hastened  this  peace. 
The  Gauls  ere  this  had  crossed  the  Apennines. 

§  9.  The  conquest  of  Veii  very  nearly  proved  the  ruin  of  Koma, 
It  was  a  large  and  beautiful  city,  well  and  regularly  built,  on  a 
plain,  with  a  citadel  of  great  natural  strength  overhanging  the 
city.  All  the  plain  country  round,  up  to  the  hills  of  the  Cimi- 
nian forest,  were  now  subject  to  Home.  The  Veientines  them- 
selves, according  to  the  barbarous  practice  of  ancient  times,  had 
all  been  put  to  the  sword  or  sold  into  slavery.  There  stood  the 
goodly  city  empty,  inviting  people  to  come  and  dwell  in  her. 

On  the  other  hand,  Rome  with  her  seven  hills  presented  a 
series  of  ascents  and  descents;  in  the  ancient  city  there  was 
hardly  a  level  street.  The  streets  themselves  were  much  less 
regular  and  handsome  than  those  of  Veii,  and  the  climate  was 
even  then  bad,  as  has  been  said  above.* 

It  is  not  wonderful  then  that  men  should  turn  their  thoi^gLtf^ 
towards  Veii,  especially  those  poor  Plebeians  who  had  no  lands  at 
Rome.  Some  called  for  an  agrarian  law,  to  divide  the  lands  of 
Veii  among  the  people  ;  but  T.  Sicinus  and  some  of  his  brother 
Tribunes  proposed  that  half  the  people  should  go  and  settle  in 
Veii,  so  that  she  should  form  another  state  equal  to  Rome.  At 
first  this  proposal  was  stopped  by  the  veto  of  two  Tribunes  who 
opposed  their  colleagues ;  but  at  length  it  was  brought  before 
the  People,  who  now  listened  to  the  reasoning  of  the  Patricians, 
and  eleven  tribes  out  of  twenty-one  voted  against  the  bill  :  thus 
the  Tribunes  were  defeated  even  in  their  own  Assembly. 
.  Happy  for  Rome  that  her  people  were  so  moderate  and  reason- 
able. Separation  such  as  was  proposed  might  have  condemned 
both  Rome  and  Veii  to  become  obscure  Latin  towns,  like  Tuscu- 
lum  or  Praeneste,  and  the  sovereignty  of  Italy  might  have  fallen 
to  the  Samnites  or  to  Pyrrhus  of  Epirus.  But  Providence  had 
determined  that  Rome  was  to  be  the  mistress  of  the  world,  and  she 
remained  unbroken  by  the  will  of  her  own  people. 

Satisfied  with  this  victory,  the  patrician  party  consented  to  an 
agrarian  law  on  a  large  scale.  The  Veientine  lands  were  distri- 
buted, and  seven  jugera  were  allotted  to  every  householder,  with 
an  additional  allowance  for  his  children. 

§  10.  Meantime  the  great  Camillus  had  lost  favour  with    his 
countrymen.     His  patrician  pride  all  along  diminished  the  popu- 
*  See  Chapt.  vi.  §§  5  and  6. 


142  ROME  UNDER  THE  PATRICIANS.  Book  II. 

larity  which  as  a  conqueror  he  could  not  fail  to  win :  and  he  lost 
still  more  when  he  called  upon  every  man  to  refund  a  tenth  of  the 
spoil  they  had  taken  at  Veil ;  for  though  he,  in  the  moment  of 
victory,  had  vowed  to  offer  his  tenth  to  Apollo,  yet  the  plunder 
was  taken  before  there  had  been  time  to  set  apart  the  portion  of 
the  god.  Poor  men  ill  brook  to  part  with  what  they  think  their 
own  ;  and  in  this  case  the  whole  of  the  ill-will  fell  upon  the 
general.  "His  vow,"  they  said,  "was  a  mere  pretence  to  rob  the 
Plebeians  of  their  hard-won  spoil." 

Still  worse  than  this,  it  was  not  long  before  men  came  forward 
and  accused  Camillus  of  taking  much  of  the  booty  for  his  own 
share,  which  ought  to  have  been  fairly  divided  among  all.  Espe- 
cially, it  was  said,  he  had  appropriated  the  great  bronze  gates, 
which  in  those  days,  when  all  coin  was  made  of  bronze,  were 
exceedingly  valuable.  The  general  was  impeached  for  corrupt 
practices  by  L.  Appuleius,  Tribune  of  the  Plebs  (391  b.c.)  His 
Clients  and  Tribesmen  offered  to  pay  the  fine,  which  probably 
would  have  been  imposed  upon  him,  but  said  they  could  not 
acquit  him.  He  therefore  left  the  city,  and  as  he  left  it  he  turned 
about  and  prayed  that  his  country  might  soon  have  reason  to  feel 
his  want  and  call  him  back  again.  Ardea,  a  city  of  the  Latins,  was 
his  place  of  refuge. 

§  11.  There  can  be  little  doubt  that  the  great  Camillus  really 
took  these  gates.  But  how  far  he  was  guilty  of  an  illegal  act  we 
cannot  determine.  He  might  think  that  he  was  entitled  to  them, 
for  it  was  acknowledged  that  a  general  had  a  right  to  set  apart  a 
portion  for  himself:  and  we  may  well  believe  that  his  chief  fault 
was,  that  in  his  pride  he  arrogated  to  himself  more  than  was 
generally  thought  right.  All  would  wish  to  believe  that  so  great 
a  man  was  not  to  be  blamed  for  greed  and  baseness. 

His  parting  prayer  was  heard  :  for  "  the  Gaul  was  at  the  gatas," 
and  the  next  year  saw  Rome  in  ashes.  • 


Geese  of  the  Capitol  {?). 


OHAPTER   XIV. 

THE  GAULS.       (390  B.C.) 

§  1.  Introductory.  §  2.  Who  the  G-auls  were.  §  3.  Migration  of  Celtic 
aations:  occupation  of  Northern  Italy  by  Gauls.  §  4.  Who  those  Gauls 
were  that  burnt  Rome.  §  5.  Legend  of  quarrel  with  Gauls,  and  battle  of 
Alia  §6 — 8.  Of  sack  of  '\ome  and  blockade  of  Capitol.  §9.  Of  delivery 
by  Camillus.  §  10.  Falsehood  of  last  Legend.  §  11.  Later  inroads  of 
Gauls.     §  12.  Legends  of  T  Manlius  Torquatus  and  M.  Valerius  Corvus. 

§  1,  The  course  of  Roman  History,  hitherto  disturbed  only  by 
petty  border  wars,  now  suffers  a  great  convulsion.  Over  her 
neighbours  on  the  east  and  north  the  Republic  was  in  the 
ascendant ;  on  the  west,  the  frail  oligarchies  of  Etruria  had  sunk 
before  Camillus  and  his  hardy  soldiers ;  when,  by  an  untoward 
unon  of  events,  Rome  saw  her  best  general  depart  from  her  walls, 
ana  heard  of  the  barbarian  host  which  was  wasting  the  fair  land  of 
Italy.  The  Gauls  burst  upon  Latium  and  the  adjoining  lands  with 
the  suddenness  of  a  thunder-storrxi;  and,  as  the  storm,  with  all  its 
fury  and  destructiveness,  yet  clears  the  loaded  air  and  restores 
a  balance  between  the  disturbed  powers  of  nature,  so  it  was 
with  this  Gallic  hurricane.  It  swept  over  the  face  of  Italy, 
crashing  and  destroying.  The  Etruscans  were  weakened  by  it ; 
and  if  Rome  herself  was  laid  prostrate,  the  Latins  also  suffered 


144  ROME  UNDER  THE  PATRICIANS.  Book  IL 

greatly,  the  Volscians  trembled,  and  the  ^quians  were  irreeovei 
ably  weakened. 

§  2.  Before  telling  the  tale  of  the  destruction  of  Rome  by  the 
Gauls,  it  will  be  well  to  ask — Who  were  these  Gauls  ? 

They  were  a  tribe  of  that  large  race  of  mankind  who  are  known 
under  the  name  of  Celts,  and  who  at  the  time  in  question  peopled 
nearly  the  whole  of  Western  Europe,  from  the  heart  of  Germany 
to  the  ocean.  The  northern  and  central  parts  of  the  continei  t 
were  already  in  the  hands  of  various  nations,  called  by  the  com- 
mon name  of  Germans  or  Teutons,  to  whom  belonged  the  Goths, 
Saxons,  Danes,  Normans,  Lombards,  Franks,  and  Alemanni, — 
names  which  yet  live  in  Europe.  But  the  Celts  in  earlier  times 
possessed  a  far  extended  range  of  country — France,  great  part  of 
Germany,  most  of  Spain  and  Portugal,  together  with  the  British 
Isles.  Of  these  Celts  there  were,  and  still  are,  two  great  divisions, 
commonly  called  Gael  and  Cymri,  differing  in  habits  and  lan- 
guage.* The  ancient  inhabitants  of  France  were  Gael,  those 
of  Britain  and  Belgica  were  Cymri ;  and  the  Druidical  religion, 
though  sometimes  adopted  by  the  Gael,  was  properly  and 
originally  Cymric.  Gael  are  still  found  in  Ireland  and  in  the 
Highlands  of  Scotland  ;  Cymri  in  Wales  and  Low  Brittany  ;  and 
they  have  left  traces  of  their  name  in  Cumber-land.  But  the 
great  Celtic  race,  once  so  widely  spread,  has  been,  as  it  were, 
pushed  into  the  sea  by  the  Gothic  and  German  tribes.  The  few 
fragments  of  them  that  remain  are  usually  found  on  the  western 
verge  of  their  old  countries. 

§  3.  Now  before  the  time  we  are  now  speaking  of,  there  had 
been  a  great  movement  in  these  Celtic  nations.  Two  great  swarms 
went  out  from  Gaul.  Of  these,  one  crossed  the  Alps  into  Italy; 
the  other,  moving  eastward,  in  the  course  of  time  penetrated  into 
Greece  and  then  passed  into  Asia  Minor,  where  they  were 
known  under  the  name  of  Galatians.f 

It  is  supposed  that  the  Gael  who  dwelt  in  the  eastern  parts  of 
Gaul,  being  oppressed  by  Cymric  tribes  of  the  west  and  north, 
went  forth  to  seek  new  homes  in  distant  lands,  as  in  later  times 
the  Gothic  and  German  tribes  were  driven  in  the  contrary  direc- 
tion by  the  Huns  and  other  Asiatic  hordes,  who  were  thronging 
into  Europe  from  the  east.  At  all  events,  it  is  certain,  that 
large  bodies  of  Celts  passed  over  the  Alps  before  and  after 
*  Celt  is  strictly  the  same  as  Gael  (KeXr-al,  TaAar-ai,  Gall-i,  Gael,  being- 
all  one),  and  therefore  is  itself  properly  opposed  to  Cymri.  But  it  is  convenient 
to  have  one  common  name,  and  most  modern  writers  have  taken  Celt  or  Kelt 
as  the  generic  appellation  of  the  race. 

f  They  plundered  the  temple  of  Delphi  in  279  B.C.,  rather  more  than  a 
century  after  their  compatriots  sacked  Rome.  See  Dr.  Smith's  Eisioi-y  of 
Greece,  chapt.  xlvi.  §  4. 


Chap.  XIV.  THE  GAULS.  U5 

this  time,  and  having  once  tasted  the  wines  and  eaten  the 
fruits  of  Italy  were  in  no  hurry  to  return  from  that  fair  land 
into  their  own  less  hospitable  regions.  We  read  of  one  swarm 
after  another  pressing  into  the  Land  of  Promise ;  parties  of 
Lingones,  whose  fathers  lived  about  Langres  in  Champagne ; 
Boians,  whose  name  is  traced  in  French  Bourbon  and  Italian 
Bologna  ;  Senones,  whose  old  country  was  about  Sens,*  and  who 
have  left  record  of  themselves  in  the  name  of  Senigaglia,  (Sena 
Gallica)  on  the  coast  of  the  Adriatic.  The  course  taken  by 
these  adventurers  was  probably  over  divers  passes  of  tho  Alps, 
from  that  of  the  Mount  Cenis  and  the  Little  St.  Bernard  to  the 
Simplon.  Pouring  from  these  outlets,  they  overran  the  rich  plains 
of  Northern  Italy,  and  so  occupied  the  territory  which  lies 
between  the  Alps,  the  Apennines,  and  the  Adriatic,!  that  the 
Romans  called  this  territory  Gallia  Cisalpina,  or  Hither  Gaul. 
The  northern  Etruscans  gave  way  before  these  fierce  barbarians, 
and  their  name  is  heard  of  no  more  in  those  parts.  Thence  the 
Gauls  crossed  the  Apennines  into  Southern  Etruria,  and  while 
they  were  ravaging  that  country  they  first  came  in  contact  with 
the  sons  of  Rome. 

§  4.  The  common  date  for  this  event  is  390  b.c.  How  long 
before  this  time  the  Gallic  hordes  had  been  pouring  into  Italy  we 
know  not.  But  whenever  it  was  that  they  first  passed  over  the 
Alps,  it  is  certain  that  now  they  first  crossed  the  Apennines. 

The  tribe  which  took  this  course  were  of  the  Senones,  as  all 
authors  say,  and  therefore  we  may  suppose  they  were  Gaelic;  but 
it  has  been  thought  they  were  mixed  with  Cymri,  since  the  name 
of  their  king  or  chief  was  Brennus,  and  Brenhin  is  Cymric  for  a 
King.\  They  are  described  as  large-limbed,  with  fair  skins, 
yellow  hair,  and  blue  eyes,  in  all  respects  contrasted  with  the 
natives  of  Southern  Italy — a  description  which  suits  Gael  better 
than  Cymri.  Their  courage  was  high,  but  their  tempers  fickle. 
They  were  more  fitted  for  action  than  endurance ;  able  to  conquer, 
but  not  steady  enough  to  maintain  and  secure  their  conquests. 
These  qualities  attributed  to  the  Gallic  nations  of  antiquity,  show 
themselves  remarkably  in  their  descendants.  Nowhere,  as  above 
observed,  have  the  Celts  been  able  to  sustain  the  approach  of  the 
German  nations ;  even  in  Gaul,  transformed  as  it  was  by  Roman 
civilisation,  the  Germans  prevailed.     The  modern  French  nation  is 

*  "Senonumque  priores,"  says  Juvenal,  whereas  Polybius  writes  their 
name  'Liivovec.  But  other  Gallic  names  in  -ones  are  pronounced  short  (as 
Lingones,  Santones  Vascones,  &c.),  and  therefore  we  follow  Juvenal. 

f  All  of  it  except  Liguria,  which  was  bounded  by  the  Apennines  and  Mari- 
time Alps,  the  Po  and  the  Trebia. 

X  The  same  title  is  given  to  the  chief  who  led  the  assault  upon  DelphL 
i7 


146  ROME  UNDER  l^HE  PATRICIANS.  Book  II 

a  compound  of  these  conquerors,  Goths,  Vandals,  Franks,  North- 
men, with  the  original  Celtic  population. 

§  5.  Such  is  a  brief  account  of  the  Gauls  who  destroyed  Rome. 
Now  begins  the  Roman  Legend. 

Brennus  and  his  barbarians  (it  was  said  or  sung)  passed  into 
Etruria  at  the  invitation  of  Aruns,  a  citizen  of  Clusium  (Chiusi), 
whose  daughter  had  been  dishonoured  by  a  young  Lucumo  or 
Noble  of  the  same  place.  To  avenge  his  private  wrongs  thig 
Etruscan  called  in  the  Gauls,  as  Count  Julian  in  the  Spanish 
romance  called  in  the  Moors  to  avenge  the  seduction  of  his 
daughter  by  Roderic  the  Goth.  The  Gauls,  nothing  loth, 
crossed  the  mountains,  and  laid  siege  to  Clusium  ;  on  which 
the  Etruscans  of  the  city,  terrified  and  helpless,  despairing 
of  effectual  succour  from  their  own  countrymen,  sent  to  seek 
aid  from  the  city  of  the  Tiber,  which  had  formerly  measured 
arms  with  their  own  King  Porsenna,  and  which  but  now  had 
conquered  so  many  old  Etruscan  cities.  Common  danger  makes 
friends  of  foes ;  and  the  Senate  determined  to  support  the 
Etruscans  against  the  barbarians.  However,  all  they  did  was 
to  send  three  ambas-^iadors,  sons  of  Fabius  Ambustus,  the 
Pontifex  Maximus,  to  warn  the  Gauls  not  to  meddle  further 
with  the  men  of  Clusium,  for  Clusium  was  the  ally  of  Rome. 
The  barbarians  took  slight  notice  of  the  message,  and  continued 
the  war.  Now  it  chanced  that  there  was  a  battle  fought 
while  the  three  Fabii  were  still  at  Clusium ;  and  they,  forgetting 
their  peaceful  character  as  envoys,  took  part  with  the  Clusians 
against  the  Gauls,  and  one  of  them  was  seen  stripping  the  arms 
off  a  Gallic  champion  whom  he  had  slain.  The  barbarians, 
in  high  wrath,  demanded  to  be  led  straight  against  the  city 
whose  sons  were  so  faithless;  but  their  chiefs  restrained  them, 
and  sent  an  embassy  to  Rome  demanding  that  the  envoys 
should  be  given  up.  Then  the  Senate,  not  caring  to  decide  so 
weighty  a  matter,  referred  it  to  the  People  ;  and  so  far  were  they 
from  listening  to  the  demands  of  the  Gauls,  that  at  the  Comitia 
next  ensuing,  these  very  envoys  were  all  three  elected  Military 
Tribunes.  On  hearing  of  this  gross  and  open  insult,  Brennus 
broke  up  his  camp  at  Clusium,  and  the  Gauls  marched  southward 
for  Rome.  The  river  Clanis,  upon  which  stood  Clusium,  led  them 
down  to  the  Tiber  beneath  Vulsinii ;  they  crossed  that  river,  and 
pouring  down  its  left  bank,  they  found  themselves  confronted 
by  the  Romans  on  the  banks  of  the  Alia,  a  little  stream  that 
rises  in  the  Sabine  hills  and  empties  itself  into  the  Tiber  at  a 
point  nearly  opposite  the  Cremera.  Their  left  rested  on  the 
Tiber,  the  Alia  was  in  their  front,  and  their  right  occupied 
some  hilly  ground.     Brennus  did  not  attempt  to  attack  in  fronj^ 


Chap.  XIV.  THE  GAULS.  147 

but  threw  himself  with  an  overpowering  force  upon  the  right 
flank  of  the  enemy ;  and  the  Romans,  finding  their  position 
turned,  were  seized  with  panic  fear  and  fled.  The  greater  part 
plunged  into  the  Tiber  in  the  hope  of  escaping  across  the  river 
to  Veii,  and  many  made  their  escape  good;  but  many  were 
drowned,  and  many  pierced  by  Gallic  javelins.  A  still  smaller 
number  made  their  way  to  Rome,  and  carried  home  news  of  the 
disaster. 

The  Gauls  cared  not  to  pursue  the  flying  foe.  One  day,  or 
even  two  days  (as  some  accounts  give  it),  they  spent  in  col- 
lecting trophies  and  rejoicing  in  their  great  and  easy  victory. 

§  6.  Meantime  the  Senate  at  Rome  did  what  was  possible  to 
retrieve  their  fallen  fortunes.  With  all  the  men  of  military  age 
they  withdrew  into  the  Capitol,  for  they  had  not  numbers 
enough  to  man  the  walls  of  the  City.  These  were  mainly 
Patricians.  The  mass  of  the  Plebeians,  with  the  women,  fled  to 
Veii.  The  priests  and  vestal  virgins,  carrying  with  them  the 
sacred  images  and  utensils,  found  refuge  at  the  friendly  Etruscan 
city  of  Ca^re.  But  the  old  senators,  who  had  been  Consuls  or 
Censors,  and  had  won  triumphs  and  grown  gray  in  their  country's 
service,  feeling  themselves  to  be  now  no  longer  a  succour  but  a 
burthen,  determined  to  sacrifice  themselves  for  her ;  and  M. 
Fabius,  the  Pontifex,  recited  the  form  of  words  *  by  which  they 
solemnly  devoted  themselves  to  the  gods  below,  praying  that  on 
their  heads  only  might  fall  the  vengeance  and  the  destruction. 
Then,  as  the  Gauls  approached,  they  ordered  their  ivory  chairs 
to  be  set  in  the  Comitium  before  the  temples  of  the  gods,f  and 
there  they  took  their  seats,  each  man  clad  in  his  robes  of  state, 
to  await  the  coming  of  the  avenger. 

§  7.  At  length  the  Gallic  host  approached  the  city  and  came 
to  the  Colline  gate.  It  stood  wide  open  before  their  astonished 
gaze,  and  they  advanced  slowly,  not  without  suspicion,  through 
deserted  streets,  unresisted  and  unchecked.  When  they  reached 
the  Forum,  there  within  its  sacred  precincts  they  beheld  those 
venerable  men,  sitting  like  so  m^ny  gods  descended  from  Heaven 
to  protect  their  own.  They  gazed  with  silent  awe  :  till  at  length 
a  Gaul,  hardier  than  his  brethren,  ventured  to  stroke  the  long 
beard  of  M.  Papirius.  The  old  hero  raised  his  ivory  staff"  and 
smote  the  off'ender ;  whereupon  the  barbarian  in  wrath  slew  him ; 
and  this  first  sword-stroke  gave  the  signal  for  a  general  slaughter. 
Then  the  Romans  in  the  Capitol  believed  that  the  gods  had 
accepted  the  offering  which  those  old  men  had  made,  and  that 
the  rest  would  be  saved. 

*  Carmen,  as  the  Romans  called  it. 

f  Livy  says  that  they  sat  in  the  porticoes  of  their  own  housea 


148  ROME  [JNDER  THE  PATRICIANS.  Book  II. 

But  for  a  time  they  were  doomed  to  look  down  inactive  upon 
the  pillage  of  their  beloved  city.  Fires  broke  out,  and  all  the 
houses  perished,  except  some  upon  the  Palatine,  which  were 
saved  for  the  convenience  of  the  chiefs.  At  length  the  Gauls, 
sated  with  plunder,  resolved  to  assault  the  Capitol.  In  those 
days  it  was  surrounded  on  all  sides  with  steep  scarped  cliffs,  and 
only  approachable  from  the  Forum  by  the  Sacer  Clivus.  Here 
the  Gauls  made  their  assault;  but  it  was  easily  repulsed,  and 
henceforth  they  contented  themselves  with  a  blockade.  A  por- 
tion of  them  remained  in  the  city,  while  the  rest  roamed 
through  Southern  Italy,  plundering  and  destroying. 

§  8.  Tlie  months  that  follow  are  embellished  with  more  than  one 
heroic  Legend.  We  read  that  while  the  Gauls  were  lying  at  the 
foot  of  the  Capitol,  they  were  astonished  to  see  a  youth  named 
C.  Fabius  Dorso  come  down  into  the  midst  of  them,  clad  in 
sacred  attire,  and  pass  through  the  Forum  along  the  Sacred 
Way  to  the  Quirinal  Hill,  there  to  perform  certain  solemn  rites 
peculiar  to  the  great  E'abian  Gens.*  Struck  with  religious  awe, 
they  suffered  the  bold  youth  to  go  upon  his  way  and  return  to 
the  Capitol  unharmed. 

Still  more  famous  is  the  Legend  of  M.  Manlius,  the  saviour  of 
the  Capitol.  Tlie  Plebeians  at  Yeii  were  anxious  to  communi- 
cate with  the  Senate  and  Patricians  there;  and  for  this  pur- 
pose Pontius  Cominius,  a  brave  patrician  youth,  undertook 
to  climb  up  the  steep  rock  of  the  Capitoline  Hill  on  the  river 
side.f  He  explained  to  the  Senate  the  wish  of  the  People  to 
recal  Camillus  and  make  him  Dictator;  and  having  obtained 
their  sanction,  he  returned  the  same  way  in  safety.  But  next 
day,  the  Gauls  observed  the  marks  on  the  rock  where  his  feet 
had  rested,  or  where  he  had  clung  for  support  to  the  tufted 
grass  and  bushes.  Where  one  man  had  climbed  another  could 
follow ;  and  a  chosen  party  cautiously  ascended  by  the  same 
track.  The  foremost  of  them  was  just  reaching  the  top  in 
safety ;  the  guards  slept ;  not  even  a  watch-dog  bayed.  But  in 
the  temple  of  Juno,  which  stood  hard  by,  certain  sacred  geese 
were  kept,  and  the  pious  Romans  (so  ran  the  legend)  had  spared 
to  eat  of  these  even  in  the  extremities  of  hunger.  And  they 
were  rewarded.  For  now,  in  the  hour  of  need,  the  sacred  birds 
began  to  cackle  aloud  and  flap  their  wings,  so  that  they  roused 
M.  Manlius  from  sleep.  Then  he,  hastily  snatching  up  his  arms, 
rushed  to  the  edge  of  the  cliff  where  the  noise  was,  and  found  a 
Gaul  who  had  just  reached  the  top.     On  he  rushed  and  pushed 

*  See  the  legend  of  the  Creraera,  Chapt.  ix.  §  5. 

f  The  place  designated  was  somewhere  near  the  steps  which  now  lead  up 
to  the  Capitol,  near  the  church  of  Araceli. 


Chap.  XIV.  THE  GAULS.  149 

him  backward ;  and  his  fall  so  alarmed  his  comrades,  that  some 
fell  down,  and  others  were  slain  without  resistance.  Thus  did 
M.  Manlius  save  the  Capitol ;  and  his  fellow-soldiers  honoured 
his  bravery  so  highly,  that  each  man  gave  him  a  day's  allowance 
of  food,  notwithstanding  the  distress  to  which,  all  had  been  re- 
duced. 

§  9.  For  seven  months  did  the  Gauls  blockade  the  Capita}.* 
They  entered  the  city  in  the  heat  of  the  Dog-day s,f  and  the  two 
months  that  follow  are  at  Rome  the  most  unhealthy  of  the  year. 
Unused  to  the  sultry  climate,  naturally  intemperate,  living  in 
the  open  air,  numbers  of  them  fell  a  prey  to  pestilence  and  fever. 
But  with  stubborn  courage  they  braved  all,  till  at  length  Brennus 
agreed  to  quit  Rome  on  condition  of  receiving  1000  pounds 
weight  of  gold.  This  was  hastily  collected,  partly  from  the 
temples  of  the  Capitol,  partly  from  private  sources;  and  when 
it  was  being  weighed  out,  Brennus  with  insolent  bravado  threw 
in  his  sword  with  the  weights,  crying,  "  Woe  to  the  vanquished !" 
While  the  scale  was  yet  turning  (so  ran  the  legend),  Camillus,' 
who  had  successfully  repulsed  the  Gauls  from  Ardea,  and  then  as 
Dictator  had  taken  the  command  of  the  Roman  army  at  Veii, 
marched  into  the  Forum.  Sternly  he  ordered  the  gold  to  be 
taken  away,  saying  that  with  iron,  not  with  gold,  would  he 
redeem  the  city.  Then  he  drove  the  Gauls  away,  and  so  com- 
pletely destroyed  their  host,  that  not  a  man  was  left  to  carry 
home  the  news  of  their  calamity. 

§  10.  Such  was  the  conclusion  of  the  Legend.  But,  unfortu- 
nately for  Roman  pride,  here  also,  as  in  the  tale  of  Porsenna, 
traces  of  true  history  are  preserved  which  show  how  little  the 
Roman  annalists  regarded  truth.  Polybius  tells  us,  as  if  he 
knew  no  other  story,  that  the  departure  of  the  Gauls  was  caused 
by  the  intelligence  that  the  Venetians,  an  Illyrian  tribe,  had 
invaded  their  settlements  in  Northern  Italy,  and  that  they 
actually  received  the  gold  and  marched  off  unmolested  to  their 
homes.  It  is  added  by  a  later  historian,  that  Drusus,  the  elder 
brother  of  the  Emperor  Tiberius,  recovered  this  very  gold  from 
the  Gauls  of  his  own  day.  This  last  account  at  least  shows  that 
in  the  time  of  Drusus  the  heroic  Legend  of  Camillus  found  little 
credence. 

The  Gauls  left  the  city  in  ruins,  in  whatever  way  they 
were  compelled  to  retire,  whether  by  the  sword  of  Camillus,  or 

*  So  says  Polybius,  ii.  22.     Varro  and  Fionas  say  six^  Servius  eight 
\  The  battle  of  the  Aha  was  fought  about  the  summer  solstice  (Plutarch, 
Cam.iU.  c.  19).     The  Kalends  of  August  was  the  day  marked  in  the  Kalendar 
as  ill-omeued  in  consequence  of  this  battle.     But  the  uncertainty  of  the  year 
haa  already  been  noticed,  Chapt,  i.  §  17,  Note. 


150  ROME  UN"DER  THE  PATRICIANS.  Book  II. 

by  tlie  softer  persuasion  of  gold.  Of  the  effects  of  their  inva- 
sions and  the  condition  of  Ronae  thereafter,  we  will  speak  in  the 
next  chapter. 

§  11.  It  may  be  convenient  to  mention  beforehand  the  two 
later  invasions,  which  perhaps  were  quite  as  formidable  a&  the 
first,  though  the  Romans  now  resisted  with  greater  courage  and 
firmness. 

Thirty  years  after  the  first  irruption  (361  b.c),  we  hear  that 
another  host  of  Senonian  Gauls  burst  into  Latium  from  the 
North,  and  in  alliance  with  the  people  of  Tibur,  ravaged  the  lands 
of  Rome,  Latium,  and  Campania.  For  four  years  they  continued 
their  ravages,  and  then  we  hear  of  them  no  more. 

A  third  irruption  followed,  ten  years  later,  of  still  more  formi- 
dable character.  The  Gauls  formed  a  stationary  camp  on  the 
Alban  Hills,  and  kept  Rome  in  perpetual  terror.  But,  in  the 
second  year,  the  Romans,  under  the  command  of  L'.  Furius  Ca- 
millus,  a  nephew  of  the  great  M.  Camillus,  took  the  field  against 
them,  and  so  harassed  them  by  cutting  off  their  supplies,  with- 
out venturing  on  a  general  action,  that  after  some  months  they 
poured  southward,  and  disappear  from  history.  Therefore  Lucius 
Camillus  was  called  by  Aristotle  "  the  Deliverer  of  Rome"  from 
the  Gauls.*     (b.c.  350,  349.) 

After  this,  the  Romans  did  not  come  in  contact  with  the  Gauls 
for  many  years ;  and  then  they  were  the  invaders  of  Gallia 
Cisalpina,  not  the  Gauls  of  Latium. 

§  12.  These  later  inroads  of  the  Gauls  are  distinguished  by  two 
famous  Legends ;  the  last,  or  nearly  the  last,  which  occur  in  the 
pages  of  Roman  history. 

In  the  Manlian  house  there  was  a  Family  which  bore  the  name 
of  Torquatus.  This  name  was  said  to  have  been  won  by  T. 
Manlius,  who  fought  with  a  gigantic  Gallic  champion  on  the 
bridge  over  the  Anio  in  361  b.c,  and  slew  him.  From  the  neck 
of  the  slain  enemy  he  took  the  massy  chain  (torques)  which  the 
Gallic  chiefs  were  in  the  habit  of  wearing.f  He  put  it  round 
his  own  neck,  and  returning  in  triumph  to  his  friends,  was 
ever  after  known  by  the  name  of  T.  Manlius  Torquatus.  Of  him 
we  shall  hear  more  in  the  sequel. 

Again,  when  L.  Camillus  was  pursuing  the  Gauls  through  the 
Volscian  plains  in  349  b.c,  a  champion  challenged  any  one  of  the 
Roman   youth   to   single    combat.      The    challenge   was   readily 

*  Plutarch,  CamiU  c.  22,  Aristotle  was  bom  in  384  B.C.,  and  was  living 
at  Athens  when  this  last  invasion  took  place.  From  this  and  other  facts,  w« 
see  that  the  affairs  of  Italy  were  now  exciting  interest  \v  Greece, 

f  "  Lactea  colla 

Auro  innectuntur." — ^Yirg.  JEn.  viii.  660 


Chap.  XIV.  THE  GAULS.  161 

accepted  by  M.  Valerius,  who,  by  the  side  of  the  huge  Gaul,  looked 
like  a  mere  stripling.  At  the  beginning  of  the  combat  (wonder- 
ful to  tell)  a  crow  lighted  upon  his  helmet ;  and  as  they  fought,  the 
bird  confounded  the  Gaul  by  flying  in  his  face  and  striking  him 
with  his  beak,  and  flapping  his  wings  before  his  eyes ;  so  that  he 
fell  an  easy  conquest  to  the  young  Roman.  Hence  M.  Valerius 
was  ever  known  by  the  name  of  Corvus,  and  his  descendants  after 
him.  Him  also  we  shall  hear  of  hereafter;  for  he  lived  to  be  a 
great  general,  and  more  than  once  delivered  his  country  from 
great  danger. 


Ab,  with  head  of  Janus. 


CHAPTER  XV, 


SEQUEL  OF  THE   GALLIC  WAR.      LICINIAN  LAWS.     FINAL  EQUALISATION 
OF  THE  TWO   ORDERS.       (389 367  B.C.) 

§  1.  Proposition  to  migrate  to  Veil  renewed,  defeated  by  an  omen.  §  2.  Ir- 
regularity in  rebuilding  the  City.  §  3,  Misery  of  the  people.  §  4.  M. 
Manlius  comes  forward  as  their  patron :  his  fate.  §  5.  Estimate  of  his 
character.  §  6.  Measures  to  conciliate  the  Plebs :  Four  new  Tribes  created 
from  the  Veientine  territory.  §  7.  Claims  of  the  Plebeians  to  the  Consul- 
ate renewed  by  C.  Licinius  and  L.  Sextius.  §  8.  Pretended  cause  of  their 
enterprise.  §9.  The  three  Licinian  Rogations  promulgated  376  b.c;  §10. 
First,  for  reduction  of  debt.  §  11.  Second,  agrarian.  §  12.  Third,  politi- 
cal. §  1 3.  Violent  opposition  of  the  Patricians,  met  by  an  interdict  on  all 
elections  by  Licinius  and  Sextius.  §  14.  Struggle  prolonged  for  five  years. 
§  15.  Compromise  refused  by  the  Tribunes:  after  five  years  more  the  Li- 
cinian Rogations  become  Law.  §  16.  Sextius  first  Plebeian  Consul :  Patri- 
cian Curies  refuse  him  the  Imperium,  §  17.  This  Quarrel  adjusted:  judi- 
cial power  of  the  Consul  transferred  to  a  new  Patrician  Magistrate :  the 
Praetor:  Curule  ^diles.  §  18.  Camillus  vows  a  Temple  to  Concord :  rapid 
rise  of  Roman  power  consequent  on  the  Union  of  the  Orders. 

§  1.  We  can  imagine  better  than  describe  the  blank  dismay  with 
which  the  Romans,  on  the  departure  of  the  Gads,  must  have 
looked    upon   their  ancient  homes.      Not   only   were  the  fields 


Chap.  XY.  "REBUILDING  OF  ROME.  153 

ravaged  and  the  farms  of  the  plebeian  yeomen  destroyed,  as  had 
often  happened  in  days  of  yore,  but  the  city  itself,  except  the 
Capitol,  was  a  heap  of  ruins.  It  is  not  strange  that  once  again 
the  Plebeians  should  have  thought  of  quitting  Rome  for  ever. 
Not  long  before  a  great  body  of  them  had  wished  to  make  Yeii 
their  city ;  now,  the  bulk  of  the  people  had  actually  been  living 
there  for  many  months.  Rome  no  longer  existed ;  patriotism,  it 
might  be  said,  no  longer  required  them  to  stand  by  their  ancient 
home  :  why  should  not  all  depart — Patricians  with  their  Clients 
and  Freedmen,  as  well  as  Plebeians — and  make  a  new  Rome  at 
Veii  ?  Thus  was  the  question  argued,  and  so  it  seemed  likely  to 
be  decided.  In  vain  Camillus  opposed  it  with  all  the  influence 
which  his  late  services  had  given  him.  Even  standing  in  the 
Forum,  under  the  shadow  of  the  Capitol,  with  the  Citadel  so  well 
defended  by  Manlius  over  their  heads,  in  the  sight  of  their  coun- 
try's gods,  which  had  now  been  safely  brought  back  from  the 
friendly  refuge  of  Caere,  the  Plebeians  were  ready  to  agree  to  a 
general  migration  of  the  whole  people,  when  (so  runs  the  story) 
a  sudden  omen  changed  their  hearts  and  minds.  A  certain  cen- 
turion was  leading  a  party  of  soldiers  through  the  city,  and,  halt- 
ing them  in  the  Forum  while  the  question  was  in  hot  debate,  he 
used  these  memorable  words :  "  Standard-bearer,  pitch  the  stand- 
ard here  ;  here  it  will  be  best  for  us  to  stay  !" 

§  2.  It  was  therefore  resolved  to  rebuild  the  city,  and  the  Senate 
did  all  in  their  power  to  hasten  on  the  work.  They  took  care  to 
retrace,  as  far  as  might  be,  the  ancient  sites  of  the  temples ;  but 
the  hurry  was  too  great  and  authority  too  weak  to  prescribe  any 
rules  for  marking  out  the  streets  and  fixing  the  habitations  of  the 
citizens.  All  they  did  was  to  supply  tiling  for  the  houses  at  the 
public  expense.  Then  men  built  their  houses  where  they  could, 
where  the  ground  was  most  clear  of  rubbish,  or  where  old  ma- 
terials were  most  easy  to  be  got.  Hence,  when  these  houses  came 
to  be  joined  together  by  others,  so  as  to  form  streets,  these  streets 
were  narrow  and  crooked,  and,  what  was  still  worse  were  often  built 
across  the  lines  of  the  ancient  sewers,  so  that  there  was  now 
no  good  and  effectual  drainage.  The  irregularity  continued  till 
Rome  was  again  rebuilt  after  the  great  fire  in  the  time  of  the  Em- 
peror Nero. 

§  3.  Great  were  the  evils  that  were  caused  by  this  hurry.  The 
healthiness  of  the  city  must  have  been  impaired,  order  and  de- 
cency must  have  suff'ered,  but  there  was  one  particular  evil  at 
the  moment  which  threatened  very  great  mischief.  The  mass  of 
the  people,  having  little  or  nothing  of  their  own,  or  having  lost  all 
in  the  late  destruction,  were  obliged  to  borrow  money  in  order 
to  complete  their  dwellings ;  and  as  tillage  had  for  the  last  season 

1* 


154  KOME  UJ^DER  THE  PATRICIANS.  Book  IL 

been  nearly  suspended,  the  want  and  misery  that  prevailed  was 
great.  Now  we  have  seen  that  the  Twelve  Tables  did  indeed  regu- 
late the  rate  of  interest,  but  left  untouched  the  ancient  severity  of 
the  laws  of  debt  ;*  so  that  now  again,  as  after  the  wars  against 
the  Tarquins,  many  of  the  poorer  sort  were  reduced  to  bondage  in 
the  houses  of  the  wealthy  Patricians  and  Plebeians ;  for  the  latter 
now  possessed  many  rich  members,  and  the  rich  persons  of  both 
orders  began  to  act  together. 

§  4.  Then  it  was  that  M.  Manlius,  the  defender  of  the  Capitol, 
stood  forth  as  the  patron  of  the  poor.  He  saw  a  debtor  being 
taken  to  prison,  whom  he  recognised  as  a  brave  centurion  that 
had  formerly  served  with  him  in  the  wars.  He  instantly  paid 
the  man's  debt  and  set  him  free.  After  this  he  did  the  same 
for  many  others  ;  and,  selling  the  best  part  of  his  landed  pro- 
perty, he  declared  that  while  he  could  prevent  it  he  would  never 
see  a  fellow-citizen  imprisoned  for  debt.  His  popularity  rose 
high,  and  with  the  poorer  sort  the  name  of  M.  Manlius  was 
more  in  esteem  than  that  of  the  great  Camillus.  Nor  did  he 
content  himself  with  relieving  want ;  he  also  stepped  forward  as 
an  accuser  of  the  Patricians  and  Senators :  they  had  divided 
among  themselves,  he  said,  part  of  the  gold  which  had  been 
raised  to  pay  the  Gauls.  On  the  other  hand,  the  Patricians 
asserted  that  Manlius  was  endeavouring  to  make  himself  tyrant 
of  Rome,  and  that  this  was  the  real  purpose  of  all  his  generosity. 
The  Senate  ordered  a  Dictator  to  be  named,  and  Au.  Cornelius 
Cossus  was  the  person  chosen.  He  summoned  Manlius  before 
him,  and  required  him  to  prove  the  charge  which  he  had  mali- 
ciously brought  against  the  ruling  body.  He  failed  to  do  so  and 
was  cast  into  prison,  but  claimed  to  be  regularly  tried  before  the 
whole  people  assembled  in  their  Centuries;  and  his  claim  was 
allowed.  On  the  appointed  day  he  appeared  in  the  Campus 
Martins,  surrounded  by  a  crowd  of  debtors,  every  one  of  whom 
he  had  redeemed  from  bondage.  Then  he  exhibited  spoils  taken 
from  thirty  enemi.s  slain  by  himself  in  single  combat;  eight 
civic  crowns  bestowed  each  of  them  for  the  life  of  a  citizen 
saved  in  battle,  with  many  other  badges  given  him  in  token  of 
bravery.  He  laid  bare  his  breast  and  showed  it  all  scarred  with 
wounds,  and  then  turning  to  the  Capitol,  he  called  those  gods  to 
aid  whom  he  had  saved  from  the  sacrilegious  hands  of  the  bar- 
barians. The  appeal  was  felt,  and  if  the  Centuries  had  then 
given  their  votes,  he  would  certainly  have  been  acquitted  of  high 
treason.  So  his  enemies  contrived  to  break  up  that  Assembly ;  and 
shortly  after  he  was  put  on  his  trial  in  another  place,  the  Peteline 
grove,  whence  (it  is  said)  the  Capitol  could  not  be  seen.  Here  he 
*  Chapt.  xi.  §  4,  . 


Chap.  XV.  M.  MANLIUS.  155 

was  at  once  found  guilty,  and  condemned  to  be  thrown  down  the 
Tarpeian  rock.  A  bill  was  then  brought  in  and  passed,  enacting 
that  his  house  on  the  Capitol  should  be  destroyed,  and  that  no  one 
of  his  Gens  should  hereafter  bear  the  forename  of  Marcus.* 

§  5.  When  we  read  this  story,  like  those  of  Sp.  Cassius  and 
Sp.  Maelius,  we  again  ask,  was  M.  Manlius  really  a  traitor  or  no  ? 
It  is  difficult  to  give  a  positive  answer,  yet  there  are  circum- 
stances which  show  that  probably  he  was  not  free  from  guilt.  The 
ostentatious  way  in  which  he  relieved  the  debtors  is  no  good  sigA; 
and  we  read  that  in  the  first  trial  the  Tribunes  of  the  Plebs  were 
against  him.  It  is  not  unlikely  that  he  endeavoured  to  exalt  him- 
self by  means  of  the  poorest  classes,  and  thus  raised  against  him 
not  only  the  Patrician  Lords,  but  also  all  the  wealthier  Plebeians, 
or  indeed  men  of  all  orders,  who  had  cause  to  fear  disorder  and 
revolution.  There  are  several  different  accounts  of  his  trial  and 
latter  days.  One  historian f  tells  us  that  Manlius  forestalled  his 
arrest  by  heading  an  insurrection,  and,  seizing  the  Capitol,  where 
he  himself  dwelt,J  bade  defiance  to  the  power  of  the  Senate.  But 
they  craftily  engaged  a  false  friend  of  the  traitor  in  their  interest ; 
and  he,  pretending  to  have  something  important  to  tell,  led  Man 
lius  to  the  edge  of  the  Tarpeian  rock  and  then  pushed  him  un- 
awares over  the  brink. 

All  accounts  agree  at  least  in  this,  that  Manlius  had  made  him- 
self dangerous  to  public  order,  and,  in  the  unsettled  state  of  affairs 
which  then  prevailed,  it  is  more  than  probable  that  the  Senate 
resorted  to  unusual,  perhaps  unconstitutional,  measures  to  put  him 
down. 

§  6.  The  Senate,  however,  also  had  recourse  to  conciliatory 
measures.  The  lands  which  had  been  taken  from  the  Veientines 
on  the  right  bank  of  the  Tiber  were  now  incorporated  into  the 
Roman  territory  and  divided  into  four  Tribes,  so  that  all  free 
men  settled  in  these  districts  became  burgesses  of  Rome,  and 
had  votes  in  the  Comitia  both  of  the  Centuries  and  Tribes. 
This  politic  measure,  however,  served  no  less  to  conciliate  the 
affections  of  their  new  Etrurian  subjects  than  to  benefit  their 
own  poor  citizens.§  Moreover  an  attempt  was  made  to  plant  a 
number   of  poor    citizens    in    the    Pontine    district.      Yet   these 

*  It  may  be  observed  that  each  gens  et  familia  clung  to  the  same  forenames. 
Thus  Publius,  Lucius,  Cneius,  were  favourite  forenames  of  the  Comelii ;  Caius 
of  the  Julii ;   Appius  of  the  Claudii ;  and  so  on. 

f  Dio  Cassius,  Fragm.  xxxi.,  ed.  Reimar. ;  also  as  abridged  by  Zonaras, 
vii.  24. 

X  He  was  surnamed  Capitolinus  from  this  circumstance  probably,  and  not 
because  he  saved  the  Capitol.  For  we  have  other  families  called  by  the  samo 
name,  as  that  of  T.  Quinctius  Capitolinus. 

§  See  Chapt.  xviu.  §  2. 


156  ROME  UNDER  THE  PATRICIANS.  Book  IL 

measures  were  insufficient  to  heal  the  breach  which  still  subsisted 
between  the  Patricians  and  Plebeians.  Nothing  could  be  effectual 
to  this  end  but  the  admission  of  the  Plebeians  to  the  chief  magis- 
tracy ;  and  a  struggle  now  commenced  for  that  purpose  whicl? 
ended  successfully. 

§  7.  It  has  been  often  repeated,  that  all  difference  between  the 
Patrician  and  Plebeian  Orders  was  rapidly  disappearing,  or  rather 
tl;at  the  Patrician  families  were  dying  off,  and  the  numbers  of 
their  order  gradually  becoming  less,  while  many  Plebeian  fami- 
lies were  becoming  wealthy  and  powerful.  Already  we  have 
seen  the  Plebeians  obtain  a  footing  in  the  Senate ;  already  they 
were  allowed  to  fill  the  offices  of  Quaestor  and  ^dile,  and,  as  Mili- 
tary Tribunes,  could  command  the  armies  of  the  state ;  but  to 
the  highest  curule  offices,  as  the  Censorship  and  Consulship,  they 
were  not  admissible,  the  reason  given  being,  that  for  these  offices 
the  auguries  must  be  taken,  and  no  religious  rites  could  be  per- 
formed save  by  persons  of  pure  Patrician  blood.  This  now 
began  to  be  felt  to  be  a  mockery.  Men  saw  with  their  own  eyes 
and  judged  with  their  own  understanding  that  Patricians  and 
Plebeians  were  men  of  like  natures  and  like  faculties,  were  all 
called  on  alike  to  share  burthens  and  dangers  in  the  service  of 
the  state,  and  therefore  ought  to  share  alike  the  honours  and 
dignities  which  she  conferred.  So  Canuleius  argued  many  years 
before,  so  the  Plebeians  thought  now ;  and  two  resolute,  clear- 
headed Tribunes  arose,  who  proposed,  and  at  length  carried,  the 
celebrated  laws  by  which  Plebeians  were  admitted  to  the  highest 
honours. 

These  two  men  were  C.  Licinius  Stolo  and  L.  Sextius  his  kins- 
man. 

§  8.  There  is  a  well-known  story  of  the  manner  in  which  they 
were  first  roused  to  the  undertaking.  It  runs  thus.  M.  Fabius 
Ambustus,  a  Patrician,  had  two  daughters,  the  elder  married  to 
Serv.  Sulpicius,  a  Patrician,  the  younger  to  C.  Licinius,  a  Ple- 
beian. It  happened  that  Sulpicius  was  Consular  Tribune  in  the 
same  year  that  Licinius  was  Tribune  of  the  Plebs ;  and  as  the 
younger  Fabia  was  on  a  visit  to  her  sister,  Sulpicius,  return- 
ing home  from  the  Forum  with  his  lictors,  alarmed  the  Plebeian's 
wife  by  the  noise  he  made  on  entering  the  house.  The  elder 
sister  laughed  at  this  ignorance ;  and  the  younger  Fabia,  stung 
to  the  quick,  besought  her  husband  to  place  her  on  a  level 
with  her  proud  sister.  Thus,  it  is  said,  did  Licinius  form  the 
design  which  we  have  now  to  speak  of.  It  may  be  observed,  by 
the  way,  that  the  story  must  be  an  invention ; — because,  Lici- 
nius' wife  being  daughter  of  a  man  who  had  himself  been  Con- 
sular Tribune  not  long  before,  could  not  have  been  ignorant  of 


Chap.  XV.  LICINIAN  ROGATIONS.  157 

the  dignities  of  the  office ;  and  because  there  was  nothing  in  the 
world  to  prevent  Licinius  himself  from  being  Consular  Tribune, 
and  thus  equal*  in  power  and  dignity  to  his  brother-in-law.  No 
doubt  Licinius  and  his  kinsman  were  led  by  higher  motives  and 
better  principles  to  bring  forward  their  laws. 

§  9.  However  this  might  be,  Licinius  and  Sextius,  being  Tri- 
bunes of  the  Plebs  together  in  the  year  376  b.c,  promulgated 
the  three  bills  which  have  ever  since  borne  the  name  of  the  Lici- 
NiAN  Rogations.     These  were  : 

L  That  of  all  debts  on  which  interest  had  been  paid,  the  sum 
of  the  interest  paid  should  be  deducted  from  the  principal  and 
the  remainder  paid  off  in  three  successive  years. 

IL  That  no  citizen  should  hold  more  than  500  jugera  (nearly 
320  acres)  of  the  Public  Land,  nor  should  feed  on  the  public 
pastures  more  than  100  head  of  larger  cattle  and  500  of  smaller, 
under  penalty  of  a  heavy  fine. 

IIL  That  henceforth  Consuls,  not  Consular  Tribunes,  should 
always  be  elected,  and  that  one  of  the  two  Consuls  must  be  a 
Plebeian. 

§  10.  Of  these  laws,  the  first  is  of  a  kind  not  very  uncommon 
in  rude  states  of  society,  and  in  such  only  could  it  fail  to  pro- 
duce great  and  serious  mischief.  If  persons  lend  and  borrow 
money,  without  violating  the  law,  they  enter  into  a  legal  con- 
tract, and  the  State  is  bound  to  maintain  this  contract,  not  to 
annul  or  alter  it.  Cases  will  occur  when  the  borrower  is  unable 
to  pay  his  debts,  and  that  from  no  fault  or  neglect  of  his  own  ; 
and  it  is  good  that  laws  should  be  enacted  to  provide  for  such 
cases  of  insolvency, — cases,  that  is,  in  which  the  insolvent  is  not 
guilty  of  fraud  or  neglect.  These  laws  must  be  general  and 
known  beforehand,  so  that  when  the  parties  make  the  contract 
they  may  do  it  with  their  eyes  open.  But  if  the  State  were  often 
to  cancel  legal  debts,  in  whole  or  in  part,  this  would  shake  all 
confidence,  persons  would  be  very  slow  to  lend  money  at  all, 
and  thus  credit  and  commerce  would  be  destroyed.  But  at 
Rome  in  the  times  after  the  Gallic  war,  as  at  Athens  in  the  time 
of  Solon  (when  a  similar  ordinance  was  passed)*  all  things  were 
in  such  confusion,  all  law  so  weakened,  all  trade  so  utterly  at  a 
stand-still,  that  it  might  possibly  be  necessary  to  resort  to  vio- 
lent and  arbitrary  measures  of  this  kind ;  and  we  may  well  believe 
that  Licinius,  who  was  himself  a  wealthy  man,  would  not  have 
interfered  in  this  way  but  for  a  presumed  necessity.     It  must  be 

*  His  famous  aetaaxdeta,  or  Disburthening  Ordinance,  by  which  all  existing 
debts  were  wiped  out.  See  Dr.  Smith's  History  of  Greece,  chapt.  x.  §  12. 
So,  after  the  wars  of  the  League  in  France,  Sully  deducted  from  the  principal 
of  all  debts  the  usurious  interest  already  paid,  and  left  the  remainder  standmg 
at  the  legal  rate  of  interest. 


158  ROME  UNDER  THE  PATRICIANS.  Book  IL 

added  that  tlie  Roman  law,  at  that  time,  was  too  favourable  to 
the  creditor,  and  quite  insufficient  to  protect  the  debtor.  But 
the  precedent  was  a  bad  one  ;  and  in  later  times  one  of  the  worst 
means  by  which  demagogues  pandered  to  the  dishonest  wishes 
of  the  people  was  a  promise  of  novce  tabulce^  or  an  abolition  of  all 
standing  debts. 

§  11.  The  second  law  was  a  general  Agrarian  Law.  We  need 
only  refer  here  to  what  has  before  been  said  as  to  the  nature  of 
Agrarian  Laws  at  Rome,  namely,  that  they  were  not  intended  to 
confiscate  private  property,  but  to  divide  among  needy  citizens 
the  state-lands,  which  by  the  law  of  the  state  belonged  to  the 
whole  body  of  citizens.*  Former  Agrarian  laws  had  merely  di- 
vided certain  portions  of  state-land  (ager  publicus)  among  the 
needy  citizens ;  but  this  proposed  to  lay  down  a  general  rule,  by 
which  the  holding  (possessio)  of  all  the  state-lands  was  to  be 
limited.  The  purpose  of  Licinius  was  a  good  one.  He  wished  to 
maintain  that  hardy  race  of  independent  yeomen  who  were  the 
best  soldiers  in  the  state-militia ;  whereas  if  all  these  lands  were 
absorbed  by  the  rich,  they  would  be  cultivated  by  hired  labourers 
or  slaves.  The  subsequent  history  will  show  how  unfortunate  it 
was  for  Rome  that  this  law  was  not  more  fully  executed. 

§  12.  These  two  laws  were  of  a  social  nature,  attempting  to 
regulate  the  private  relations  and  dealings  of  the  citizens  :  the 
third  was  a  political  law,  and  needs  no  remark.  It  went  to  aflSrm 
that  the  Plebeians  had  an  equal  right  to  supreme  power  with  the 
Patricians. 

§  13.  At  first  the  Patricians  were  equally  opposed  to  all  these 
laws  ;  they  were  the  chief  creditors,  and  therefore  would  lose  by 
the  first  law  ;  they  held  the  bulk  of  the  state-lands  on  easy 
terms,  and  therefore  would  lose  by  the  second ;  they  alone  could 
be  Consuls,  and  therefore  they  could  not  brook  the  third.  We 
need  not  therefore  wonder  at  a  violent  resistance  ;  nor  is  it  won- 
derful that  they  should  enlist  many  rich  Plebeians  on  their  side, 
for  these  persons  would  suff'er  as  much  as  themselves  from  the 
first  two  laws.  Accordingly  we  find  that  in  the  college  of  Tri- 
bunes of  the  Plebs  some  Tribunes  were  found  to  put  a  veto  on 
the  bills.  But  Licinius  and  Sextius  would  not  be  thus  thwarted, 
and  themselves  turned  the  powerful  engine  of  the  veto  against 
their  opponents.  When  the  time  of  the  elections  arrived  they 
interdicted  all  proceedings  in  the  Comitia  of  the  Centuries  :  con- 
sequently no   Consuls,  Consular  Tribunes,  Censors,  or  Quaestors 

*  Appian  (Bell.  Civ.  i.  8)  states  this  so  clearly,  that  it  is  surprising  that  the 
common  misapprehensions  should  ever  have  arisen.  After  explaining  what 
the  Public  Land  was,  he  says  that  Licinius  ordained  /xTjdiva  ex^iv  TH2AE 
TH2  FHS  irXedpa  TTEvraKoatuv  TzXeiova,  k.  t.  A. 


Chap.  XV.  LICINIAN  ROGATIONS.  159 

could  be  elected.  The  Tribunes  and  Jildiles,  who  were  chosen  at 
the  Comitia  of  Tribes,  were  the  only  officers  of  state  for  the  ensu- 
ing year. 

§  14.  This  state  of  things  (as  the  Roman  annalists  say)  lasted 
for  five  years,*  Licinius  and  Sextius  being  re-elected  to  the  Tri- 
bunate every  year.  But  in  the  fifth  year,  when  the  people  of  Tus- 
ciiluni,  old  allies  of  Rome,  applied  for  aid  against  the  Latins,  the 
Tribunes  permitted  Consular  Tribunes  to  be  elected  to  lead  the 
army,  and  among  them  was  M.  Fabius  Ambustus,  the  father-in- 
law  and  friend  of  Licinius.  The  latter,  far  from  relaxing  his 
claims,  now  proposed  a  fourth  bill,  providing  that,  instead  of  two 
keepers  of  the  Sibylline  books  (duumviri),  both  Patricians,  there 
should  be  ten  (decemviri),  to  be  chosen  alike  from  both  Orders  ; — 
so  scornfully  did  he  treat  the  pretensions  of  the  Patricians  to  be 
sole  ministers  of  religion. 

The  latter  felt  that  the  ground  was  slipping  from  under  them, 
and  that  the  popular  cause  was  daily  gaining  strength.  In  vain 
did  the  Senate  order  a  Dictator  to  be  named  for  the  purpose  of 
settling  the  matter  in  their  favour.  The  great  Camillus  assumed 
the  office  for  the  fourth  time,  but  resigned  ;  and  P.  Manlius  Capi- 
tolinus,  who  was  named  presently  after,  effected  nothing.  He 
seems,  indeed,  to  have  been  friendly  to  the  Plebeians,  if  we  may 
judge  from  the  fact  that  he  chose  P.  Licinius  Calvus,  a  Plebeian, 
to  be  his  Master  of  Horse. 

§  15.  Once  more,  as  when  the  Patricians  were  in  opposition  to 
the  Tribunes  Terentilius  and  Canuleius,  so  now  did  the  more 
moderate  party  propose  a  compromise.  The  law  respecting  the 
keepers  of  the  Sibylline  books  was  allowed  to  pass,  and  it  was 
suggested  that  the  two  former  of  the  Licinian  Rogations,  the 
two  social  laws,  might  be  conceded,  if  the  Plebeians  would  not 
press  the  political  law,  and  claim  admission  to  the  highest  curule 
rank.  But  this  the  Tribunes  refused.  They  could  not,  they  said, 
eff"ectually  remedy  the  social  evils  of  their  poor  brethren  unless 
they  had  access  to  the  highest  political  power  ;  and  they  declared 
they  would  not  allow  the  two  first  bills  to  become  law  unless  the 
third  was  passed  together  with  them.  "If  the  people  will  not 
eat,"  said  Licinius,  "  neither  shall  they  drink."  In  vain  did  the 
Patricians  endeavour  to  turn  this  declaration  against  them  ;  in 
vain  did  they  represent  the  Tribunes  as  ambitious  men,  who 
cared  not  really  for  the  wants  of  the  poor  in  comparison  of  their 
own  honour  and  dignity ;  in  vain  did  the  mass  of  the  Plebeians 

*  In  a  highly  organised  state  of  society,  it  is  impossible  to  conceive  the  sus- 
pension of  the  chief  magistrates  for  so  long  a  time.  But  after  the  burning  of 
the  city,  with  the  population  much  diminished,  and  in  the  absence  of  foreign 
war^  the  thing  does  not  seem  incredible, 


1 60  ROME  UNDER  THE  PATRICIANS.  Book  II. 

avow  themselves  ready  to  accept  the  compromise  offered  by  the 
Patricians.  The  Tribunes  set  their  faces  like  iron  against  the 
threats  of  the  higher  sort  and  the  supplications  of  the  lower.  For 
another  five  years  the  grim  conflict  lasted,  till  at  length  their  reso- 
lution prevailed,  and  in  the  year  367  B.C.  all  the  three  Licinian 
Rogations  became  law. 

This  great  triumph  was  achieved  with  little  tumult  (so  far  as  we 
hear)  and  no  bloodshed.  Who  can  refuse  his  admiration  to  a  peo- 
ple which  could  carry  through  their  most  violent  changes  with 
such  calmness  and  moderation  ? 

§  16.  But  the  Patricians,  worsted  as  they  were,  had  not  yet 
shot  away  all  their  arrows.  At  the  first  election  after  these  laws 
were  passed,  L.  Sextius  was  chosen  the  first  Plebeian  Consul. 
Now  the  Consuls,  though  elected  at  the  Comitia  of  the  Centuries, 
were  invested  with  the  imperium  or  sovereign  power  by  a  law 
of  the  Curias.*  This  law  the  Patricians,  who  alone  composed  the 
Curies,  refused  to  grant ;  and  to  support  this  refusal  the  Senate 
had  ordered  Camillus,  who  was  now  some  eighty  years  old,  to  be 
named  Dictator  for  the  fifth  time*  The  old  soldier,  always  ready 
to  fight  at  an  advantage,  perceived  that  nothing  now  was  piac- 
ticable  but  an  honourable  capitulation.  The  Tribunes  advised  the 
people  to  submit  to  the  Dictator,  but  declared  that  they  would  in- 
dict him  at  the  close  of  his  oflrice  ;  and  he,  taking  a  calm  view  of 
the  state  of  things,  resolved  to  act  as  mediator.f 

§  17.  The  matter  was  finally  adjusted  by  a  further  compro- 
mise. The  Plebeian  Consul  was  invested  with  the  imperium  ; 
but  the  judicial  power  was  now  taken  from  the  Consuls  and  put 
into  the  hands  of  a  supreme  Patrician  Judge,  called  the  Praetor 
of  the  City  (Praetor  Urbanus),  and  Sp.  Camillus,  son  of  the 
Dictator,  was  the  first  Praetor.  A  hundred  men  (centum viri) 
were  named,  to  whom  he  might  delegate  all  diflicult  cases  not  of 
a  criminal  nature.  At  the  same  time  also  another  magistracy, 
the  Curule  ^dileship,  was  created,  to  be  chosen  from  Patricians 
and  Plebeians  in  alternate  years,  who  shared  the  duties  of  the 
only  Plebeian  ^diles,  and  besides  this,  had  to  superintend  the 
Great  Games,  for  which  they  were  allowed  a  certain  sum  from 
the  treasury.  At  the  same  time  a  fourth  day  was  added  to  these 
games,!  ^^  honour  of  the  Plebeians. 

*  Lex  curiata  de  imperio. 

f  Not,  however,  without  another  Secession,  if  we  must  take  Ovid's  wordfl 
literaDy  {Fast.  i.  639)  :— 

"Furius  antiquum  populi  superator  Etrusc/ 
Yoverat  et  voti  solverat  ante  fidem. 
Causa,  quod  a  patribus  sumtis  secesserai  armii 
Vulgus  et  ipsa  suas  Roma  timebat  ope^." 
I  Ludi  Magni  or  Romani- 


Chap.  XV. 


TEMPLE  OF  CONCORD. 


161 


§  18.  Thus  the  Patricians  lost  one  of  the  Consulships,  but  re- 
tained part  of  the  consular  functions  under  other  titles.  And 
when  Camillus  had  thus  effected  peace  between  the  Orders,  he 
vowed  a  temple  to  Concord ;  but  before  he  could  dedicate  it,  the 
old  hero  died.  The  temple,  however,  was  built  according  to  his 
design ;  its  site,  now  one  of  the  best  known  among  those  of  an- 
cient Rome,  can  still  be  traced  with  great  certainty  at  the  North- 
western angle  of  the  Forum,  immediately  under  the  CapitoHne.* 
The  building  was  restored  with  great  magnificence  by  the  Emperor 
Tiberius  ;  and  it  deserved  to  be  so,  for  it  commemorated  one  of 
the  greatest  events  of  Roman  history, — the  final  union  of  the 
two  Orders,  from  which  point  we  must  date  that  splendid 
period  on  which  we  now  enter.  By  this  event  was  a  single 
city  enabled  to  conquer,  first  all  Italy,  and  then  all  the  civilised 
countries  of  the  known  world,  that  is,  all  the  peoples  bordering  on 
the  Mediterranean  Sea. 

We  pause  here,  though  it  was  some  years  yet  before  the 
political  equality  of  the  Plebeians  was  fully  recognised.  But  it 
will  be  convenient  to  reserve  this  transition  period  for  the  next 
Book,  because  it  runs  inextricably  into  the  events  there  to  be 
narrated.  The  present  Book  shall  be  closed  with  a  chapter  on 
the  sources  of  Roman  History  down  to  the  point  which  we  have 
now  reached. 

*  See  the  Plan  of  the  Forum,  Chapt.  iU.  §  24. 


Reverse  of  As,  with  Ship's  prov/. 


CHAPTER    XVI. 

SOURCES  OF  EARLY  ROMAN  HISTORY. 

g  1.  Destruction  of  all  public  Records  by  the  Gauls.  §  2.  Meagre  character 
of  these  Records :  early  History  of  Rome  embodied  in  Legends.  §  3. 
Legends  of  the  Patrician  period  full  of  falsehood.  §  4.  Due  to  banquet- 
minstrelsy  and  funeral  eulogies.  §  6.  Plebeian  ballads  also  rife.  §  6. 
How  this  mass  of  Legends  was  made  into  History.  §  7.  Tradition  and 
documents.  §  8.  Minstrelsy  hngered  on  after  Burning  by  Gauls,  but  super- 
seded by  Annals. 

§  1.  When  the  Gauls  departed  and  left  Rome  in  ashes,  it  was  not 
only  the  buildings  of  the  city  which  perished.  We  are  expressly 
told  that  all  public  Records  shared  in  the  general  destruction, — 
the  Fasti,  or  list  of  yearly  magistrates  with  their  triumphs,  the 
Annales  Pontificum  and  the  Linen  Rolls  (libri  lintei),  which  were 
annual  registers  or  chronicles  of  events  kept  by  the  Pontiffs  and 
Augurs.* 

This  took  place,  we  know,  about  the  year  390  b.c. 

Now  the  first  Roman  annalists,  Fabius  Pictor,  Cincius  Alimen- 
tus,  Cato  the  Censor,  with  the  poets  Nsevius  and  Ennius,  flourished 
about  a  century  and  a  half  after  this  date. 

Whence,  then,  it  is  natural  to  ask,  did  these  writers  and  their 
successors  find  materials  for  the  History  of  Rome  before  the 
burning  of  the  city  ?  What  is  the  authority  for  the  events  and 
actions  which  are  stated  to  have  taken  place  before  the  year 
390  B.C.? 

§  2.  The  answer  to  these  questions  may  partly  be  found  in  our 
fifth  chapter.  The  early  history  of  Rome  was  preserved  in  old 
heroic  legends,  which  lived  in  the  memories  of  men,  and  were 
transmitted  by  word  of  mouth  from  one  generation  to  another. 
The  early  history  of  all  nations  is,  as  we  have  said,  the  same ; 
and  even  if  we  had  the  Fasti  and  the  Annals  complete,  we  should 
still  have  to  refer  to  those  legendary  tales  for  the  substance  and 
colour  of  the  early  history.  The  Fasti,  indeed,  if  they  were  so 
utterly  destroyed  as  Livy  states,  must  have  been  preserved  in 
memory  with  tolerable  accuracy,  for  we  have  several  lists  of  the 
early  magistrates,  which  only  differ  by  a  few  omissions  and  trans- 
positions. The  Annals  and  Linen  Rolls,  if  we  had  copies  of 
them,  would  present   little  else  than   dry  bones  without  flesh, 

*  Liv.  vi.  L 


Chap.  XYI.      SOURCES  OF  EARLY  ROMAN  HISTORY.  163 

mere  names  with  a  few  naked  incidents  attached,  much  like  what 
we  read  in  the  famous  Anglo-Saxon  Chronicle.  For  narrative  we 
should  still  have  been  dependent  upon  the  Legends.  We  might 
know  the  exact  time  at  which  Coriolanus  appeared  at  the  head  of 
the  Volscian  host,  but  the  story  would  remain  untouched.  The 
Annals  would  give  us  nothing  of  the  Legends  of  Romulus  and 
Numa,  of  the  Horatii  and  Curiatii,  of  Mucins  Scaevola,  Codes  and 
Cloelia,  of  the  twin  horsemen  of  Lake  Regillus,  of  the  fatal  suf- 
ferings of  Lucretia  and  Virginia,  of  the  Veientine  soothsayer 
and  the  draining  of  the  Alban  lake,  of  the  self-sacrifice  of 
Curtius,  of  the  deeds  of  Camillus,  and  the  noble  devotion  of 
the  aged  senators  who  fell  beneath  the  Gallic  sword.  All  these 
are  as  much  matter  of  legendary  story  as  the  lays  of  King  Arthur 
and  his  knights,  of  Charlemagne  and  his  Paladins,  of  the  Cid  and 
Bernardo,  which  we  read  in  the  ballad  poetry  of  England,  France, 
and  Spain.* 

§  3.  We  have  already  taken  notice  of  the  legendary  character 
of  the  early  history,  and  endeavoured  very  brietly  to  show  how 
out  of  them  might  be  extracted  evidence  of  historical  truth  so  far 
as  regarded  the  condition  of  Rome  under  the  kings.  Under  the 
patrician  rule,  of  which  we  have  now  been  speaking,  the  Legends 
tell  us  little,  for  they  pass  into  positive  romance.  We  have 
noticed  that  it  was  the  glaring  discrepancies  and  falsehoods  per- 
vading the  legends  respecting  Porsenna  and  Camillus  that  led 
Beaufort  to  attack  the  whole  of  early  Roman  history.  These 
false  statements  are  quite  different  in  kind  from  the  greater  part 
of  the  legendary  fictions  of  Greece  or  of  regal  Rome.  There  we 
discern  no  dishonesty  of  purpose,  no  intentional  fraud  ;  here  much 
of  this  baser  coin  is  current.  In  the  Legends  of  Porsenna  and 
Camillus  the  dishonour  of  Rome  and  the  triumphs  of  the  in- 
vaders are  studiously  kept  out  of  sight,  and  glorious  deeds  are 
attributed  to  heroes  who  are  proved  to  have  no  claim  to  such 
honour.  It  remains  to  state  the  cause  of  this  altered  character 
in  the  Legends. 

§  4.  The  cause  seems  to  have  been,  chiefly,  the  predominant 
power  of  certain  great  Houses.  The  Valerii,  the  Fabii,  the  Furii, 
the  Horatii,  the  Mucii,  appropriated  to  themselves  and  their  an- 
cestors deeds  which  were  never  performed ;  and  family  bards  or 
ministrels  made  it  their  vocation  to  pander  to  this  idle  and  unreal 
love  of  honour.     The  occasion  on  which  these  poets  were  enabled 

*  It  is  doubtful,  indeed,  whether  the  Annals  even  went  so  far  back  as  the 
earlier  of  these  legends.  The  fact  of  the  year  being  marked  by  fixing  a  nail 
confirms  Livy's  statement  that  writing  was  little  known  in  those  times: 
"  Parvae  et  rarae  per  eadem  tempora  litterse  .  .  . ;  una  cugtodia  fidelis  memoria 
rerum  gestarum." — ri.  1. 


164  ROME  UNDER  THE  PATRICIANS.  Book  II. 

to  exalt  the  family  of  their  patrons  arose  out  of  the  custom 
common  among  all  rude  nations  to  enhance  the  pleasures  of 
wine  and  wassail  by  music  and  heroic  song.  Of  these  practices 
we  have  direct  and  positive  evidence.  "  Cato,  in  his  Origines, 
tells  us,"  says  Cicero,  "  that  it  was  an  old  custom  at  banquets 
for  those  who  sate  at  table  to  sing  to  the  flute  the  praiseworthy 
deeds  of  famous  men."*  But  these  lays  had  perished  in  Cicero's 
time.  "  Oh,"  he  exclaims  in  another  place,  "  Oh  that  we  had 
left  some  of  those  old  lays  of  which  Cato  speaks  in  his  Origines  !"f 
Valerius  Maximus  bears  testimony  to  the  same  fact.J  Varro  adds 
that  well-born  boys  used  to  sing  these  ballads  to  the  company,] 
like  Phemios  in  the  Odyssey,  or  Cadwallader  in  the  halls  of  the 
kings  of  Powys.  We  may  wish  with  Cicero  that  Cato  had  pre- 
served some  of  these  Reliques  of  early  Latin  poetry^  and  had  thus 
done  his  country  the  same  service  that  Percy  and  Scott  have 
rendered  to  the  minstrelsy  of  old  England  and  of  the  Scottish 
border.  We  should  then  be  able  more  clearly  to  distinguish 
between  the  poem  and  the  chronicle,  as  they  lie  mixed  in  the 
pages  of  Livy. 

Besides  this  practice  of  banquet  minstrelsy,  it  was  a  custom 
much  honoured  at  Rome,  on  occasion  of  the  funerals  of  persons 
of  rank,  to  carry  forth  the  images  of  their  ancestors,  when  family 
bards  rehearsed  their  laudatory  songs,  and  family  chroniclers  poured 
forth  panegyrics  in  praise  of  the  illustrious  dead.^  At  such  times 
truth  is  little  regarded.  The  common  saying,  "  de  mortuis  nil  nisi 
bonum,"  is  easily  extended  to  the  families  and  ancestors  of  the 
departed.  The  stories  of  Horatius  and  of  Mucins  may  be  traced 
to  the  desire  of  the  Horatii  and  Mucii  of  later  times  to  connect 
themselves  with  the  early  history  of  Rome.  If  we  had  an  Etrus- 
can account  of  the  siege  of  Rome  by  Porsenna,  we  should  proba- 
bly hear  little  of  these  famous  names ;  and  if  a  Gallic  bard  had 
sung  the  lay  of  Brennus,  the  great  Camillus  would  appear  in  a 
very  different  light.  This  may  be  illustrated  by  Percy's  remj^rks 
on  the  battle  of  Otterburn.  The  version  which  he  gives,  "  is  re- 
lated," he  says,  "  with  the  allowable  partiality  of  an  English  poet ;" 
i  while  "  the  Scottish  writers  have,  with  a  partiality  at  least  as  allow - 
lable,  related  it  no  less  in  their  own  favour."  The  version  adopted 
by  the  ministrel  varied  according  as  he  touched  his  harp  in  the 
halls  of  the  Percy  or  the  Douglas. 

*  Qusestiones  Tuscul.  iv.  2.  +  Brutus,  19. 

X  Book  ii.  1,  §  10.  I  Varro  ap.  Nonium,  s.  v.  Assa  voce. 

"If  Such  songs  and  speeches  were  called  noenioe,  laudationes, — "  Absint  inani 
fdnere  nsenise,"  says  Horace;  that  is,  "I  am  a  poet,  and  shaU  not  die:  my 
funeral,  therefore,  will  be  an  idle  ceremony:  funeral  songs  will  be  wasted 
upon  me,"— Od.  U.  20,  21. 


Chap.  XVI.      SOURCES  OF  EARLY  ROMAN  HISTORY.  165 

§  5.  It  may  be  observed  that  some  of  the  Legends,  as  those  of 
Virginia,  show  a  manifest  leaning  to  the  side  of  the  Plebeians.  No 
doubt  the  lower  order  had  their  minstrels  as  well  as  the  higher, 
nor  did  the  praises  of  the  great  Plebeian  Houses  remain  unsung. 
So  in  our  own  country  the  Commons  had  their  poets  as  well  as 
the  great  feudal  lords ;  nor  were  the  deeds  of  Percy  and  Douglas, 
of  the  Childe  of  EUe,  or  of  Fair  Rosamond,  more  famous  than  the 
"  Gestes  of  Robin  Hood  and  Little  John,"  the  feats  of  Adam  Bell 
and  Clym  of  the  Clough,  and  of  other  heroes  in  whose  names  the 
people  delighted. 

§  6.  There  can  be  no  doubt,  then,  that  at  the  burning  of  Rome 
there  was  abundant  store  of  these  romantic  lays  or  ballads,  which 
were  constantly  called  for  and  constantly  adapted  to  the  require- 
ments of  the  hearers.  Thus  they  lived,  and  thus  they  were  pro- 
pagated, till  they  were  reduced  into  more  regular  form  by  Nsevius 
and  Ennius,  and  the  prose  chroniclers  in  the  times  before  and  after 
the  great  Hannibalic  war,  and  at  length  were  embalmed  in  the 
great  work  of  Livy,  who  gave  them,  as  he  found  them,  in  their 
true  poetic  form.  But  for  him,  perhaps,  the  mass  of  these  legends 
might  have  been  filtered  off  into  rationalising  narratives,  like  those 
of  Piso.*  Thus  not  only  should  we  have  lost  the  life  of  the  Roman 
Annals,  but  we  should  have  regarded  them  as  so  dry  and  uninterest- 
ing that  they  would  have  been  studied  no  more  than  the  early 
history  of  Scotland  or  Ireland ;  and  we  should  have  altogether 
lost  the  spirit-stirring  story  of  these  early  times.  We  may  there- 
fore say,  paradoxically,  that  it  is  to  the  fiction  manifest  in  the 
legendary  tales  of  Livy  that  we  owe  our  knowledge  of  the  reali- 
ties of  early  Roman  History. 

§  7.  Besides  these  lays,  it  cannot  be  doubted  that  there  was  a 
mass  of  traditional  history  which  preserved  incidents  in  the  strug- 
gle of  the  two  Orders.  Some  documents  were  certainly  preserved, 
as  the  Laws  of  the  Twelve  Tables,  and  the  Treaty  with  Carthage 
which  Polybius  saw.f  There  were  also,  no  doubt,  archives  pre- 
served in  Latin  towns,  from  which  careful  inquirers  might  have 
gleaned  information ;  but  searching  examination  of  this  kind  was 
little  the  fashion  among  Roman  annalists. 

§  8.  After  the  burning  of  the  city  the  minstrels  still  continued 
to  compose  their  romances.  It  is  plain  that  the  combats  of 
Valerius  Corvus  and  Manlius  Torquatus  with  gigantic  Gauls  were 
borrowed  from  ballads  in  their  honour ;  but  few  or  none  appear 
in  the  pages  of  Livy  after  this  date,  and  one  reason  for  their  some- 
what sudden  disappearance  is  the  fact  that  after  this  time  the  An- 
nals or  Registers  are  preserved ;  so  that  henceforth  Chroniclers, 
ith  their  dry  narratives,  superseded  the  ministrels.  The  meagre 
*  See  Chapt.  v.  §  6.  f  Chapt.  vi.  §  1. 


166  ROME  UNDER  THE  PATRICIANS.  Book  n. 

and  unintelligible  Annals  of  the  years  that  follow  the  Gallic  irrup- 
tion are  a  specimen  of  what  would  have  remained  to  us,  had  all 
the  Legendary  History  perished,  and  had  the  Annals  been  pre- 
served entire  from  the  first  ages  of  the  Republic. 

The  gradual  decay  of  Roman  minstrelsy  may,  like  its  positive 
qualities,  be  compared  to  our  own.  "  As  the  old  minstrels  gra- 
dually wore  out,"  says  Percy,  "  a  new  race  of  ballad-writers  suc- 
ceeded, an  inferior  race  of  minor  poets,  who  wrote  narrative  songs 
merely  for  the  press.  Towards  the  end  of  Queen  Elizabeth's 
reign  the  genuine  old  minstrelsy  seems  to  have  been  extinct,  and 
thenceforth  the  ballads  that  were  produced  were  wholly  of  the 
latter  kind."  Such  ballads  are  merely  rhythmical  versions  of  pass- 
ing events,  which  die  when  they  have  satisfied  the  immediate 
occasion  for  which  they  were  produced.  As  poetry  they  are  gen- 
erally worthless ;  as  historical  narratives  they  are  inferior  to  the 
more  exact  accounts  of  the  prose  writers  who  gradually  supersede 
them. 


M.  Curtius. 


BOOK  III. 

ROME  CONQUEROR  OF  ITALY. 

(B.C.  366—265.) 


CHAPTER    XVII. 

SEQUEL    OF    THE    LICINIAN    LAWS.       CIVIL     HISTORY      TO      THE    FIRST 
SAMNITE    WAR.       (b.c.  366 344.) 

§  1  Difficulties  of  Social  Reformation.  §  2.  Increased  by  pestilence  :  Gulf  in 
Forum :  Self-sacrifice  of  M.  Curtius.  §  3.  Also  by  Gallic  inroads.  §  4. 
Vain  attempts  to  limit  rate  of  Interest.  §  5.  Evasion  of  Second  Licinian 
Law.  §  6.  Attempts  to  set  aside  Third  Licinian  Law  foiled  :  First  Plebeian 
Dictator:  First  Plebeian  Censor.  §  7.  Plebeian  honours  limited  to  a  few 
families.     §  8.  Subject  of  this  Book. 

§  1.  Various  causes  were  for  some  time  interposed  to  prevent  the 
due  execution  of  the  Licinian  laws.  Indeed  the  first  two  of  these 
measures,  which  aimed  at  social  improvements,  may  be  said  to 
have  failed.  Social  abuses  are  always  difficult  to  correct.  The 
evils  are,  in  these  cases,  of  slow  growth ;  their  roots  strike  deep ; 


168  ROME  CONQUEROR  OF  ITALY.  Book  IIL 

they  can  only  be  abated  by  altering  the  habits  and  feelings  of  the 
people,  which  cannot  be  effected  in  the  existing  generation ;  they 
will  not  give  way  at  once  to  the  will  of  a  lawgiver,  however  good 
his  judgment,  however  pure  his  motives,  however  just  his  objects. 
In  most  cases  he  must  content  himself  with  carrying  his  reform, 
and  leaving  it  to  work  upon  a  future  generation.  But  the  com- 
mon difficulty  of  removing  social  evils  was  increased  in  Rome  at 
this  time  by  circumstances. 

§  2.  For  two  years  a  pestilence  raged  in  the  city,  which  swept 
away  great  numbers  of  citizens  and  paralysed  the  industry  of 
all.  The  most  illustrious  of  its  victims  was  Camillus,  who  died 
even  more  gloriously  than  he  had  lived,  while  discharging  the 
office  of  peacemaker.  About  the  same  time  the  region  of  the 
city  was  shaken  by  earthquakes;  the  Tiber  overflowed  his  bed 
and  flooded  the  Great  Circus,  so  that  the  games  then  going  on 
were  broken  off.  Not  long  after  a  vast  gulf  opened  in  the  Forum, 
as  if  to  say  that  the  meeting-place  of  the  Roman  People  was  to 
be  used  no  more.  The  seers  being  consulted,  said  that  the  gods 
forbade  this  gulf  to  close  till  that  which  Rome  held  most  valu- 
able were  thrown  into  it.  Then,  when  men  were  asking  what 
this  might  be,  a  noble  youth,  named  M.  Curtius,  said  aloud  that 
Rome's  true  riches  were  brave  men,  that  nothing  else  so  worthy 
could  be  devoted  to  the  gods.  Thus  saying,  he  put  on  his 
armour,  and,  mounting  his  horse,  leaped  into  the  gulf;  and 
straightway,  says  the  legend,  the  earth  closed  and  became  solid 
as  before;  and  the  place  was  called  the  Lacus  Curtius  for  ever 
after.* 

§  3.  To  these  direct  visitations  of  God,  the  pestilence  and  the 
earthquake,  was  added  a  still  more  terrible  scourge  in  the  continued 
inroads  of  the  Gauls.  It  has  been  noticed  above  that  in  the  years 
361  and  350  B.c.f  hordes  of  these  barbarians  again  burst  into 
Latium  and  again  ravaged  all  the  Roman  territory. 

§  4.  These  combined  causes  so  increased  the  distress  of  the 
poor  that  no  one  can  wonder  to  hear  of  debts  being  multiplied 
every  day.  We  read  therefore  without  surprise  that  in  the  year 
357  B.C.,  ten  years  after  the  passing  of  the  Licinian  laws,  a  bill 
was  brought  forward  by  Duillius  and  Msenius,  Tribunes  of  the 
Plebs,  to  restore  the  rate  of  interest  fixed  by  the  XII.  Tables,^ 
which  in  the  late  troubles  had  fallen  into  neglect ;  and  five  years 
later  (in  352)   the  Consuls,  P.  Valerius  and  C.  Marcius  Rutilus, 

*  According  to  an  older  legend  it  derived  its  name  from  the  Sabine  chamr 
pion  Mettus  Curtius  (chapt.  ii.  §  9).  Here  is  a  notable  example  of  the  "  double 
legend."  The  spot  was  called  "the  Lacus  Curtius;"  and  to  account  for  the 
name  two  legends  arose,  one  recent,  the  other  of  remote  antiquity. 

f  Chapt.  xiv.  §§  12  and  13.  X  Obapt  xi.  §  4. 


Chap.  XYIL        SEQUEL  OF  THE  LICINIAN  LAWS.  169 

brought  forward  a  measure  to  assist  the  operation  of  the  Licinian 
law  of  debt.  Many  persons  had  not  been  able  to  take  advantage 
of  this  law,  because  their  whole  property  was  invested  in  land  or 
houses ;  and  owing  to  the  general  distress  and  the  great  scarcity 
of  money,  they  could  not  sell  this  property  but  at  a  very  heavy 
loss.  The  Consuls  therefore  appointed  Five  Commissioners 
(^juinqueviri),  with  power  to  make  estimates  of  all  debts  and  of 
the  property  of  the  debtors.  This  done,  the  Commissioners  ad- 
\  anced  money  to  discharge  the  debt,  so  far  as  it  was  covered  by 
the  property  of  the  debtor.  Thus  a  quantity  of  land  came  into 
possession  of  the  state ;  and  landed  property  in  general  must  have 
become  more  valuable,  while  money  was  more  freely  circulated, 
and  must  have  been  more  easy  to  procure  at  a  fair  rate  of  in- 
terest. The  measure  was  wise  and  useful,  but  could  only  be 
partial  in  its  effects.  It  could  not  help  those  debtors  who  had 
no  property,  or  not  enough  property  to  pay  their  debts  withal. 
Hence  we  find  that  in  another  five  years  (3 47  b.c.)  the  rate  of 
interest  was  reduced  to  five  per  cent.  ;*  and  some  years  afterwards 
it  was  tried  to  abolish  interest  altogether.  But,  laws  to  limit 
interest  then,  as  ever  since,  proved  ineffectual  or  even  mischiev- 
ous. It  is  always  easy  to  evade  such  laws ;  and  the  only  difference 
they  make  is,  that  needy  borrowers  have  to  resort  to  grasping  and 
dishonest  usurers,  who  charge  higher  interest  than  they  would 
otherwise  have  done,  in  order  to  meet  the  increased  risk.  In 
short  we  find,  as  we  should  expect,  that  all  these  laws  proved  in- 
sufficient, and  in  the  year  342  b.c.  recourse  was  had  to  a  measure 
still  more  sweeping  and  violent  than  the  Licinian  law,  which  shall 
be  spoken  of  in  its  proper  place.f 

§  5.  There  were,  then,  great  difficulties  in  the  way  of  a  law  for 
relieving  debtors.  These  were  increased,  as  has  been  seen,  by 
circumstances,  and  we  must  now  add  the  selfishness  and  dis- 
honesty of  the  rich  Patricians  and  Plebeians,  who  held  the  bulk 
of  the  Public  Land  in  tneir  own  hands.  If  these  lands  had  been 
leased  out  on  moderate  terms  to  the  poorer  sort,  no  doubt  they 
would  have  been  able  in  great  measure  to  avoid  debt  for  the 
future.  But  the  present  holders  contrived  to  evade  the  Licinian 
law  in  the  following  way.  If  a  man  held  more  than  500  jugera, 
he  emancipated  his  son  and  made  over  a  portion  of  the  land 
nominally  to  him,  or,  if  he  had  no  son,  to  some  other  trusty  per. 
son.  With  sorrow  we  hear  of  these  practices,  and  with  still 
greater  sorrow  we  learn  that  in  the  year  354  b.c.  C.  Licinius 

*  Tacit.  Annal.  vi.  16.  Foenus  semi-unciariura,  ie.  -^^  of  the  capital,  being  4^ 
per  cent  for  the  old  Roman  year  of  10  months,  or  five  per  cent,  for  the  com- 
mon year. 

+  Chapt.  xviii.  §  12. 

8 


170  ROME  CONQUEROR  OF  ITALY.  Book  III 

himself  was  indicted  by  the  Curule  -^Edile,  M.  Popillius  Laenas,  for 
fraudulently  making  over  500  jugera  to  his  son,  while  he  held 
another  500  in  his  own  name.  Perhaps  it  was  some  suspicion  of 
his  true  character  that  induced  the  people  to  elect  L.  Sextius, 
his  kinsman,  first  plebeian  consul,  instead  of  Licinius  himselt. 
Thus  this  remedy  for  pauperism  was  set  aside  and  neglected,  till 
the  Gracchi  arose,  and  vainly  endeavoured,  after  more  than  two 
centuries  of  abuse,  to  correct  that  which  at  first  might  have  been 
prevented. 

Circumstances,  therefore,  combined  with  the  dishonesty  of 
men,  thwarted  the  social  amendments  which  the  Licinian  laws 
aimed  at. 

§  6.  The  law  for  equalising  political  power  was  more  effective. 
For  eleven  years  after  the  Licinian  law  one  Consul  was  always  a 
Plebeian.  Then  the  Patricians  made  one  last  struggle  to  recover 
their  exclusive  privilege ;  and  in  the  year  355  b.c.  we  have  a 
Sulpicius  and  a  Valerius  as  Consuls,  both  of  them  Patricians ; 
and  in  the  course  of  the  next  dozen  years  we  find  the  law  violated 
in  like  manner  no  less  than  seven  times.  After  that  it  is  regu- 
larly observed,  one  Consul  being  Patrician  and  the  other  Plebeian, 
till  at  length  in  the  year  172  b.c,  when  the  patrician  families  had 
greatly  decreased,  both  Consulships  were  opened  to  the  Plebeians, 
and  from  that  time  forth  the  oftices  were  held  by  men  of  either 
order  without  distinction. 

These  violations  of  the  law  above  mentioned  were  effected  by 
the  power  by  which  the  Senate  ordered  the  Patrician  Consul  to 
name  a  Dictator.  At  least  in  the  space  of  twenty-five  years  after 
the  Licinian  laws,  we  have  no  less  than  fifteen  Dictators.  Now 
several  of  these  were  appointed  for  sudden  emergencies  of  war, 
such  as  the  Gallic  invasions  of  361  and  350.  But  often  we  find 
Dictators  when  there  is  no  mention  of  foreign  war.  In  the  year 
360  we  find  that  both  the  Consuls  enjoyed  a  triumph,  and  not  the 
Dictator.  These  and  other  reasons  have  led  to  the  belief  that 
these  Dictators  were  appointed  to  hold  the  Consular  Comitia,  and 
brought  the  overbearing  weight  of  their  political  power  to  secure 
the  election  of  two  Patrician  Consuls. 

§  7.  But  if  this  were  the  plan  of  the  Patricians,  it  availed  not. 
After  the  year  343  b.c.  the  law  was  regularly  observed,  by  which 
one  Consul  was  necessarily  a  Plebeian.  The  Plebeians  also  forced 
their  way  to  other  offices.  C.  Marcius  Rutilus,  the  most  distin- 
guished Plebeian  of  his  time,  who  was  four  times  elected  Consul, 
was  named  Dictator  in  the  year  356  b.c,  no  doubt  by  the  Plebeian 
Consul  Popillius  Laenas;  and  five  years  later  (351)  we  find  the 
same  Marcius  elected  to  the  Censorship. 

§  8.  Practically,  therefore,  the  political  reform  of  Licinius  and 


Chap.  XTIL        SEQUEL  OF  THE  LlCINIAN  LAWS.  lYl 

Sextius  had  been  effectual  so  far  as  the  admission  of  Plebeians 
to  the  highest  offices  of  state  was  concerned.  It  must  be  re- 
marked, however,  that  these  privileges,  though  no  longer  en- 
grossed by  Patricians,  seem  to  have  been  open  only  to  a  few 
wealthy  plebeian  families.  C.  Marcius  Rutilus,  as  we  have  just 
remarked,  held  the  Consulship  four  times  in  sixteen  years  (35*7- 
342).  M.  Popillius  Laenas  and  C.  Poetelius  Libo  enjoyed  a  similar 
monopoly  of  honours. 

§  9.  As  the  exclusive  privileges  of  the  Patricians  thus  gradually 
and  quietly  gave  way,  instead  of  being  maintained  (as  in  modern 
France)  till  swept  away  by  the  violent  tide  of  revolution,  so  did 
the  power  of  the  Senate  rise.  It  was  by  the  wisdom  or  policy 
of  this  famous  assembly  that  the  City  of  Rome  became  mistress 
of  Italy  and  of  the  World  ;  but  a  more  convenient  place  for  ex- 
amining its  altered  constitution  will  occur  hereafter.  At  present 
we  proceed  with  our  proper  task.  Hitherto  the  contest  has  been 
internal,  of  citizen  against  citizen,  in  order  to  gain  an  equality 
of  rights.  Henceforth,  for  two  hundred  years,  we  shall  have  to 
relate  contests  with  foreign  people,  and  the  subject  of  this  Book 
is  to  give  an  account  of  the  conquest  of  Italy,  for  which  the 
Roman  Senate  and  People,  now  at  length  politically  united,  were 
prepared. 


Etruscan  Walling. 


CHAPTER  XYIII. 


WA.RS  FROM  THE  BURNING  OF  ROME  TO  THE  FIRST  SAMNITE  WAR. 

(B.C.  389—344.) 

§  1.  Rising  of  Yolscians,  ^quians,  and  Etruscans.  Victorious  Dictatorship 
of  Camillus.  §  2.  Six  new  Tribes  added,  four  from  the  Etruscan,  two  from 
the  Volscian  territory.  §  3.  The  Latin  League  no  longer  in  existence ; 
wars  with  several  Latin  Cities.  §  4.  Fresh  irruption  of  the  Gauls,  favoured 
by  Hernicans  and  Tiburtines.  §  5,  Renewal  of  Latin  League.  §  6.  War 
with  the  Tarquinians,  followed  by  a  peace  for  40  years.  §  7.  Third  inroad 
of  Gauls.     Second  Treaty  with  Carthage.     Reflections. 

§  1.  The  annals  for  several  years  after  the  burning  of  the  city 
by  the  Gauls,  are,  especially  in  regard  to  foreign  wars,  extremel}- 
vague  and  meagre.  We  have  lost  the  poetic  Legends  without 
finding  anything  like  historic  exactness  in  their  stead. 

There  can  be  no  doubt  that  at  first  Rome  had  to  struggle  for 
very  existence.  Before  the  city  was  so  far  restored  as  to  be 
habitable,  it  was  announced  that  the  ^quians  and  Volscians 
were  in  arms.  The  ^quians  seem  to  have  shared  in  the  general 
disaster  caused  by  the  Gallic  inroad :  henceforth  at  least  the 
part  they  play  is  insignificant.  But  the  Volscians  boldly  advanced 
to  Lanuvium,  and  once  more  encamped  at  the  foot  of  the  Alban 


Chap.  X via  TRIUMPH  0?  CAMILLUS.  ITS 

Hills.  The  city  was  in  great  alarm  ;  and  the  Consular  Tribunes 
being  deemed  unequal  to  the  exigency,  Camillus  was  named 
Dictator  for  the  second  time.  He  defeated  them  with  great  loss, 
and  pursued  them  into  their  own  territory.  He  then  marched 
rapidly  to  Bola),  to  which  place  the  ^quians  had  advanced,  and 
gained  another  victory. 

But  in  the  moment  of  triumph  news  came  that  Etruria  was 
in  arms.  The  storm  of  the  Gallic  invasion  seems  to  have  been 
averted  from  Etruria  to  Rome,  and  by  a  brave  effort  it  now  seemed 
possible  to  recover  the  territory  which  the  Romans  had  for  the 
second  time  appropriated.  The  people  of  Fidense  and  Ficulea 
are  mentioned  as  appearing  in  arms.  A  force  was  sent  against 
them ;  but  so  completely  was  it  routed  on  the  Nones  of  July, 
that  this  day  was  noted  in  the  Kalendar  as  the  Poplifuga.  Siege 
was  then  laid  to  Sutrium  by  the  victors,  and  it  fell.  But  the 
prompt  Dictator,  on  the  first  alarm,  marched  his  troops  straight 
from  Bolae  to  the  point  of  danger ;  and  on  the  very  day  on  which 
Sutrium  had  yielded  to  the  foe,  it  was  again  taken  by  the  Roman 
General.  Such  is  the  obscure  account  preserved  of  this  year's 
danger.  Camillus  again  appears  as  the  Saviour  of  Rome.  He 
enjoyed  a  threefold  triumph  over  the  Volscians,  the  JEquians,  and 
the  Etrurians. 

§  2.  It  was  two  years  after,  that  the  Etruscan  territory,  now 
effectually  conquered,  was  formed  into  four  Tribes,  as  has  been 
mentioned  before.*  By  the  addition  of  these  new  Tribes,  the  first 
that  had  been  added  since  this  very  territory  had  been  wrested 
from  Rome  by  Porsenna,  the  whole  number  was  raised  to  twenty- 
five.  The  late  assault  of  the  Etruscans,  perhaps,  suggested  the 
wisdom  of  making  the  free  inhabitants  of  this  district  citizens 
of  Rome.  Men  who  had  lately  been  subject  to  the  oppressive 
government  of  a  civic  oligarchy,  being  now  mingled  with  Roman 
Plebeians  who  had  received  allotments  in  the  district,  and  seeing 
the  comparative  freedom  of  all  Roman  Burgesses,  were  sure  in 
future  to  fight  for  Rome  rather  than  join  in  an  insurrection 
against  her.  Her-e  was  the  beginning  of  that  sagacious  policy, 
which  for  a  time  led  political  enfranchisement  hand  in  hand 
with  conquest.  Thirty  years  later  (358  b.c.)  the  Senate  pursued 
the  same  course  with  respect  to  the  Pontine  district  and  other 
lowlands,  which  had  been  recovered  from  the  grasp  of  the 
Volscians.  A  settlement  of  poor  Plebeians  which  was  at- 
tempted in  387  B.C.,  failed  :  the  emigrants  were  cut  off  by  the 
Volscian  hills-men.     But  the   territory  being  now  formed  into 

*  Chapt.  XV.  §  6.  The  names  of  these  four  tribes  were  the  Stellatine,  Tro- 
roentine,  Sabatine,  Aniene.     Liv,  vi.  5, 


174  ROME  CONQUEROR  OF  ITALY.  Book  III 

two  Tribes,  so  as  to  make  the  whole  number  twenty-seven,  the 
inhabitants  had  themselves  an  interest  in  repressing  predatory 
inroads.* 

Yet  the  assaults  of  the  Volscians  continued.  In  386  b.c,  Ca- 
millus  being  Consular  Tribune  for  the  fourth  time,  reconquered 
Antium,  which  must  have  fallen  into  the  hands  of  the  Volscians 
again  after  the  Gallic  invasion.  Colonies  were  sent  to  Satricum 
and  Setia  in  Southern  Latium,  to  Nepete  in  Etruria.  Then  came 
the  struggle  for  the  Licinian  laws ;  and  during  this  period  the 
annals  are  altogether  silent  on  the  subject  of  wars. 

§  3.  But  before  the  pronmlgation  of  the  Licinian  laws,  there 
were  threatenings  of  greater  danger  than  was  to  be  feared  either 
from  Etruscans  or  Volscians.  The  Latins  and  Hernicans,  who 
since  the  time  of  Sp.  Cassius  had  been  bound  in  close  alliance 
with  Rome,  and  had  fought  by  her  side  in  all  her  border  wars, 
no  longer  appeared  in  this  position.  The  inroad  of  the  Gauls 
had  broken  up  the  League.  Rome  had  then  been  reduced  to 
ashes,  and  was  left  in  miserable  weakness.  Many  of  the  thirty 
Latin  cities,  the  names  of  which  occur  in  the  League  of  Cassius, 
were  so  utterly  destroyed  that  the  antiquary  in  vain  seeks  for 
their  site  in  the  desolation  of  the  Campagna.  But  the  twc 
important  cities  of  Tibur  and  Prsenest^  (Tivoli  and  Palestrina,) 
perched  on  steep-scarped  rocks,  defied  the  rude  arts  of  the 
invader,  and  had  gained  strength  by  the  ruin  of  their  neigh 
hours.  Pn^neste  seems  to  have  seized  the  district  of  Algidus 
and  the  other  lands  from  which  the  ^quians  had  been  expelled. 
Both  Prseneste  and  Tibur  appear  as  separate  and  independent 
communities,  standing  apart  from  the  rest  of  Latium  and  from 
Rome.  It  was  believed  that  the  Praenestines  encouraged  the 
Volscians  in  their  inroads,  and  in  382  b.c.  war  was  declared 
against  them.  Some  of  the  Latin  cities  joined  Prseneste,  as 
Lanuvium  and  Velitrae ;  others  sought  protection  against  her 
from  Rome,  as  Tusculum,  Gabii,  Lavici.  In  this  Avar  all  is 
obscure.  In  the  course  of  it  even  the  Tusculans  deserted 
Rome.  But  after  a  struggle  of  five  years,  the  Dictator  T.  Quinc- 
tius  took  nine  insurgent  cities,  Velitra)  amongst  the  number, 
and  blockaded  Prseneste  itself,  which  also  capitulated  on  terms 
of  which  we  are  not  informed.  Soon  after  Tusculum  also 
was  recovered  ;  and  for  the  present  all  fear  of  the  Latins  sub- 
sided. 

§  4.  But  a  few  years  after  the  Temple  of  Concord  had  been 
erected  by  old  Camillus,  fresh  alarms  arose.  The  Hernicans 
gave  signs  of  disquietude.     War  was  declared  against  them  in 

*  The  Pontine  and  Publilian.     Liv.  vii.  15. 


Chap  XVIIL        WAR  WITH  THE  TARQUINIANS.  1Y5 

362  B.C.  Next  year  came  the  second  inroad  of  the  Gauls,  and  it 
was  observed  with  consternation  that  this  terrible  foe  occupied  the 
valley  of  the  Anio,  and  was  not  molested  either  by  the  Latins  of 
Tibur  or  by  the  Ilernicans.  In  the  year  360  b.c.  the  Fasti  record 
a  triumph  of  the  Consul  Fabius  over  this  last-named  people,  and 
another  of  his  colleague  Poetelius  over  the  men  of  Tibur  a7id  the 
Gauls* — an  ominous  conjunction. 

§  5.  But  this  new  inroad  of  the  barbarians,  which  threatened 
Rome  with  a  second  ruin,  really  proved  a  blessing;  for  the  re- 
maining Latin  cities,  which  in  the  late  conflict  had  stood  aloof, 
terrified  by  the  presence  of  the  Gauls,  and  seeing  safety  only  in 
union,  now  renewed  their  league  with  Rome,  and  the  Hernicans 
soon  after  followed  their  example.  The  glory  of  concluding  this 
second  league  belongs  to  C.  Plautius,  the  plebeian  Consul  of  -the 
year  358  b.c.  The  Gauls  now  quitted  Latium,  we  know  not  how 
or  why.  Of  all  the  Latin  cities,  Piivernum  and  Tibur  now  alone 
remained  out  of  the  alliance ;  but  in  the  next  five  years  both  were 
compelled  to  yield.     (35 7,  354  b.c.) 

§  6.  AVhile  these  dangers  were  successfully  averted  on  the 
north-eastern  frontier,  war  had  been  declared  against  Rome  by  the 
powerful  Etruscan  city  of  Tarquinii,  which  lies  beyond  the  Cimi- 
nian  Hills.  This  was  in  the  very  year  in  which  the  new  League 
was  formed  with  the  Latins  and  Hernicans.  But  for  this,  it  is  hard 
to  imagine  that  Rome,  exhausted  as  she  was,  could  have  resisted 
the  united  assaults  of  Gauls,  Volscians,  Latins,  Hernicans,  and 
Etruscans.  As  it  was,  she  found  it  hard  to  repel  the  Tarquinians. 
The  people  made  a  sudden  descent  from  the  hills,  defeated  the 
Consul  C.  Fabius,  and  sacrificed  three  hundred  and  seven  Roman 
prisoners  to  their  gods  (b.c.  358).  Two  years  later  they  were 
joined  by  the  Faliscans.  Bearing  torches  in  their  hands,  and 
having  their  hair  wreathed  into  snake-like  tresses,  they  attacked 
the  Romans  with  savage  cries,  and  drove  them  before  them. 
They  overran  the  district  lately  formed  into  four  new  Tribes, 
and  threatened  Rome  itself.  Then  M.  Popillius  Lsenas,  the  ple- 
beian Consul,  being  ordered  by  the  Senate  to  name  a  Dictator, 
named  another  Plebeian,  C.  Marcius  Rutilus,  the  first  of  his 
order  (as  we  have  said)  who  was  advanced  to  this  high  office; 
and  his  conduct  justified  the  appointment.  The  enemy  was  de- 
feated. The  Senate  refused  a  triumph  to  the  Plebeian  ;  but  the 
People  in  their  Tribes  voted  that  he  should  enjoy  the  well-earned 
honour. 

For  a  moment  the  people  of  Caere,  the  old  allies  of  the  Roman 
people,    who    had    given    shelter    to    their    sacred    things,    their 

*  "C.  Poetelius  C.  F.  Q.  N.  Libo  Visolus  Cos.  de  Galleis  et  Tiburtibua." 


176  ROME  CONQUEROR  OF  ITALY.  Book  III 

women  and  children,  in  the  panic  of  the  Gallic  invasion,  joined 
the  war ;  but  almost  immediately  after  sued  for  peace.  The 
Romans,  however,  remembered  this  defection,  as  we  shall  have  to 
mention  in  a  future  page.*  The  Tarquinians  were  again  defeated 
in  a  great  battle.  Three  hundred  and  fifty-eight  prisoners  were 
scourged  and  beheaded  in  the  Forum  to  retaliate  for  former  bar- 
barity. In  the  year  351  b.c.  a  peace  of  forty  years  was  concluded, 
after  a  struggle  of  eight  years'  duration. 

§  7.  It  was  in  the  very  next  year  after  the  conclusion  of  this 
war  that  the  third  inroad  of  the  Gauls  took  place,  of  which  we 
have  above  spoken,  when  L.  Camillus,  grandson  of  the  old  Dic- 
tator, rivalled  the  glory  of  his  progenitor,  and  L.  Valerius  gained 
his  name  of  Corvus.  Thus  remarkably  was  Rome  carried  through 
the  dangers  of  intestine  strife  and  surrounding  wars.  When  she 
was  at  strife  within,  her  enemies  were  quiet.  Before  each  new 
assault  commenced  a  former  foe  had  retired  from  the  field,  and 
Rome  rose  stronger  from  every  fall.  She  had  now  recovered  all 
the  Latin  coast-land  from  the  Tiber  to  Circeii ;  and  her  increasing 
importance  is  shown  by  a  renewed  treaty  with  the  great  commer- 
cial city  of  Carthage.f  But  a  more  formidable  enemy  was  now  to 
be  encountered  than  had  as  yet  challenged  Rome  to  conflict ;  and 
a  larger  area  opened  to  her  ambition.  In  the  course  of  a  very  few 
years  after  the  last  event  of  which  we  have  spoken  the-  First  Sam- 
nite  War  began. 

*  Chapt  xxvii.  §  12  (1).  f  Liv.  v^  5f7.  Oros.  iil  1. 


Coin  -with  Samnite  Bull  goring  the  Roman  "Wolf,  struck  in  the  Social  W&c 

CHAPTER    XIX. 

FIRST    SAMNITE    WAR.       (b.C.    343 341.) 

§.  1.  Origin  and  geographical  position  of  the  Samnites.  §  2.  Little  unity 
between  thera  and  kindred  tribes.  §  3,  Samnites  a  pastoral  people.  §  4. 
They  spread  from  their  mountains  over  various  parts  of  the  coast.  Cam- 
pania. Their  Colonists  become  their  enemies.  §  5.  Causes  of  the  War. 
§  6.  First  year  of  the  War :  battle  of  Mount  Gaurus  gained  by  Valerius 
Corvus.  Other  victories.  §  7.  Peace  concluded  next  year.  Reasons. 
§  8.  First  Reason;  Mutiny  of  Roman  Legions  wintering  at  Campania. 
They  advance  to  Bovillse,  and  are  joined  by  Plebeians  from  the  City.  §  9. 
Difference  between  this  and  former  Secessions.  It  is  put  down  by  Valerius. 
§  10.  Laws  for  improving  the  condition  of  soldiers.  §  11-  Genucian  Laws. 
Laws  for  relieving  debtors:  remarks.  §  12.  Second  Reason  deferred  to 
next  Chapter. 

§  I.  We  must  now  carry  our  eyes  beyond  the  district  described 
in  our  sixth  Chapter,  and  penetrate  into  Campania  and  the  val- 
leys of  the  Apennines,  of  which,  as  yet,  our  History  has  taken  no 
count. 

The  Sabines  are  a  people  connected  with  the  earliest  legends 
of  Rome.  But  the  Sabines  of  Cures  and  the  lower  country 
between  the  Anio  and  the  Tiber  are  those  who  have  hitherto 
engaged  our  attention.  It  is  in  the  highlands  of  Reate  and  Ami- 
ternum  that  we  must  search  for  the  cradle  of  the  race.  The 
valleys  of  this  high  district  afford  but  scanty  subsistence ;  and 
the  hardy  mountaineers  ever  and  anon  cast  off  swarms  of  emi- 
grants, who  sought  other  homes,  and  made  good  their  claim 
by  arms.  It  was  a  custom  of  the  Sabellian  race,  when  famine 
threatened  and  the  population  became  too  dense,  to  devote  the 
whole  produce  of  one  spring-time,  by  a  solemn  vow,  to  the  gods.* 
Among  other  produce,  the  youth  born  in  that  year  were  included; 
*  This  was  called  a  Ver  sacrum. 
8* 


178  ROME  CONQUEROR  OF  ITALY.  Book  III. 

they  were  dedicated  to  the  god  Mamers  (Mars),  and  went  forth 
to  seek  their  fortunes  abroad.  On  one  such  occasion  the  emi- 
grants, pressing  southward  along  the  highland  valleys,  occupied 
the  broad  mountainous  district  which  lies  northward  of  Cam- 
pania. Such  is  the  story  which  the  Samnites  told  of  their  own 
origin.*  The  Picenians  and  Frentanians,  on  the  north  coast, 
with  the  four  allied  Cantons  of  the  Vestinians,  Marrucinians, 
Pelignians,  and  Marsians,  who  were  interposed  between  the  Sam- 
nites and  their  ancestral  Sabines,  claimed  kin  with  both  nations. 
The  k^amnites  themselves  also  formed  four  Cantons — the  Caro- 
cenians,  Pentrians,  Caudinians,  and  Hirpinians.  Of  these  Can- 
tons, the  first  and  last  are  little  heard  of.  The  Pentrians  were 
far  the  most  considerable  :  they  occupied  the  rugged  mountain 
district  between  the  upper  valleys  of  the  Vulturnus  and  the 
Calor.  Here  a  great  mass  of  mountains,  now  known  by  the  name 
of  Mount  Matese,  projects  boldly  from  the  central  chain,  rising 
to  the  height  of  more  than  6000  feet ;  and  its  steep  defiles  ofter 
defences  of  great  natural  strength  against  an  invader.  But  the 
remains  of  massive  polygonal  masonry,  which  are  still  seen  on 
the  rocky  heights  occupied  by  their  towns  of  ^scrnia  and  Bovi- 
anum  (Isernia  and  Bojano),  show  that  the  Samnites  trusted  to 
military  art  as  well  as  to  natural  strength  of  country.  Below 
Mount  Matese,  in  the  valley  of  the  Calor,  lay  the  Cantons  of  the 
Caudinians,  whose  town  of  Beneventum  (anciently  called  Male- 
ventum,  or  Maliessa)  also  offered  a  position  made  strong  by  art. 
It  is  within  these  limits,  from  isernia  to  Beneventum,  that 
the  scenes  of  some  of  the  chief  campaigns  of  the  Samnite  wars 
were  laid. 

§  2.  It  must  be  remarked  that  but  little  connexion  seems  to 
have  been  maintained  between  the  Samnite  Cantons  and  their 
Sabellian  kinsmen  to  the  north.  If  the  Sabines  of  the  Upper 
Apennines,  if  Marsian,  and  Pelignian,  and  other  Cantons  which  lie 
between  the  Sabines  and  the  Samnites,  had  combined,  nay,  if  all 
the  Samnite  cantons  had  been  closely  united,  the  issue  of  the  wars 
which  were  waged  with  Rome  might  have  been  difterent.  But 
the  brunt  of  conflict  fell  chiefly  on  the  Pentrians  and  Caudinians ; 
and  it.  was  not  till  their  strength  was  well  nigh  exhausted  that  the 
other  Sabellian  tribes  came  forward  to  oppose  the.  growing  power 
of  Rome. 

§  3.  From  the  nature  of  their  country,  the  Samnites  were  for 
the  most  part  a  pastoral  people.  Their  mountains  break  into 
numberless  valleys,  sloping  both  to  the  north  and  south,  well 
watered,  and  fresh  even  in  the  summer  heats.     Into  these  valleys, 

*  Strabo,  who  gives  a  similar  account  of  the  origin  of  the  Picenians. 


Chap.  XIX.  FIRST  SAMNITB  WAR.  179 

as  is  still  the  practice  of  the  country,  the  flocks  were  driven  from 
the  lower  lands,  ascending  higher  and  higher  as  the  heats  in- 
creased, and  descending  towards  the  plain  in  the  same  gradual 
way  as  autumn  inclined  towards  winter. 

§  4.  But  the  Samnites  were  not  contented  with  these  narrow 
mountain-homes.  As  they  had  themselves  been  sent  forth  from 
a  central  hive,  so  in  time  they  cast  forth  new  swarms  of  emigrants. 
In  early  times  a  Samnite  tribe,  under  the  name  of  Frentanians, 
had  taken  possession  of  the  coast  lands  between  the  Marrucinian 
canton  and  Apulia.  They  also  constantly  pushed  forward  bands 
of  adventurous  settlers  down  the  Vulturnus  and  Calor  into  the 
rich  plain  that  lay  temptingly  beneath  their  mountains,  and  to 
which  they  gave  the  name  of  Campania,  or  the  champagne-land, 
in  opposition  to  the  narrow  vales  and  rugged  hills  of  their  native 
country.  In  earlier  times  this  fair  plain  had  attracted  Etruscan 
conquerors  ;  and  its  chief  city,  anciently  called  Vulturnum,  is 
said  from  them  to  have  received  the  lasting  name  of  Capua.* 
But  in  about  the  year  423  b.c,  nearly  a  century  before  the  time 
of  which  we  are  presently  to  speak,  a  band  of  Samnites  had 
seized  this  famous  city,  and  had  become  its  lords,t  the  ancient 
Oscan  inhabitants  being  reduced  to  the  condition  of  clients. 
Soon  after,  the  great  Greek  city  of  Cuma,  which  then  gave  name 
to  the  Bay  of  Naples,  had  been  conquered  by  the  new  lords 
of  Capua  ;l  and  from  this  time  forth,  under  the  name  of  Cam- 
panians,  they  became  the  dominant  power  of  the  country.  In 
course  of  time,  however,  the  Samnites  of  Capua,  or  the  Cam- 
panians,  lost  their  own  language  and  usages,  and  adopted  those 
of  the  Oscan  people,  who  had  become  their  subjects.  Hence  it 
is  that  we  shall  find  the  Campanian  Samnites  at  war  with  the 
old  Samnites  of  the  mountains,  just  as  the  Roman  Sabines  lost 
all  national  sympathy  with  the  old  Sabines  of  Cures,  and  as  in 
England  the  Anglo-Normans  became  the  national  enemies  of  the 
French. 

It  may  be  added  that  the  Lucanians  and  Apulians,  who 
stretched  across  the  breadth  of  Italy  below  Campania,  were 
formed  by  a  mixture  of  Samnite  invaders  with  the  ancient  popu- 
lation, themselves  (as  we  have  seen  above)  a  compound  of  Oscan 
and   Pelasgian   races ;  ||   while   the  Bruttians,   who   occupied  the 

*  From  the  Etruscan  chief  Capys.  It  must  be  remarked,  however,  that 
Capita  and  Campania  seem  to  be  etymologically  akin,  and  are  probably  both 
of  Samnite  origin. 

f  Liv.  iv.  ?>1. 

X  Liv.  iv.  44,  who  places  the  conquest  of  Cumae  in  the  year  420  B.C.  Dio 
dorus,  xii.  76,  places  it  eight  years  earlier. 

\  Introduction,  Sect.  II.  §  8. 


180  ROME  CONQUEROR  OF  ITALY.  Book  in. 

mountainous  district  south  of  the  Gulf  of  Tarentum,  were  a  similar 
offcast  from  the  Lucanians.  But  these  half-Sabellian  tribes,  like 
the  old  races  from  whom  the  Samnites  came,  lent  very  uncertain 
aid  to  their  kinsmen  in  the  struggle  with  Rome.  The  sons  were 
not  more  alive  to  their  own  interest  in  joining  the  Samnites 
against  the  new  conquerors  than  the  fathers. 

§  5.  These  prefatory  remarks  will  prepare  us  for  the  great 
conflict  which  followed,  and  which,  in  fact,  determined  the 
sovereignty  of  Italy  to  be  the  right  of  the  Roman,  and  not  of  the 
Samnite  people.  The  first  war  arose  out  of  a  quarrel  such  as  we 
have  just  alluded  to  between  the  Campanians  and  the  old  Sam- 
nites of  the  Matese.  In  the  year  354  b.c,  a  league  had  been 
concluded  with  the  Romans  and  the  Samnites.  Since  that  time, 
Samnite  adventurers  had  been  pressing  upon  the  Oscan  nations 
in  the  upper  valley  of  the  Liris,  and  had  even  taken  the  Volscian 
cities  of  Sora  and  Fregellae,  while  the  Romans,  combined  with 
the  Latins  again  since  the  year  358  b.c,  were  forcing  back  the 
Volscians  from  the  west.  In  343  b.c,  the  Samnites  had  pursued 
their  encroachments  so  far  as  to  assail  Teanum,  the  chief  city  of 
the  Sidicines,  probably  an  Oscan  tribe,  who  occupied  the  lower 
hills  in  the  north  of  Campania.  The  Sidicines  demanded  the  aid 
of  the  Burgesses  of  Capua  against  their  assailants  ;  and  the  Cam- 
panians, venturing  to  give  this  aid,  drew  upon  their  own  beads 
the  wrath  of  the  mountaineers.  The  Samnites  took  possession 
of  Mount  Tifata,  a  bare  hill  which  overhangs  Capua  on  the  north, 
and  from  their  camp  there  plundered  at  will  the  rich  plain 
below.  Unable  to  meet  the  enemy  in  the  field,  the  degenerate 
Campanians  entreated  the  assistance  of  the  Roman  and  Latin 
League. 

There  was  some  difficulty  in  listening  to  this  application ;  for 
the  treaty  of  peace,  which  had  been  concluded  eleven  years 
before,  still  subsisted,  and  no  aggression  against  Rome  or  her 
allies  was  chargeable  upon  the  Samnites.  But  it  is  probable  that 
their  aggressions  in  the  valleys  of  the  Liris  and  Vulturnus  had 
alarmed  the  Senate ;  and  all  scruples  were  removed  when  the 
Campanians  offered  to  surrender  their  city  absolutely,  so  that 
in  defending  them  Rome  would  be  defending  her  own  subjects. 
This  quibbling  bargain  was  struck,  and  war  was  declared  against 
the  Samnites. 

§  6.  The  Consuls  of  the  year  were  both  Patricians — Au.  Corne- 
lius Cossus,  and  M.  Valerius  Corvus,  whose  single  combat  with  the 
Gaul  has  been  mentioned  more  than  once.  Apart  from  legendary 
tales,  it  is  evident  that  Valerius  was  the  most  considerable  man 
at  Rome,  now  that  Camillus  was  no  more.  He  was  now  in 
his  third  Consulship,  and  thrice  in  future  years  he  held  the  sam« 


Chap.  XIX.  FIRST  SAMNITE  WAR.  181 

high  office.  To  extreme  old  age  he  continued  in  the  service  ot 
the  state,  and  his  last  Consulships  were  employed  in  assisting  to 
remove  the  last  traces  of  disunion  between  the  Orders.  If  the 
Licinian  Law  was  to  be  broken,  it  could  not  be  broken  in  favour 
of  a  worthier  than  M.  Valerius. 

Each  Consul  led  two  legions  separately  into  the  field,  with  an 
equal  number  of  Latin  Allies.  The  force  under  the  command  of 
Valerius  was  destined  to  drive  the  Samnites  out  of  Campania, 
■while  Cossus  was  to  invade  the  Pentrian  valleys.  But  the 
details  of  the  campaign  are  quite  unintelligible.  Valerius  gained 
a  great  victory  over  the  Samnites  on  Mount  Gaurus,  which  lies 
near  Baiae  on  the  sea-coast.  How  it  was  that  he  was  thus 
driven  into  this  corner  of  the  land  we  know  not.  No  sooner 
was  the  battle  of  Mount  Gaurus  won,  than  news  reached  Vale- 
rius that  his  colleague  Cossus  had  become  entangled  in  a  Sam- 
nite  defile,  and  was  shut  in  by  the  enemy  on  all  sides.  From 
this  danger  he  was  relieved  by  the  valour  and  conduct  of  a 
legionary  tribune,  P.  Decius  Mus,  the  first-named  of  an  illus- 
trious plebeian  family.  He  seized  an  eminence,  which  com- 
manded the  pass,  and  the  Consul  was  enabled  to  escape  from  his 
danger.  Then,  say  the  Roman  annals,  Cossus  attacked  the  Sam- 
nites and  defeated  them.  It  is  added  that  Valerius  joined  him 
directly  after,  and  the  united  forces  overthrew  the  enemy  in  a 
third  great  battle. 

§  7.  An  army  remained  in  Campania  during  the  winter,  lest 
the  Samnites  should  descend  from  their  mountains  suddenly. 
But  in  the  next  spring,  instead  of  continuing  the  war,  the 
Romans  concluded  a  treaty  of  alliance  with  the  enemy,  by  which 
the  Sidicines  and  Campanians  were  left  entirely  at  their  mercy. 
The  causes  of  this  unexpected  change  of  policy  were  twofold  ; 
first,  a  renewal  of  discord  between  the  two  Orders  of  the  Roman 
People ;  secondly,  the  uneasy  feeling  which  showed  itself  between 
the  Romans  and  their  Latin  Allies. 

§  8.  It  has  been  shown  above  that  the  pressure  of  the  laws  of 
debt  continued,  and  that  there  was  a  systematic  attempt  to 
evade  the  Licinian  Law  in  the  election  of  Consuls.*  The  dis- 
content thus  caused,  long  smouldering,  broke  out  into  flame 
among  the  legionaries  who  were  wintering  in  Campania.  They 
compared  that  rich  and  beautiful  country  with  the  sullen  gloom 
of  the  Roman  territory,  and  the  luxurious  life  of  the  Campanian 
people  with  their  own  rude  and  sparing  habits  :  and  they  formed 
(as  we  are  told)  a  design  to  imitate  the  old  Samnites  in  making 
themselves  lords  of  this  happy  land.  When  C.  Marcius,  the 
new  Consul,  came  to  the  army  in  the  year  342  b.c,  he  found  tbo 
*  Chapt.  xvii. 


182  ROME  CONQUEROR  OF  ITALY.  Book  III. 

men  more  ready  to  mutiny  than  to  take  the  field.  An  attempt 
was  made  to  check  this  spirit  by  drafting  off  the  most  unruly, 
and  sending  them  home  under  various  pretences.  But  as  these 
men  passed  Lautulse,  a  place  near  Terracina,  which  commanded 
the  road  over  the  Volscian  Hills,  they  found  the  cohort  that 
had  been  posted  to  defend  this  pass  ready  to  mutiny,  and 
those  who  were  on  their  way  home  agreed  to  join  them.  The 
insurgents,  being  joined  by  many  others  from  the  army,  forced 
an  old  Patrician  of  the  Quinctian  house,  whom  they  found  dwell- 
ing at  his  country  house,  to  be  their  leader ;  and  then  advancmg, 
encamped  at  Bovillse,  in  front  of  the  Alban  Hills.  Upon  this, 
the  disaffected  within  the  city  also  rose  ;  and  putting  another 
Patrician,  named  Manlius,  at  their  head,  joined  the  mutineers  in 
their  camp. 

§  9.  Here,  then,  was  another  of  those  Secessions  of  which  we 
have  already  heard  so  much.  But  now,  be  it  observed,  the 
secession  was  not  of  the  whole  Plebeian  Order,  but  only  of  the 
poorer  sort,  who  felt  oppressed  by  debt.  Against  these  were 
arrayed  not  only  the  Patricians  and  their  Clients,  but  also  all  the 
wealthier  Plebeians,  indeed,  all  who  wished  to  maintain  order  in 
the  state :  and  this  great  party  showed  their  sincerity  by  pro- 
curing that  M.  Valerius  Corvus,  a  man  as  famous  for  moderation 
as  for  bravery,  should  be  appointed  Dictator,  to  put  an  end  to 
the  sedition.  He  was  able  to  collect  an  imposing  force,  with 
which  he  approached  the  camp  of  the  insurgents.  But  Roman 
<3itizens  were  not  yet  so  reckless  of  blood  and  so  cold  of  heart  as 
willingly  to  engage  in  civil  war ;  and  when  the  two  armies  met, 
both  were  overpowered  by  their  different  feelings,  the  one  by 
pity,  the  other  by  remorse.  Arms  were  laid  aside,  and  the  sol- 
diers of  each  party  embraced  each  other. 

No  doubt  this  happy  issue  of  the  sedition  was  brought  about 
by  the  good  offices  of  the  Dictator  Valerius  and  Marcius  the  Ple- 
beian Consul.  It  was  no  doubt  understood  on  both  sides  that 
the  Patricians  and  rich  Plebeians  were  ready  to  avert  the  evil  by 
making  large  concessions,  for  these  followed  immediately. 

§  10.  The  leaders  of  the  army  were  allowed  to  propose  and 
carry  two  Laws :  first,  that  no  citizen  should  be  struck  off"  the 
military  roll,  except  for  some  crime ;  secondly,  that  no  one  who 
had  served  as  legionary  tribune  should  thereafter  be  called  on  to 
act  as  centurion.  The  first  law  was  evidently  a  boon  to  the 
debtors ;  for  persons  serving  in  the  army  were  protected  from 
their  creditors.  The  second  is  said  to  have  arisen  from  the  case 
of  one  Salonius,  who  had  been  vexatiously  degraded  to  a  sub- 
altern rank  by  his  patrician  general ;  and  tbe  Plebeians  were  the 
more  willing  to  maintain  the  dignity  of  the  Tribunes,  since  the 


Chap.  XIX  FIRST  SAMNITE  WAR.  183 

election  of  six  out  of  the  twenty-four  had  recently  been  conceded 
to  the  legions  themselves.*  It  was  also  proposed  to  reduce  the 
pay  of  the  equites,  who  at  that  time  received  three  times  as 
much  as  the  foot  soldiers.  But  on  the  interference  of  Valerius 
this  proposal  was  withdrawn. 

§  11.  Such  were  the  concessions  made  to  the  army.  But  at 
home  greater  changes  followed.  L.  Genucius,  Tribune  of  the 
Plebs,  moved  that  henceforth  both  Consulships  should  be  open 
to  Plebeians ;  and  that  no  one  should  be  re-elected  to  a  curule 
magistracy.  But  it  does  not  appear  that  these  Genucian  Laws  took 
effect.  It  was  long  before  both  Consuls  were  Plebeians ;  and  it 
remained  for  many  years  a  constant  practice  to  re-elect  the  same 
persons  to  the  Consulship  within  the  stated  period.  But  from 
this  time  forth  we  find  no  more  violations  of  the  Licinian  Law. 

At  the  same  time  another  Law  was  carried,  by  whom  we  know 
not,  of  much  greater  and  more  serious  import;  for  it  enacted 
that  all  debts  then  existing  should  be  cancelled,  and  that  for  the 
future  no  interest  was  to  be  taken  for  money  lent.  This  second 
provision  was  simply  absurd.  It  was  the  same  thing  as  forbid- 
ding the  loan  of  money  at  all ;  no  one  will  lend  without  some 
[)rofit  to  cover  the  risk  of  loss.  The  former  provision,  cancelling 
all  debts,  was  a  more  violent  and  dangerous  form  of  the  first 
Licinian  Law.  The  Licinian  Law  struck  certain  sums  off  the 
debts,  providing  for  the  payment  of  the  rest;  this  new  Law 
abolished  the  debts  altogether.  What  was  said  of  the  former 
law  must  be  repeated  here.  Such  laws,  declaring  general  insol- 
vency, can  only  be  justified  by  absolute  necessity,  and  never  can 
be  enacted  in  a  settled  state  of  society.  At  Rome,  possibly,  they 
may  have  been  necessary  at  this  juncture,  owing  to  the  great 
cruelty  of  the  old  laws  of  debt.  And  that  such  laws  were 
necessary  may  be  inferred  from  the  fact  that  Valerius  suff"ered 
them  to  pass.  Society  was  already  so  disorganised,  that  even 
such  a  law  did  not  make  it  worse  :  nay,  from  this  time  forth 
we  may  date  improvement;  for  henceforth  we  hear  no  more  of 
free  Romans  binding  themselves  as  slaves  to  their  creditors. 

§  12.  The  second  cause  which,  joined  to  these  intestine  com- 
motions, operated  to  promote  the  Samnite  peace,  was  so  im- 
portant, and  was  followed  by  results  so  considerable,  that  it  must 
form  the  subject  of  a  separate  Chapter. 

*  The  regular  number  of  Legions  was  four,  two  to  each  Consul,  and  there 
were  six  Tribunes  to  each  Legion.  At  a  later  time,  the  people  elected  18  out 
©f  the  24. 


Roman  Soldiers. 


CHAPTER    XX, 


GREAT  LATIN  WAR.       SUBJECTION  OF  LATIUM.       (b.C.  340 338.) 

§  1.  Review  of  the  relations  between  Rome  and  Latium.  §  2.  Proposals  of 
the  Latin  Cities  for  a  union  with  Rome.  §  3.  Contemptuously  rejected. 
§  4.  Manlius  and  Decius,  Consuls,  march  into  Campania:  reasons.  §  5. 
Roman  and  Latin  armies  meet  under  Vesuvius :  military  systems  of  Rome : 
identical  with  that  of  Latins  §  6.  Order  of  Manlius  against  single  com- 
bats. §  7.  Manlius  condemns  his  son  for  disobeying.  §  8.  Battle  of 
Vesuvius :  self-sacrifice  of  Decius.  §  9.  Mournful  triumph  of  Manlius. 
§  10.  Conclusion  of  the  War.  §  11.  Large  quantity  of  Public  Land  gained 
by  the  War :  a  portion  distributed  to  the  poor  Plebeians.  §  12.  Publilian 
Laws.  §  13.  Principle  on  which  the  Latin  Cities  were  treated.  §  14. 
Public  and  Private  Rights  of  Romans :  how  granted  to  foreigners.  §  15. 
Previous  privileges  of  Latins.  §  16.  New  arrangements,  of  three  kinds. 
§  17.  Settlement  of  the  Campanian  Cities. 

§  1.  The  uneasy  feeling  caused  by  the  disposition  visible  among 
the  Latin  Communities  in  league  with  Rome  must  have  operated 
still  more  strongly  than  domestic  troubles  to  incline  Rome  to 
peace ;  for  it  must  never  be  forgotten  that  when  a  Roman  army 
took  the  field,  half  of  it  was  composed  of  Latins. 

It  has  been  said  that  after  the  burning  of  the  city  in  390  B.C. 
the  Latins,  as  a  body,  stood  aloof  from  Rome,  while  Praeneste  and 
Tibur  assumed  a  position  of  defiance.     But  in  356  b.c.  the  old 


Chap.  XX.  GREAT  LATIN  WAR.  185 

League  had  been  renewed,  and  such  as  remained  of  the  original 
Thirty  Cities  again  joined  their  ranks  to  those  of  Rome  in  war- 
ring first  against  the  Yolscians  and  Etruscans,  and  finally  against 
the  Samnites.  In  the  first  year  of  the  Samnite  war  we  find  two 
Roman  Consuls  in  command ;  in  the  second  it  is  probable  that 
the  Latins  would  have  claimed  the  chief  command  for  their  two 
Prsetors.  All  we  know  is,  that  the  Senate  foresaw  that  the  con- 
federacy of  Latin  Cities  would  claim  equality  with  Rome ;  and 
it  was  no  doubt  to  strengthen  themselves  against  such  claim 
that  now,  in  the  year  341  b.c,  they  not  only  made  peace  with 
the  Samnites,  but  concluded  a  separate  league  with  that  people. 
Thus  the  Latins  alone  continued  in  alliance  with  the  Sidicines 
and  other  Oscan  tribes  of  Campania,  while  the  Romans  united 
themselves  with  the  Samnites,  the  mortal  enemies  of  these  same 
Oscan  tribes,  whose  protectors  they  had  lately  been.  We  also 
hear  of  the  Latins  being  at  war  with  the  Pelignians,  which  sho' .s 
that  other  Sabellian  tribes  were  taking  part  with  the  Samnites.* 

§  2.  When  Rome  formed  a  separate  League  with  the  Samnites, 
she  broke  faith  with  the  Latins.  Her  conduct  made  it  clear  that 
Latium  could  no  longer  remain  the  independent  ally  of  Rome : 
the  former  must  either  submit  entirely  to  her  rival,  or  assert 
her  independence  in  arms.  There  was,  indeed,  a  third  course 
possible,  namely,  for  the  two  nations  to  form  a  united  state 
under  one  central  government,  like  England  and  Scotland  since 
the  Union  :  and  this  course  the  Latins  proposed  to  try,  although 
the  spirit  and  temper  of  the  Roman  Senate  made  it  very  clear 
that  the  attempt  must  fail. 

However,  it  was  made.  In  the  year  340  b.c.  the  united  cities 
of  Latium  sent  their  two  Praetors  (who  were  elected  every  year 
like  the  Consuls  at  Rome),  together  with  the  ten  chiefs  of  their 
Senate,  to  propose  terms  of  union.  Rome  and  Latium  were 
henceforth  to  form  one  state,  Rome  being  allowed  to  remain  as 
the  seat  of  government ;  but  of  the  two  Consuls,  one  was  to  be 
a  Latin.  The  Senate  was  to  be  doubled  by  the  admission  of  300 
Latin  members ;  and  no  doubt  (though  this  is  not  recorded)  the 
Latin  territory  was  to  be  divided,  like  the  Roman,  into  Tribes, 
which  would  have  equal  votes  with  those  of  old  Rome  at  the 
Comitia. 

The  proposal  was  fair  enough,  and  it  may  be  thought  that 
Rome  might  have  accepted  it  without  loss  of  honour ;  for  not 
very  long  after,  most  of  the  Latin  cities  formed  the  centres  of 
new  Tribes,  and  some  of  the  most  distinguished  men  of  later 
times  were  of  Latin  origin.      But  the  conduct  of  some  Latin 

*  Liv.  vii.  38. 


186  ROME  CONQUEROR  OF  ITALY.  Book  m. 

cities,  as  Tibur  and  Prseneste,  had  not  been  such  as  to  warrant 
confidence,  and  it  is  probable  that  an  Union  now  formed,  when 
neither  nation  were  willing  quite  to  acknowledge  the  supremacy 
of  the  other,  would  not  have  been  more  lasting  than  that  of 
Holland  and  Belgium  in  our  own  times.  The  Latins  now  pro- 
posed it  only  under  fear  of  the  Gauls  and  Samnites,  and  when 
that  fear  was  removed,  they  would  probably  have  broken  it  up. 

§  3.  It  is  not  likely,  however,  that  politic  reasons  of  this  kind 
influenced  the  Romans  in  rejecting  it.  Rude  nations  generally 
act  on  impulse  rather  than  on  reason  ;  and  the  story  shows  that 
it  was  Roman  pride  which  was  touched,  rather  than  Roman  in- 
terests. 

The  Senate,  says  the  Legend,  met  to  receive  the  Latin  depu- 
ties in  the  temple  of  Capitoline  Jupiter,  at  the  head  of  the 
Sacer  Clivus.  When  the  deputies  had  spoken,  the  Fathers 
were  filled  with  wrath,  and  their  mind  was  uttered  by  T.  Manlius 
Torquatus,  patrician  Consul  elect,  the  same  who  had  earned 
his  surname  in  a  single  fight  against  a  Gaul.  "  If,"  said  he,  "the 
Roman  Senate  were  so  dead  of  heart  as  to  admit  these  proposals, 
I  myself  would  come  down  to  the  Senate-house  sword  in  hand 
and  slay  the  first  Latin  who  should  presume  to  cross  this  holy 
threshold."  Angry  words  followed,  in  the  course  of  which  L. 
Annius  of  Setia,  one  of  the  Latin  Prsetois,  spoke  lightly  of  the 
great  god  of  the  Capitol,  beneath  whose  temple  they  were 
standing.  Then,  to  avenge  his  majesty,  burst  Ibith  lightning 
and  thunder ;  and  the  Latin,  turning  hastily  to  depart,  fell  head- 
long down  the  steps  of  the  Sacred  Ascent,  and  was  killed.* 

§  4.  But  when  the  Senate  were  receiving  these  deputies,  they 
were  already  preparing  for  war.  Their  patrician  Consul  was,  as 
has  been  mentioned,  the  famous  champion  T.  Manlius,  and  his 
plebeian  colleague  was  the  no  less  famous  P.  Decius  Mus,  who 
had  saved  the  army  of  the  Consul  Cossus  in  the  Samnite  war. 
These  Consuls  straightway  assembled  their  legions,  and  boldly 
resolved  to  leave  Rome  under  the  protection  of  the  Praetor, 
while  they  marched  through  the  friendly  passes  of  the  Sabines, 
Marsians,  and  Pelignians  into  Samnium,  there  to  unite  with  a 
Samnite  force  and  descend  upon  Capua.  This  bold  stroke  suc- 
ceeded. The  Latin  army  marched  hastily  southward  to  protect 
their  Oscan  allies,  and  it  was  in  the  plains  of  Campania  that  the 
fate  of  Rome  and  Latium  was  to  be  decided. 

There  could  be  little  doubt  which  people  were  destined  to 
prevail.     The  Latins  and  Romans  might  be  well  matched ;  but,  of 

*  The  Chroniclers,  however,  mention  L.  Annius  as  general  of  the  Latins  in 
the  ensuing  warj^^fjothei"  Instance  of  the  variety  above  noticed  in  these  old 
legends. 


Chap.  XX.  GREAT  LATIN  WAR.  ISl 

their  allies,  the  Oscans  were  quite  unequal  to  the  mountaineers  of 
Samniura.  Moreover,  even  of  the  Latin  cities  three  adhered  to 
Rome,  Laurentum,  Ardea,  and  Lanuvium,  and  several  were  luke- 
warm in  the  cause.  The  Oscan  cities  of  Fundi  and  Formise, 
which  command  the  road  between  Rome  and  Capua,  remained 
neutral ;  and  in  Capua  herself  a  protest  against  war  with  Rome 
was  made  by  sixteen  hundred  Knights  (as  they  are  called),  who 
were  probably  the  heads  of  the  old  Samnite  families,  before  men- 
tioned as  the  lords  of  Capua.* 

§  5.  When  the  two  armies  met  under  Mount  Vesuvius,  they 
lay  opposed  to  one  another,  neither  party  choosing  to  begin  the 
fray.  It  was  almost  like  a  civil  war ;  Romans  and  Latins  spoke 
the  same  language ;  their  armies  had  long  fought  side  by  side 
under  common  generals ;  their  arms,  discipline,  and  tactics  were 
the  same. 

And  here  we  will  follow  Livy  in  giving  an  account  of  the  Ro- 
man army  as  at  that  time  constituted.! 

In  the  old  times  the  Roman  army  had  been  drawn  up  in  close 
order  like  the  Greek  phalanx,  so  as  to  act  by  its  weight.  The 
front  ranks  were  armed  with  the  long  pike  or  spear  {hasta)  and 
t!ie  large  round  shield  [clipeus,  danig).  Locking  their  shields  to- 
gether, with  their  spear-points  bristling  in  front,  they  formed  a 
mass  irresistible  so  long  as  it  remained  unbroken.  This  order  of 
battle  was  carried  to  its  greatest  perfection  by  Philip  of  Macedon, 
and  we  shall  have  to  speak  further  of  it  when  we  come  to  the 
Macedonian  wars. 

The  Romans,  as  is  well  known,  changed  their  system,  and  made 
this  heavy  mass  a  living  body.  Their  citizens  were  brave  men 
fighting  for  their  country,  and  were  fit  for  something  better  than 
to  be  mere  machines,  unable  to  act  separately.  The  soldiers  of 
the  republic  were  armed,  not  with  the  long  pike,  but  with  two 
heavy  javelins,  called  pila,  which  they  were  taught  to  throw  with 
great  eff'ect,  and  a  short  strong  sword,  fit  alike  for  striking  and 
thrusting.^;  They  exchanged  the  heavy  round  shield  for  a  lighter 
one  of  oblong  shape,  (scutum),  curved  so  as  to  defend  the  side  as 
well  as  the  front.  Thus  armed,  they  stood  at  a  distance  of  a  yard 
from  their  right  and  left  hand  men,  so  as  to  allow  free  room 
for  the  use  of  their  weapons.  The  men  of  each  rear-rank  stood, 
not  directly  behind  their  front-rank  men,  but  so  as  to  cover  the 
space  between  two,  like  the  knots  in  net-work  (in  quincuncem 
dispositi).       Thus,  when*  the    front-rank    men    had    discharged 

*  Chapt.  xix.  §  3. 

f  Liv.  viii.  8.  The  account  that  follows  is  based  on  this  passage  with  the 
commentary  of  Niebuhr. 

X  The  gladius  Hispanus — see  Liv.  vii.  10.  . 


188  ROME  CONQUEROR  OP  ITALY.  Book  III. 

their  pila,  they  fell  back,  and  their  rear-rank  stepped  forward, 
so  as  to  come  in  front  and  discharge  their  pila  in  turn.  Mean- 
while the  original  front-rank  was  falling  back  to  the  rear,  and  each 
rear- rank  was  gradually  coming  up  to  be  ready  to  take  their  turn 
in  front.  When  all  the  pila  were  discharged,  and  the  enemy 
thrown  into  confusion  by  this  continued  fire,  the  whole  body 
advanced  to  close  combat,  and  completed  the  work  of  defeat  with 
their  swords. 

Now  in  the  times  of  Marius  and  Cajsar,  who  conquered  the 
Germans  and  Gauls  with  tactics  of  this  kind,  the  whole  legion  was^ 
armed  alike,  being  divided  into  ten  cohorts,  and  each  cohort  into 
three  maniples  or  six  centuries,  each  century  being  commanded  by 
a  centurion. 

But  at  the  time  of  which  we  now  speak,  this  uniformity  of 
system  did  not  yet  prevail.  At  this  time  the  Legion  consisted  of 
three  battalions  of  the  line,  each  1200  strong,  and  to  these  were 
attached  a  body  of  light  troops,  bowmen  and  slingers  (called 
rorarii,  because  they  sprinkled  their  missiles  like  dew),  and  also 
an  unarmed  body  called  accensi,  because  they  were  added  to  the 
rate-paying  citizens  (censi)*  to  serve  as  attendants,  and  perform  all 
the  duties  of  camp-followers.  Of  the  three  main  battalions  the 
foremost  was  called  Hastati,  because  they  were  still  armed  with 
the  long  pike,  like  the  old  phalanx.  Close  behind  these  were  the 
Principes,  who  were  composed  of  the  first  in  rank  among  the 
citizens,  and  were  probably  armed  with  the  sword  and  pila.  In 
rear  of  the  principes  were  placed  the  standards  of  the  whole  army, 
so  that  these  two  front  battalions  were  called  Ante-signani.  Be- 
hind the  standards  were  ranged  the  third  battalion,  called  Triarii, 
composed  of  the  most  experienced  soldiers,  destined  to  act  as  a 
reserve,  and  bring  aid  to  any  part  of  the  front  battalions  which 
seemed  to  be  in  difficulty.  The  battle  was  begun  by  the  rorarii, 
who  covered  the  advance  of  the  main  body,  and  then  dispersed  on 
either  flank.  It  is  probable  that  the  principes  then  advanced 
through  the  intervals  of  the  maniples  of  the  hastati,  and  having 
discharged  their  pila,  fell  back  again  through  the  same  intervals : 
but  the  manner  in  which  the  soldiers,  armed  some  with  the  pike 
and  some  with  the  sword  and  pila,  acted  together,  must  remain 
matter  of  doubt. 

To  each  Legion  was  attached  a  squadron  {ala)  of  300  horse  ; 
but  the  horse-soldiers  of  Rome  were  always  inefficient ;  her  chief 
dependence  was  on  her  infantry. 

§  6.  This  system,  at  the  time  we  speak  of,  was  common  both  to 

*  Those  who  paid  no  rates  and  taxes  (the  capiie  censi)  were  not  allowed  to 
serve  in  the  legions  till  the  time  of  Marius,  who  first  placed  them  on  the 
military  roU. 


Chap.  XX.  GREAT  LATIN  WAR.  189 

Romans  and  Latins.  The  divisions  of  their  army,  their  oflScers, 
their  tactics  were  exactly  alike.  They  had  been  used  to  fight  side 
by  side,  and  in  each  army  there  were  many  men  and  officers  who 
were  personally  connected  with  those  in  the  other.  Under  these 
circumstances  the  Roman  commanders  thought  it  important  to 
break  oft*  all  communication  between  the  armies,  and  they  issued  a 
general  order  to  this  eff'ect.  It  was  also  strictly  forbidden  to  en- 
gage in  any  partial  skirmishes  with  the  Latins,  or  to  accept  any 
challenge  to  single  combat  which  they  might  make.  All  strength 
was  to  be  reserved  for  the  great  battle  which  was  to  determine  the 
fate  of  the  two  nations. 

§  7.  While  the  armies  were  thus  lying  over  against  each  other, 
the  Latin  horsemen,  conscious  of  superiority,  used  every  endeavour 
to  provoke  the  Romans  to  single  combats.  The  latter,  however, 
were  checked  by  the  orders  of  their  generals,  till  young  Manlius, 
son  of  the  Consul,  stung  to  the  quick  by  the  taunts  of  Geminus 
Metius,  a  Latin  champion,  accepted  his  challenge.  The  young 
Roman  conquered,  and  returned  to  the  camp  to  lay  the  spoils  of 
the  enemy  at  his  father's  feet.  But  the  spirit  of  Brutus  was  not 
dead  ;  and  the  stern  Consul,  unmindful  of  his  own  feelings  and  the 
pleading  voices  of  the  whole  army,  condemned  his  son  to  death  for 
disobedience  to  orders.  Discipline  was  thus  maintained,  but  at  a 
heavy  expense,  and  the  men's  hearts  were  heavy  at  this  unnatural 
act. 

§  8.  In  the  night  before  the  day  on  which  the  Consuls  resolved 
to  fight,  each  of  them  were  visited  by  an  ominous  dream,  by 
which  it  was  revealed  that  whichever  army  first  lost  its  general 
should  prevail ;  and  they  agreed  that  he  whose  division  first 
gave  ground  should  devote  himself  to  the  gods  of  the  lower 
world. 

In  the  morning,  when  the  auspices  were  taken,  the  liver  of  the 
victim  off'ered  on  the  part  of  Decius  was  defective,  while  that  of 
Manlius  was  perfect,  and  the  event  confirmed  the  omen  ;  for  Man- 
lius, who  commanded  the  right  division,  held  his  ground,  while  the 
legions  of  Decius  on  the  left  gave  way. 

Then  Decius,  mindful  of  his  vow,  sent  for  Valerius,  the  Chief 
Pontiff",  to  direct  him  how  duly  to  devote  himself.  He  put  on  his 
toga,  the  robe  of  peace,  after  the  Gabine  fashion,  bringing  the  end 
or  lappet  under  the  right  arm  and  throwing  it  over  his  head ;  and 
then  standing  on  a  javelin,  he  pronounced  the  solemn  form  of 
words  prescribed,  by  which  he  devoted  the  army  of  the  enemy 
along  with  himself  to  the  gods  of  death  and  to  the  grave.  Then, 
still  shrouded  in  his  toga,  he  leaped  upon  his  horse,  and  dashing 
into  the  enemy's  ranks  was  slain. 

Both  armies  were  well  aware  of  the  meaning  of  the  act ;  it  de- 


190  ROME  CONQUEROR  OF  ITALY.  Book  IIL 

pressed  the  spirits  of  the  Latins  as  much  as  it  raised  those  of  the 
Romans. 

The  skill  of  Manlius  now  finished  the  work  of  superstitious  awe. 
He  had  armed  his  accensi,  contrary  to  usual  custom ;  and  as  soon 
as  his  two  front  battalions  were  wearied,  he  brought  them  up  in 
place  of  the  triarii.  The  Latins,  thinking  they  were  triarii, 
brought  up  their  own  third  battalions,  who  thus  used  up  their 
W3apons  and  their  strength  upon  the  Roman  accensi.  Then  Man- 
lias  brought  up  his  real  triarii,  fresh  and  unbroken,  to  gain  an  easy 
victory  over  the  wearied  enemy.  They  fled  in  irretrievable 
confusion. 

Such  was  the  battle  of  Vesuvius,  which  decided  the  fate  of 
Latium  and  of  Campania.  We  know  not  what  part  the  Campa- 
nians  and  Samnites  took  in  it,  but  there  is  no  doubt  that 
they  were  engaged  as  allies  on  either  side.  The  Latins  en- 
deavoured to  make  a  stand  upon  the  Liris,  but  again  suffered 
a  defeat,  and  the  surviving  Consul  led  his  victorious  army  to 
Rom3. 

§  9.  If  the  greatness  of  a  Consul's  honours  were  proportioned 
to  the  importance  of  his  acts,  the  triumph  of  T.  Manlius  Torquatus 
ought  to  have  been  second  to  none ;  for  Capua,  Cumae,  Calcs,  and 
other  towns  in  Campania  were  among  the  conquered  ;  and  not 
only  Latium,  but  Campania  and  the  intervening  country  of  the 
Auruncans  and  Volscians,  remained  at  the  mercy  of  the  conquer- 
ors. But  the  memory  of  his  son  was  alive  ;  the  younger  men 
were  too  ma3h  struck  with  horror  at  the  remorseless  father  to  give 
glory  to  the  victorious  Consul,  and  a  gloomy  silence  attended  his 
progress  along  the  Forum  to  the  Capitol.  From  the  stern  exercise 
of  his  authority  he  is  said  to  have  derived  his  other  surname  of 
Imperiosus. 

§  10.  The  war  was  kept  up  the  next  year  by  several  Latin  cities, 
which,  however,  were  unable  to  keep  an  army  in  the  field.  Tibur, 
Prseneste,  Aricia,  Lavinium,  Yelitrai,  and  Antium  were  conquered 
successively  by  the  Consuls  Ti.  ^inilius  and  Q.  Publilius  Philo, 
but  Pedum  still  held  out  :  in  the  third  year,  however  (339  b.c), 
this  city  also  yielded,  and  the  Latin  war  was  ended. 

§  11.  The  country  that  was  left  at  the  mercy  of  Rome  by  the 
issue  of  the  Latin  war  was  a  large  tract,  comprehending  Latium 
itself,  the  country  of  the  Volscians  and  Auruncans  from  Anxur  or 
Terracina  to  the  mouth  of  the  Liris,  and  the  northern  district  of 
Campania  nearly  to  the  mouth  of  the  Vulturnus.  It  is  probable 
that  in  the  lower  part  of  Campania  the  Samnites  remained  para- 
mount :  but  Roman  Campania  was  the  vine-growmg  part  of  the 
country,  in  which  lay  Mons  Massicus  and  Cales,  and  the  famous 
Ager  Falernus,  while  northward,  among  the  Ausonians,  was  tho 


Chap.  XX.  SUBJECTION  OP  LATIUM.  191 

Ager  Csecubus  and  the  Formian  hills,  whose  wines  were  only 
second  to  those  of  Campania. 

It  was  a  rich  domain,  and  at  the  close  of  the  first  year  of  the  war 
the  Senate,  sure  of  their  prize,  proceeded  to  appropriate  part  of  the 
lands  of  these  comitries.  The  poorest  Plebeians,  lately  relieved  of 
the  pressure  of  debt,  now  received  portions  not  exceeding  three 
jugera  (nearly  2  acres)  apiece.*  The  allotments  were  small,  but 
with  the  help  of  pasturage  on  the  public  land,  this  was  enough  to 
enable  industrious  men  to  keep  free  from  debt. 

§  12.  However,  the  smallness  of  these  allotments  seems  to  have 
again  raised  discontent ;  and  in  the  second  year  of  the  Latin  war 
(340  B.C.)  the  Plebeian  Consul,  Q.  Publilius  Philo,  being  named 
Dictator  by  his  patrician  colleague  for  some  purpose  now  unknown, 
proposed  and  carried  three  laws  still  further  abridging  the  few  re- 
maining privileges  of  the  patrician  Lords. 

The  first  Publilian  law  enacted  that  one  of  the  Censors,  as  one 
of  the  Consuls,  must  bo  a  Plebeian,  which  confirmed  as  a  rule  what 
had  already  been  allowed ;  for  C.  Marcius  Rutilus  had  already 
held  this  office.f  The  second  gave  fuller  sanction  to  the  principle 
already  established,  that  the  Resolutions  of  the  Plebeian  Assembly 
should  have  the  force  of  law.];  The  third  provided  that  all  lawt 
passed  at  the  Comitia  of  the  Centuries  or  of  the  Tribes  should  re- 
ceive beforehand  the  sanction  of  the  Curies  ;||  so  that  this  Patrician 
Assembly  now  lost  all  power  of  stopping  or  rejecting  laws  proposed 
in  the  Popular  Assemblies.  It  is  remarkable  that  these  Publilian 
Laws  were  passed  with  very  little  open  opposition  on  the  part  of 
the  Patricians. 

§13.  After  the  surrender  of  Pedum,  in  the  third  year  of  the 
war,  the  Senate  proceeded  to  make  such  a  settlement  of  the  con- 
quered communities  as  might  deliver  Rome  from  all  future  fears  of 
insurrection.  The  principle  of  policy  was  that  which  was  steadily 
and  insidiously  pursued  in  all  future  dealings  with  conquered 
countries,  namely,  to  divide  the  interests  of  the  different  communi- 
ties by  bestowing  privileges  on  some,  and  by  reducing  others  to 
such  a  state  of  absolute  subjection  that  they  were  never  likely  again 
to  unite  in  arms.     It  should  be  added,  however,  that  hopes  were 

*  Some  received  allotments  on  the  public  lands  of  Latium  and  the  Yolsci, 
and  these  portions  only  amounted  to  2f  jugera.  But  those  who  were  settled 
on  the  Falernian  lands  had  three. — Liv.  viii.  11. 

f  See  Chapt.  xvii.  §  1. 

\.  '■'■  Ut  Plebiscita  omnes  Quirites  tenerent,''^ — which  seems  to  have  been 
merely  a  re-enactment  of  the  Valerio-Horatian  law  mentioned  in  Chapt.  x. 
§  22  ( 2). — See  below,  Chapt.  xxv.  §  2. 

'I  "Ut  Legum,  quae  Comitiis  Centuriatis  ferrentur,  ante  initum  suffragium 
Patres  auctores  fierent." — This  was  clearly  a  diminution  of  the  power  of  the 
Comitia  Curiata. 


192  ROME  CONQUEROR  OF  ITALY.  Book  IH, 

held  out  to  those  who  were  most  severely  punished  that  by  obedi- 
ence and  good  service  they  might  hereafter  gain  the  privileges  of 
the  most  highly  favoured. 

§  14.  It  will  be  necessary  hereto  say  a  few  words  on  the  nature 
of  the  privileges  which  Rome  was  able  to  bestow  upon  her  subjects 
or  to  withhold  from  them. 

All  Burgesses  of  Rome,  now  that  no  political  distinction  re 
mained  between  Patrician  and  Plebeian,  enjoyed  the  same  rights. 
Tliese  rights  are  commonly  divided  into  two  classes,  the  Private 
and  the  Public.  The  private  rights  of  a  Roman  citizen  were  (1) 
the  power  of  legal  marriage  with  all  families  of  citizens,  (2)  the 
power  of  making  legal  contracts  of  bargain  and  sale,  so  that  he 
might  hold  land  and  houses  by  a  good  title  in  any  part  of  the 
Roman  territory,  (3)  the  power  of  devising  property  by  will,  and 
of  inheriting  property,  with  other  smaller  privileges  of  which  it  is 
needless  to  speak  here.*  The  Public  Rights  were  (1)  the  power 
of  voting  in  the  great  popular  assemblies,  the  Comitia  of  the 
Centuries  and  of  the  tribes,  in  all  matters  of  legislation,  in  the 
election  of  magistrates,  in  the  trial  of  fellow-citizens,  and  (2)  the 
power  of  being  elected  to  all  offices  of  State.f 

When  foreign  lands  were  incorporated  with  Rome,  the  free 
citizens  residing  in  those  lands  became  entitled  to  all  these  Rights, 
both  Private  and  Public.  But  it  was  common  for  Rome  to  enter 
into  relations  with  foreign  communities  on  such  conditions,  that 
she  granted  a  portion  of  those  Rights  to  the  citizens  of  those  com- 
munities, and  received  for  her  own  citizens  corresponding  rights  in 
those  communities.  Thus  the  citizens  of  Capua  might  possess  the 
Private  Rights  of  a  Roman  Citizen  at  Rome,  and  reciprocally  a 
Roman  burgess  might  be  able  to  exercise  the  same  Rights  at 
Capua.  It  is  obvious  that  these  concessions  might  be  made  in 
various  degrees  of  completeness.  All  Private  Rights  might  be 
granted,  or  only  some  ;  or  to  the  Private  Rights  might  be  added  a 
power  of  obtainmg  even  the  Public  Rights,  that  is,  of  becoming  a 
burgess  of  Rome. 

§  15.  It  is  probable  that  by  the  League  of  Spurius  Cassius,  and 
by  the  League  renewed  by  Plautius  in  356  b.c,  this  equal  relation 
was  established  between  Rome  and  her  subject  communities 
on  the  one  hand,  and  all  the  independent  Latin  communities  on 
the  other.  Romans  possessed  the  Private  Rights  of  citizenship  in 
all  these  communities,  and  Latins  possessed  the  same  Rights 
at  Rome.  It  is  probable  also  that  the  citizens  of  each  of  the 
two  parties  to   this   League  had  some  power  of  obtaining  the 

*  Jvs  ConniMi,  Jus  Commercii,  Jus  Testamentifaciionis  et  Ecercdiia'is, 
etc. 

f  Jus  Suffragii,  Jus  Honorum, 


Chap.  XX.  SUBJECTION  OF  LATIUM.  Id3 

Public  Rights  in  the  allied  states.  A  Roman  might  become  the 
burgess  of  one  of  the  Latin  communities,  a  Latin  might  become 
a  burgess  of  Rome.  In  Campania  also  similar  relations  seem  to 
have  existed  between  Rome  and  the  chief  Campanian  communi- 
ties before  the  great  war  of  which  we  are  speaking. 

§  16.  But  now,  at  the  end  of  the  year  339  B.C.,  Latium,  Cam- 
pania, and  the  intervening  country,  lay  at  the  feet  of  Rome,  and  no 
such  equality  was  thought  of  for  the  future.  A  complete  division 
of  interest  was  made,  and  all  union  between  the  cities  was  rendered 
difficult. 

(1.)  Some  Latin  communities  with  their  lands  were  at  once 
added  to  the  Roman  territory,  so  that  their  citizens  became  citi- 
zens of  Rome  and  voted  in  the  Comitia.  This  complete  incor- 
poration was  conferred  upon  Lanuvium,  Tusculum,  Nomentum, 
and  Velitrse.  Part  of  these  lands  were  added  to  Tribes  already 
existing,*  but  the  greater  part  was  comprehended  in  two  new 
Tribes,  which  were  formed  by  the  next  Censors  in  332  b.c,  so 
that  now  the  Roman  Tribes  amounted  in  number  to  tv/enty- 
nlne.f  It  must  be  observed,  however,  that  no  reward  was 
herein  conferred  upon  Velitrse,  which  had  been  pertinacious  in 
its  resistance  during  the  war ;  for  its  walls  were  thrown  down 
and  its  chief  citizens  banished  beyond  the  Tiber,  while  its  lands 
were  divided  among  Plebeians  of  Rome.  It  was  not,  therefore, 
the  Latins  of  Velitrse,  but  the  new  Roman  settlers  who  became 
members  of  the  Tribe  in  which  the  city  stood ;  but  in  the 
other  three  cities  the  Latin  inhabitants  henceforth  became  Ro- 
mans. It  is  probable  that  Aricia  and  Pedum  were  treated  in  the 
same  manner  as  Velitrse. 

(2.)  Tibur  and  Prseneste  were  deprived  of  a  portion  of  their 
territory,  which  thus  became  part  of  the  public  domain  of  Rome ; 
otherwise  they  remained  independent.  Probably  they  were  still 
too  powerful  to  be  treated  without  regard.  Prseneste  more  than 
once  again  appeared  in  arms  against  Rome. 

(3.)  The  other  Latin  Communities  were  prohibited  from  enter- 
ing i^ito  any  relations,  private  or  public,  one  with  another.  The 
citizens  of  one  town  could  not  enter  legal  marriage  with  the 
family  of  another  town,  nor  make  a  legal  contract  of  bargain 
and  sale  with  any  but  one  of  his  own  townsmen.  This  severe 
penal  enactment  shows  that  they  were  reduced  into  a  state  of 
absolute  subjection  to  Rome,  and  the  isolation  which  was  its 
consequence  effectually  maintained  that  subjection..    Many  Latin 

*  Tusculum  was  added  to  the  old  Papirian  tribe. — Liv.  viii.  37. 

f  "  Eodem  anno  census  actus,  novique  cives  censi :  Tribus  propter  eos 
additae,  Maecia  et  Scaptia." — Liv.  viii.  17.  The  last  had  been  added  mora 
than  50  years  before. — Chapt.  xviii.  §  2. 

9 


194  ROME  CONQUEROR  Oi  ITALY.  Book  III. 

Cities  had  been  destroyed  by  the  Gauls :  others  now  began  to 
dwindle  away  :  so  early  began  that  chain  of  causes  which  has 
ended  in  the  present  desolation  of  the  Campagna.  In  course  of 
time  their  territory  was  nearly  all  incorporated  with  the  Roman 
Tribes,  and  Latin  families  derived  from  these  towns  furnished 
some  of  the  most  illustrious  generals  and  statesmen  of  Rome. 
The  Fulvii,  the  Curii,  the  Coruncanii  were  of  Latin  origin: 
Marius  and  Cicero,  as  is  well  known,  derived  their  origin  from 
the  little  Volscian  town  of  Arpinum. 

§  17.  The  Oscan  communities  between  Latium  and  Campania, 
with  the  chief  cities  of  Northern  Campania,  were  admitted  into 
alliance  with  Rom  3  much  on  the  same  terms  that  had  before 
subsisted  between  Rome  and  the  communities  of  Latium.  Capua 
especially  appears  in  later  history  on  terms  as  equal  as  ever  had 
been  enjoyed  by  Tusculum,  or  Tibur,  or  Prseneste.  The  chief 
men,  whom  Livy  calls  the  Knights,  were  (as  we  have  seen)  pro- 
bably of  Samnite  origin,  and  had  taken  part  with  Rome  in  the 
late  Latin  war,  while  the  mas^  of  the  Oscan  popidation  joined 
their  countrymen  against  the  Latins.  It  is  likely  that  these  men 
were  now  restored  as  a  Patrician  order  in  Capua,  and  that  the 
privileges  of  equal  alliance  referred  to  them  alone.  Probably, 
also,  in  Cumse,  Suessula,  Formise,  and  Fundi,  where  similar  pri- 
vileges were  granted,  similar  political  revolutions  took  place.  A 
Patriciate  was  formed  and  put  in  possession  of  political  privi- 
leges, while  the  mass  of  the  people  were  left  in  the  former  con- 
dition of  the  Plebeians  at  Rome.  Thus  the  Patricians  or  govern- 
ing body  in  each  city  would  be  anxious  to  maintain  alliance  with 
Rome,  because  on  that  depended  the  maintenance  of  their  own 
supremac}' 


Terracina. 


CHAPTER   XXI. 

EVENTS    LEADING   TO    THE  SECOND  SAMNITE  WAR.       (337 326  B.C.) 

§  1.  Next  twelve  years  without  great  events :  measures  of  precaution  againi 
Samnites,  §  2.  Revolt  of  Cales :  Colony  there.  §  3.  Alexander  of  Mo 
lossus  engaged  by  Tarentines  to  make  war  with  Lucanians  :  Treaty  of 
Romans  with  him.  §  4.  Colony  sent  to  Fregellae.  §  5.  Generous  treat- 
ment of  Privemum :  Thirty-one  Tribes,  §  6.  Colony  to  Terracina.  §  ,7. 
Dispute  with  Palsepolis,  which  calls  in  a  ^amnite  garrison.  §  8.  Publilius 
Philo  besieges  Palaepolis :  first  Proconsul :  destruction  of  Palsepolis.  §  9. 
From  these  causes  of  quarrel,  Second  Samnite  War  breaks  out.  ^ 

§  1.  The  first  war  with  the  Samnites,  followed  so  closely  by 
the  great  Latin  War,  must  have  exhausted  the  resources  of 
Rome  ;  a  time  of  peace  and  quiet  was  necessary  to  restore  them. 
But  it  was  impossible  for  two  aggressive  nations  like  the  Romans 
and  the  Samnites  to  remain  long  in  alliance.  Almost  every 
event  which  occurred  in  the  next  twelve  years  shows  that  war, 
though  staved  off  for  the  present,  must  be  renewed  in  no  very 
long  time. 

Of  these  events  we  will  now  take  a  short  survey,  noticing  par- 
ticularly how  well  the  Romans  employed  the  interval  to 
strengthen  themselves  on  the  Samnite  frontierc 


196  ROME  CONQUEROR  OF  ITALY.  Book  IIL 

§  2.  It  appears  that  the  Sidicines,  in  the  late  settlement  of 
Campania,  had  been  left  independent,  as  a  sort  of  border  country 
between  the  Roman  and  the  Samnite  borders.  This  people,  not 
satisfied  with  neutrality,  drove  the  Auruncans  of  Cales  into 
revolt  against  Rome,  and  a  short  war  followed.  Cales  was 
speedily  reduced  by  Valerius  Corvus,  Consul  in  b.c.  335  ;  and, 
to  prevent  all  future  trouble,  was  occupied  by  a  Colony  of  2500 
citizens  (b.c.  334).  These  settlers  became  as  it  were  the  Patri- 
cians of  the  Colony,  sharing  the  public  domain  amongst  them ; 
while  the  old  population  was  reduced  to  the  position  of  Ple- 
beians; and  therefore  it  was  for  the  interest  of  the  colonists 
always  to  remain  faithful  to  Rome.  Thus  one  outpost  was 
planted  in  the  newly-conquered  country,  so  placed  as  to  defend  it 
against  the  Saranites. 

§  3.  Three  years  after  (b.c.  332)  news  came  to  Rome  that 
Alexander,  King  of  Molossus,  had  landed  in  Southern  Italy  with 
an  army.  This  Alexander  was  uncle  of  Alexander  the  Great, 
being  brother  of  his  mother  Olympias.  He  had  been  invited 
to  cross  the  sea  by  the  Tarentines,  whose  practice  it  was  to  hire 
foreign  armies  commanded  by  leaders  of  note,  in  order  to  defend 
til 3m  against  their  barbarous  neighbours,  the  Lucanians.  Alex- 
ander defeated  these  people  near  Psestum  ;  and  the  Senate  forth- 
with sent  to  form  an  alliance  with  him,  thinking  he  might  be  of 
service  to  them  in  any  future  war  with  the  Samnites.  This 
was  dishonest ;  for  Rome  was  already  in  alliance  with  the  Sam- 
nites, and  the  Samnites  were  at  war  with  Alexander.  Nor  did  it 
profit  them ;  for  Alexander,  who  had  come  into  Italy  not  so  much 
to  assist  the  Tarentines  as  to  win  a  kingdom  for  himself,  was  slain 
not  long  after  in  a  second  battle  at  Pandosia. 

§  4.  Another  event  brought  the  two  nations  still  nearer  a 
direct  collision.  It  will  be  remembered  that  the  Samnites  had 
conquered  the  Yolscian  country  in  the  Upper  Liris ;  that  they 
had  been  left  in  possession  of  their  conquests  at  the  settlement 
which  followed  the  Great  Latin  War.  From  this  frontier  they 
S3  2m  to  have  gone  on  to  attack  other  Volscian  towns  now  under 
th3  protection  of  Rome;  for  in  the  year  328  b.c.  we  find  the 
Volscians  of  Fabrateria,  near  Fregellse,  imploring  the  assistance 
of  Rome.  The  appeal  was  listened  to  at  once.  The  Senate 
warned  the  Samnites  to  abstain  from  further  inroads ;  and  not 
content  with  this,  they  proceeded  to  occupy  Fregollae  with  a  strong 
body  of  Colonists.  This  second  Colony  on  the  Samnite  frontier 
was  destined  to  command  the  upper  or  inland  road  from  Latium 
into  Campania. 

§  5.  Two  years  before  (330  b.c.)  one  of  the  newly-conquered 
Volscian  cities  had  revolted  against  Rome.     This  was  Privernum^ 


CiiAP.  XXI.         CAUSES  OF  SECOND  SAMNITE  WAR.  197 

and  the  revolt  was  countenanced  by  Fundi,  and  perhaps  other 
Auruncan  towns ;  for  Vitruvius  Vaccus,  a  wealthy  citizen  of 
Fundi,  who  had  lately  settled  at  Rome,  appears  as  the  leader  of 
the  Privernatians.  The  revolt  was  soon  crushed  :  but  the  Pri- 
vernatians,  contrary  to  custom,  were  treated  with  indulgent 
favour  by  the  Senate.  Their  deputies,  being  asked  by  the  Con- 
sul, "  What  was  due  to  such  conduct  as  theirs  ?''  boldly  re- 
plied by  another  question  : — "  What  is  due  to  brave  men  who 
have  fought  for  freedom  ?"  "  Well,  but  if  we  spare  you,"  re- 
joined the  Consul,  "  what  are  we  to  expect  ?"  "  Peace,"  was  the 
reply,  "  if  you  treat  us  well ;  but  if  ill,  a  speedy  return  to  war." 
Tlien  the  Senate  voted  that  the  people  of  Privernum  should  be 
admitted  to  be  Roman  citizens ;  and  not  long  after,  they  were 
included  in  two  new  Oscan  Tribes,  which,  being  added  to  the 
Roman  territory,  made  the  Tribes  thirty-one  in  all*  Probably 
this  conduct  was  rather  politic  than  magnanimous.  It  was 
evidently  well  calculated  to  make  the  Oscan  nations  satisfied 
with  Roman  sovereignty,  and  willing  to  take  part  with  Rome 
rather  than  with  the  Samnites. 

§  6.  Shortly  after  this  the  Senate  placed  a  Colony  of  300 
Roman  citizens  in  the  strong  city  of  Anxur,  or  Terracina.  This 
Colony  was  of  a  different  sort  from  those  of  Cales  and  Fregellse 
(as  shall  hereafter  be  explained).  It  was  intended  to  command 
the  lower  or  coast  road  from  Latium  into  Campania,  as  Fregellae 
did  the  upper  or  inland.  A  Colony,  planted  in  Antium  at  the 
close  of  the  Latin  war,  had  a  similar  effect. 

§  7.  In  the  year  327  b.c.  began  the  dispute  which  was  the 
immediate  cause  of  the  great  Samnite  War.  Parthenope  was 
an  ancient  Greek  colony  founded  by  the  Chalcidians  of  Cuma 
on  the  northern  part  of  the  Bay  of  Naples.  In  after  years  an- 
other city  sprung  up  a  little  to  the  south,  whence  the  original 
Parthenope  was  called  Pala?polis,  or  Old-town,  while  the  New  Town 
took  the  name  of  Neapolis.  The  latter  preserves  its  name  in 
the  modern  Naples ;  the  former  has  so  utterly  disappeared  that 
its  site  is  a  matter  of  guess.  These  two  cities  (as  has  been 
stated)  were  considered  to  be  free  and  independent,  though  the 
main  part  of  the  country  above  had  been  seized  by  the  Samnites. 
Now  at  the  time  just  mentioned  the  Senate  sent  to  Pala3polis  to 
complain  of  piracies  and  other  outrages  committed  upon  Roman 
subjects  in  Campania.  But  the  Greek  city,  being  closely  allied 
with  her  sister  Neapolis  and  the  great  Oscan  town  of  Nola 
(which  had  almost  become  Greek),  seeing  also  that  she  might 
count  on  the  aid  of  the  Samnites  against  Rome,  and  being 
secretly  instigated  by  the  Tarentines,  refused  to  give  any  satis- 
*  "Duse  Romae  additae  Tribus,  Ufentina  et  Faleriaa." — Liv.  ix.  20. 


198  ROME  CONQUEROR  OF  ITALY.  Book  III. 

faction  for  the  alleged  injuries.  On  this  the  Senate  declared  war, 
and  ordered  L.  Pablilius  Philo,  the  plebeian  Consul,  to  besiege 
Palaepolis ;  and  this  city  on  her  part  received  a  garrison,  consisting 
(it  was  said)  of  2000  Nolans  and  4000  Samnites. 

§  8.  The  Consul  encamped  between  the  two  cities,  the  new 
and  the  old  :  but  the  Romans  were  at  this  time  unskilful  in 
sieges,  and  the  year  drew  on  without  any  great  advance  being 
made.  Publilius  Philo,  however,  was  a  deserved  favourite  of  the 
people,  and  in  order  to  enable  him  to  continue  the  war,  he 
received  the  title  of  Pro-consul,  with  the  command  of  the  be- 
sieging army  for  the  next  year — the  first  example  of  a  practice 
which  afterwards  became  common.  Still  all  his  efforts  might 
have  been  vain,  had  not  two  traitor  Greeks,  holding  high  offices 
in  Palaepolis,  offered  to  betray  the  city.  This  offer  was  eagerly 
accepted,  and  the  Romans  were  admitted  into  the  old  town  at  one 
gate,  while  the  Samnite  garrison  left  it  by  the  opposite  side. 
From  this  time  we  hear  no  more  of  Palaspolis.  The  Neapolitans, 
foreseeing  the  ascendency  of  Rome,  entered  into  a  treaty  of  peace 
with  the  Senate  ;  and  Publilius  returned  home  completely  suc- 
cessful. He  was  the  first  Pro-consul ;  he  was  also  the  first  general 
who  was  allowed  to  triumph  before  he  had  laid  down  his  office. 

§  9.  While  these  affairs  were  going  on,  war  broke  out  with  the 
Samnites.  The  Senate  sent  ambassadors  to  complain  of  the 
conduct  of  these  people  in  encouraging  the  men  of  Privernum  to 
revolt,  and  in  supporting  the  Greeks  of  Palaepolis  against  Rome. 
The  Samnites  denied  both  charges,  and  fiercely  retorted  upon 
Rome  for  daring  to  colonise  Fregellae,  which  they  had  taken  and 
destroyed.  "  What  need  of  further  trifling  ?"  said  they  ;  "  war 
is  the  only  way  to  settle  our  disputes,  and  the  plain  of  Campania 
must  be  our  battle-ground.  There  let  us  meet,  between  Capua 
and  Suessula,  and  decide  which  is  to  be  mistress  of  Italy,  Samnium 
or  Rome."  But  the  Romans,  coldly  replying  that  it  was  their 
custom  to  choose  their  own  field  of  battle,  contented  themselves 
with  declaring  war ;  and  the  colleague  of  Publilius  was  ordered 
to  enter  the  Samnite  frontiers.  Thus  in  the  year  326  b.c.  was 
war  again  begun  between  Rome  and  Samnium.  This  time  it 
lasted,  not  two  years,  as  before,  but  twenty-two.  It  was  a 
desolating  warfare,  which  brought  both  nations  to  the  last  stage 
of  exhaustion.     But  Rome  remained  the  conqueror. 


Beneventum  in  Samnium. 


CHAPTER    XXII. 


THE    GREAT    8AMNITE    WAB,    COMMONLY    CALLED    THE    SECOND. 
(326—304  B.C.) 

§  1.  Part  taken  in  war  by  nations  of  Southern  Italy.  §  2.  Leading  men  of 
Rome:  M.  Valerius  Corvus,  M.  Papirius  Cursor,  Q.  Fabius,  P.  Decius  the 
younger,  etc.  §  3.  War  divided  into  three  periods.  §  4.  First  Period 
(326-322),  in  which  Romans  gain  the  upper  hand,  §  5.  Second  Period 
(b.c.  321-315):  great  defeat  of  Roman  army  at  Furculae  Caudinae,  ^  6. 
Pontius  passes  Romans  under  yoke,  and  releases  them  on  conditions  of  peace. 
§.  7.  Peace  repudiated  by  Senate,  §  8.  Remarks  on  their  conduct,  §  9. 
Continued  success  of  Samnites,  till  315,  §  10.  Third  Period  (314-304): 
precautionary  measures:  Capua  called  to  account:  Colonists  sent  to  Fre- 
gellae,  Casinum,  Interamna,  Suessa.  §  11,  War  declared  by  Etruscans, 
§  12,  Great  defeat  of  Samnites  by  Papirius,  §  13,  Of  Etruscans  by  Fabius. 
§  14.  Samnites  sue  for  Peace  (304  B.C.)  §  15.  Why  Senate  was  ready  to 
come  to  terms. — Thirty-three  Tribes. 

§  1.  War  being  declared,  the  Senate  hastened  to  detach  from  the 
cause  of  the  Samnites  such  of  the  Sabellian  tribes  as  would  listen 
to  their  diplomacy.  They  appear  to  have  been  successful  with 
some  of  the  Lucanian  and  some  of  the  Apulian  communities. 
We  find,  indeed,  that  theLucanians  soon  after  took  part  with  the 


200  ROME  CONQUEROR  OF  ITALY.  .    Book  IIL 

Saranites ;  but  their  aid  seems  to  have  been  of  an  uncertain  and 
unstable  character.  The  alliance  formed  with  the  Apulian  tribes 
was  more  serviceable  to  Rome. 

Tarentum,  which  was  now  the  chief  of  the  Greek  cities  in  the 
South  of  Italy,  took  no  direct  part  in  the  war,  but  regarded  it  with 
no  common  interest.  Lately  the  Samnites  and  Ijucanians  had 
been  her  chief  enemies  ;  but  the  conquests  of  Rome,  and  especially 
the  fall  of  Palsepolis,  had  excited  the  interest  and  the  fears  of  the 
Greek  cities  in  the  south,  and  their  good  wishes  were  on  the  side 
of  Samnium.  Indeed,  we  are  expressly  told  that  it  was  by  the 
arts  of  the  Tarentines  that  the  Lucanians  were  detached  from  their 
alliance  with  Rome.* 

§  2.  Such  was  the  state  of  the  neighbouring  nations  when  war 
broke  out.  It  will  be  useful  here  to  notice  the  men  whom  the 
Romans  expected  to  lead  them  to  victory. 

Of  T.  Manlius  Torquatus,  the  conqueror  of  the  Latins,  we  hear 
not.  Either  he  was  dead,  or  the  horror  caused  by  the  ruthless 
execution  of  his  son  prevented  his  being  again  elected  Consul.  But 
M.  Valerius  Corvus,  the  conqueror  of  the  Samnites  in  the  First 
War,  was  still  in  the  vigour  of  life.  He  had  been  first  elected 
Consul  in  the  year  346,  at  the  early  age  of  twenty-three,  now, 
therefore,  he  was  little  more  than  forty-four.  Four  times  had  he 
been  Consul ;  and  as  Dictator,  in  the  year  after  his  Samnite  vic- 
tory, he  had  quelled  a  dangerous  insurrection  without  bloodshed. 
In  the  course  of  this  war  he  was  once  more  Dictator  and  twice 
Consul. 

But  the  general  in  whom  the  Senate  seem  to  have  placed  most 
confidence  was  M.  Papirius  Cursor.  Four  times  was  he  made 
Consul  in  this  war,  and  once  Dictator,  and  his  services  were  usually 
called  for  in  the  greatest  emergencies.  He  was  a  man  of  little 
education,  of  great  bodily  strength,  and  especially  remarkable  for 
his  swiftness  of  foot  (whence  his  name  of  Cursor) ;  able  to  endure 
all  extremes  of  hunger,  cold,  and  fatigue  ;  and  not  without  a  rough 
sort  of  humour.  Once,  it  is  said,  the  troops  asked  for  some  remis- 
sion of  duty  in  reward  for  good  service :  "  Very  well,"  said  he, 
"  you  need  not  stroke  your  horses  on  the  back  when  you  dismount." 
Again,  an  offender  was  brought  before  him  as  he  was  walking  up 
and  down  in  front  of  his  tent,  and  straightway  he  bade  the  lictor 
get  ready  his  axe.  The  culprit,  pale  with  fear,  stood  expecting  his 
death-blow,  when  Papirius  said — "  Here,  lictor,  cut  away  this  root, 
or  'twill  trip  me  up  as  I  walk ;"  and  then  dismissed  the  trembling 
wretch.  A  man  of  this  kind  was  sure  to  be  popular  with  the  sol- 
diers ;  yet  often  he  lost  their  good-will  by  his  violent  and  overbear- 
ing conduct. 

*  Liv.  viil  21,  fin. 


OMAP.  XXII.  SECOND  SAMIOTE  WAR.  201 

Q.  Fabius  Maximus*  was  perhaps  the  most  considerable  man 
of  the  time.  He  was  a  patrician,  but  the  warm  friend  of  the 
plebeian  P.  Decius,  the  son  of  that  Decius  who  devoted  himself  so 
nobly  in  the  Latin  War.  Fabius  more  than  once  proved  himself 
the  better  genius  of  Rome,  in  the  latter  part  of  this  war  and  after- 
wards. 

With  these  three  Patricians  must  be  remembered  the  names  of 
C.  Marcius  Rutilus  and  Q.  Publilius  Philo,  Plebeians,  who  have 
already  been  mentioned  more  than  once. 

To  oppose  these  Ronian  chiefs,  the  Samnites  had  no  doubt  bold 
and  skilful  leaders  ;  for  during  a  great  part  of  the  war  their  arms 
were  in  the  ascendant.  But  the  only  name  we  know  is  that  of  C. 
Pontius ;  and  a  fitter  place  will  occur  presently  to  speak  of  this 
great  man. 

§  3.  The  war  itself  may  be  conveniently  divided  into  three 
periods  :  the  first,  from  326  to  322,  when  the  Samnites  were  so  far 
reduced  as  to  sue  for  peace;  the  second  from  321,  when  the  Ro- 
mans were  defeated  at  the  Caudine  Forks,  to  315,  when  the  Sam- 
nites gained  another  victory  at  Lautulse,  and  Capua  threatened  to 
revolt;  the  third,  from  314,  when  the  Roman  fortune  again  began 
to  prevail,  to  304,  when  the  war  ended. 

§  4.  First  Period  (326— 322).— The  year  after  the  fall  of  Pa^ 
Isepolis,  the  Senate  boldly  ordered  the  Consul  D.  Junius  Brutus  to 
march  into  the  allied  country  of  Apulia,  in  order  to  attack  the  Sam- 
nites from  that  quarter,  while  the  other  Consul  entered  Samnium 
from  Campania.  By  this  means  they  hoped  to  avert  the  war  from 
their  own  territory,  as  they  had  done  successfully  in  the  Latin 
war.  Brutus  was  refused  a  passage  through  the  Vestinian  country, 
and  spent  the  whole  year  in  reducing  these  people  to  submission. 
The  purpose  of  this  was,  no  doubt,  to  secure  a  passage  into 
Apulia. 

Meantime,  the  other  Consul  being  sick,  M.  Papirius  Cursor  was 
named  Dictator  to  act  in  his  place,  and  he  chose  Q.  Fabius  as  his 
Master  of  Horse.  The  Dictator  found  the  Samnite  army  ad- 
vanced to  the  edge  of  the  Lower  Apennines,  which  overhang 
the  Latian  Plain,  somewhere  in  the  neighbourhood  of  Sublaqueum 
(Subiaco),  and  there  he  fixed  his  camp.  Being  recalled  to  Rome 
to  rectify  some  mistake  in  the  auguries,  he  left  the  army  in  com- 
mand of  Fabius,  strictly  charging  him  not  to  venture  on  an  action. 
But  in  a  day  or  two,  as  he  was  presiding  in  the  Senate,  a  message 
reached  him  to  say  that  his  Master  of  Horse  had  been  so  pro- 
voked by  the  hourly  insults  of  the  enemy,  that  he  had  attacked 
them  and  gained  a  signal  victory.     Papirius  rushed  out  of  the 

*  Also  called  Rullianua.  From  this  name  it  should  seem  that  he  was 
adopted  by  a  Fabius  from  the  Gens  RuUia. 

9* 


202  ROME  CONQUEROR  OF  ITALY.  Book  IIL 

Senate-house,  and  went  straight  to  the  army,  vowing  that  his 
rebellious  officer  should  die  the  death  of  young  Manlius,  the  son 
of  Torquatus.  But  Fabius,  being  forewarned,  called  the  soldiers 
together,  and  told  them  of  his  danger;  whereupon  they  bade 
him  be  of  good  cheer,  for  they  would  stand  between  him  and 
the  Dictator's  wrath.  The  latter,  as  soon  as  he  arrived,  ordered 
the  lictors  to  seize  Fabius,  who  took  refuge  among  the  veterans ; 
and  after  a  long  struggle,  the  Dictator  was  obliged  to  let  matters 
stand  over  till  the  next  day.  Meantime,  Fabius  fled  to  Rome, 
and  appeared  before  the  Senate  to  tell  his  story.  But  Papirius 
pursuing  him,  entered  the  Senate-house  and  ordered  the  lictors 
to  arrest  him.  A  scene  of  great  violence  followed;  and  at 
length  the  Dictator  was  obliged  to  yield  to  the  wishes  of  both 
Senate  and  People.  But  the  pardon  he  granted  was  forced  and 
ungracious,  and  on  his  return  to  the  camp  he  found  the  army 
ripe  for  mutiny  and  unwilling  to  fight.  Then  even  his  stubborn 
will  gave  way  ;  he  found  it  necessary  to  curb  his  angry  temper, 
and  adopt  gentler  manners ;  till  at  length,  having  recovered  the 
good-will  of  the  soldiery,  he  again  attacked  the  enemy,  and  again 
defeated  them. 

So  discouraged  were  the  Samnites,  that  they  sued  for  peace ;  but 
only  a  year's  truce  was  granted,  at  the  end  of  which  hostilities 
were  resumed  with  the  same  fortune  as  before.  They  were  again 
defeated  in  a  great  battle  on  the  borders  of  their  own  country ; 
while  Q.  Fabius,  now  Consul,  made  an  irruption  into  the  northern 
part  of  Apulia,  which  was  still  subject  to  the  Samnites,  and 
took  Luceria,  with  other  places.  On  these  losses,  the  enemy 
prayed  for  peace  more  earnestly  than  before ;  but  the  Senate 
refused  to  treat  unless  Brutulus  Papius,  whom  they  accounted 
the  leader  of  the  war-party,  were  first  delivered  up.  This  man 
nobly  said  that  he  would  not  stand  in  the  way  of  his  country's 
wishes,  and  sought  a  voluntary  death.  Then  the  Samnites  sent 
ambassadors  to  Rome,  bearing  the  body  of  Papius,  to  repeat  their 
former  prayer.  But  this  unworthy  treatment  of  a  man  whose 
only  fault  seems  to  have  been  that  he  loved  his  county  too  well, 
was  of  no  avail.  The  conditions  of  peace  oftered  by  the  Senate 
were  so  hard,  that  it  was  thought  that  a  war  ever  so  unsuccessful 
could  bring  about  no  worse  results.  It  was  determined  to  renew 
hostilities. 

§  5.  Second  Period  (321 — 315  b.c.) — As  during  the  first  five 
years  of  the  war  the  Roman  arms  had  prevailed,  so  during  the 
next  seven  the  Samnites  were  almost  uniformly  successful.  This 
success  was  mainly  due  to  C.  Pontius.  Herennius,  his  father, 
was  famed  for  wisdom,  not  without  reason  ;  for  he  had  drank  at 
the  fountain  of  Greek  philosophy,  having  been  the  friend  of  th«i. 


Chap.  XXll  SECOND  SAMNITE  WAR.  20^ 

Pythagorean  sage  Archytas,*  who  had  governed  Tarentum  with 
wisdom  and  virtue  for  many  years.  Herennius  had  paid  great 
attention  to  the  education  of  his  son,  and  the  name  of  C.  Pontius 
stood  so  high,  that  he  was  elected  captain-general  of  the  Samnite 
League. 

The  very  first  year  of  his  command  was  marked  by  one  of  the 
greatest  disgraces  which  the  Roman  armies  ever  suffered.  This 
was  the  famous  affair  of  the  Caudine  Forks  (Furculae  Caudinae). 

It  appears  that  in  thib  year  (321  b.c.)  both  the  Consuls,  T. 
Veturius  and  Sp.  Posthumius,  had  been  ordered  to  march  into 
Campania,  in  order  to  attack  Samnium  from  that  country.  When 
they  reached  Capua,  they  heard  that  Pontius  with  the  whole  Sam- 
nite army  was  besieging  Luceria.  Thinking  that,  unless  they  hast- 
ened by  the  shortest  w^ay  into  Apulia,  the  whole  country  might 
fall  away  from  the  Romans,  they  marched  straight  northward  into 
Samnium,  taking  the  road  which  led  by  Calatia  through  the 
mountains  to  Beneventum,  the  chief  town  of  the  Caudini.  Soon 
after  the  road  enters  the  mountains,  the  valley  becomes  very  nar- 
row :  it  then  opens  out  into  a  small  plain,  and  then  closes  in  again.f 
When  the  Roman  armies,  after  traversing  the  plain,  attempted  to 
defile  through  the  pass  at  the  far  end  of  it,  they  found  they  had 
been  deceived  by  false  reports.  The  enemy  had  indeed  besieged 
Luceria ;  but  C.  Pontius  himself,  with  the  best  of  his  troops,  had 
beset  the  road,  and  was  so  strongly  posted,  that  it  seemed  impossi- 
ble to  force  a  passage.  The  Consuls  then  turned  about,  intending 
to  go  back  into  Campania  and  seek  another  way  into  Apulia,  but 
they  found  that  the  enemy  had  in  the  meantime  taken  possession 
of  the  pass  by  which  they  had  entered,  so  that  they  were  hemmed 
in  both  in  front  and  rear.  The  hills  on  either  side  were  also 
guarded,  so  that  escape  was  impossible.  Still  the  Romans  made  a 
desperate  attempt  to  force  their  way  out  of  this  trap,  but  at  what 
point  is  unknown.  Great  njimbers  fell ;  one-half  of  their  officers 
were  killed  or  wounded  ;  and  not  till  then  did  the  Consuls  offer 
to  treat. J; 

§  6.  Pontius  was  so  elated  by  his  great  success,  that  he  knew  not 
what  would  be  the  best  use  to  make  of  his  victory.  In  this  state 
of  doubt  he  sent  for  his  sage  father,  and  demanded  counsel.  "  Two 
courses  are  open  to  you,"  said  Herennius,  "  either  to  put  all  to  the 

*  Cicero  de  Senect.  c.  12. 

f  The  place  is  uncertain.  It  was  certainly  on  the  road  from  Capua  to 
Beneventum,  and  must  have  been  either  the  Stretto  d'Arpaia,  a  narrow  defile 
between  Arienzo  and  Arpaia,  or  the  depressed  valley  beyond  Arpaia,  between 
that  place  and  Montesarchio. 

X  Livy  mentions  no  battle  :  he  did  not  see  that  defeat  was  more  glorious 
than  surrender.  But  the  battle  is  expressly  mentioned  by  Cicero  (de  Offic. 
iii.  30,  de  Senect.  12),  and  the  great  loss  is  specified  by  Appian. 


204  ROME  CONQUEROR  OP  ITALY.  Book  ID. 

sword,  and  deprive  your  enemies  of  a  brave  army  ;  or  to  let  them 
go  untouched,  and  make  them  your  friends."  This  advice  has 
been  highly  praised,  but  without  much  reason.  It  sounds  like 
the  policy  of  a  rude  Samnite  mountaineer,  rather  than  of  one  who 
had  heard  the  lessons  of  Grecian  wisdom.  The  slaughter  of  a 
whole  army  is  too  cruel  for  a  civilised  man  to  think  of.  To  dis- 
miss them  all  without  conditions  would  have  been  a  romantic 
piece  of  generosity,  which  the  Roman  Senate  would  have  ascribed 
either  to  folly  or  to  fear.  Nor  did  Pontius  listen  to  his  father's 
counsel.  He  proposed  to  let  the  army  go  free,  on  surrendering 
their  arms  and  publicly  acknowledging  their  defeat,  if  the  chief 
officers  would  engage  to  procure  a  peace  and  cause  that  all 
towns  and  lands  which  had  been  taken  from  the  Samnites  should 
be  restored.  This  was  agreed  to ;  the  treaty  was  signed  by  the 
Consuls  and  all  the  superior  officers.  Six  hundred  knights  were 
handed  over  to  Pontius  as  hostages  till  the  treaty  was  ratified  by 
the  Senate.  And  then  the  whole  army,  clad  in  their  under  gar- 
ments only,  having  given  up  their  armour  and  cloaks,  was  allowed 
to  go  through  the  Samnite  lines,  each  man  passing  singly  under 
the  yoke.  They  returned  in  this  sorry  guise  to  Capua,  where 
they  were  supplied  with  arms  and  outer  garments,  that  they  might 
not  return  to  Rome  like  prisoners  or  slaves.  But  so  ashamed 
were  they,  that  none  would  go  into  the  city  till  nightfall,  except 
the  Consuls,  who  were  obliged  to  enter  publicly,  and  by  daylight. 
But  they  shared  in  the  feelings  of  their  men,  and  the  whole 
Roman  people  were  oppressed  by  shame  and  grief.  All  busi- 
ness was  suspended  '*  all  ranks  put  on  mourning ;  all  festivals, 
public  and  private,  were  adjourned ;  and  the  Comitia  for  election 
of  new  magistrates  were  held  by  an  Interrex,  the  Consuls  being 
deemed  unworthy  to  preside.  The  persons  chosen  to  be  the 
new  Consuls  were  those  held  most  likely  to  repair  this  great 
disaster, — L.  Papirius  Cursor  the  Patrician,  and  Q.  Publilius  Philo 
the  Plebeian. 

§  7.  Pontius  now  demanded  the  fulfilment  of  the  treaty,  and 
the  matter  was  laid  before  the  Senate.  The  late  Consuls,  who 
had  made  the  treaty,  rose  and  declared  that  it  ought  not  to  be 
observed  ;  that  they  and  all  who  had  signed  that  shameful  treaty 
ought  to  be  given  up  to  the  enemy.  Two  Tribunes  of  the  Plel:« 
opposed  this  motion,  but  they  were  not  heard.  Consuls,  Legion- 
ary Tribunes,  Quaestors,  and  all  others  who  had  signed,  were  given 
to  the  fecial  or  herald ;  and  he  delivered  them  in  chains  to  the 
Samnites.  As  soon  as  this  was  done,  Postumius,  the  late  Consul, 
struck  the  Roman  fecial  with  his  knee,  saying:  "  I  am  now  a  Sam- 

♦  Justitium  indicium  est. 


Chap.  XXIL  SECON^D  SAMNITE  WAR.  205 

nite  subject,  and  thus  do  I  insult  the  sacred  officer  of  Rome.  The 
Romans  can  now  make  rightful  war  against  the  Samnites."  But 
Pontius  cut  short  this  paltry  quibbling  by  declaring  that  he  would 
not  receive  the  prisoners  at  all.  "  Rome,"  said  he,  "  made  a  treaty 
with  me  ;  I  will  not  excuse  her  performance  of  her  duty  because 
she  gives  up  the  persons  of  a  few  officers.  If  she  will  not  have 
the  treaty,  let  her  place  her  army  as  it  was  in  the  Pass  of  Caudine 
Forks,  and  then  I  will  see  what  may  be  done."  The  Roman  pri- 
soners returned  to  Rome  ;  the  six  hundred  hostages  were  left  to 
the  mercy  of  the  Samnites. 

§  8.  In  this  matter  the  Roman  Senate  has  been  much  blamed 
for  treachery  and  breach  of  faith.  But,  to  justify  such  censure, 
we  must  be  able  to  answer  these  questions : — Had  the  Consuls 
power  to  make  a  treaty  binding  on  the  whole  people  ?  Or  if  they 
had  not,  did  they  send  to  Rome  to  obtain  the  sanction  of  the 
Senate  and  People?  If  these  questions  are  answered,  one  or 
both  of  them,  in  the  affirmative,  then  doubtless  the  Senate  were 
most  guilty.  But  if  the  Consuls  had  no  such  power,  and  if  the 
authorities  at  home  had  not  been  consulted,  then  all  that  can  be 
said  is  that  C.  Pontius  ought  not  to  have  dismissed  the  army 
till  the  treaty  had  been  duly  ratified :  for  Rome  was  so  near  that 
an  answer  could  soon  have  been  brought  back.  There  is  too 
much  reason  to  think  that,  directly  or  indirectly,  some  authority 
was  given  to  the  treaty.  At  all  events  the  conduct  of  Postumius, 
in  pretending  to  be  a  Sam  nite  when  he  insulted  the  Roman  fecial, 
is,  to  our  notions,  contemptible,  if  not  too  ludicrous  even  to  be 
contemptible. 

§  9.  So  the  war  was  renewed,  and  Papirius  Cursor,  with  his  ple- 
beian colleague,  took  the  field.  It  is  said  that  Luceria  surrendered 
to  Papirius  ;  at  all  events,  his  presence  in  Apulia  prevented  that 
people  from  deserting  the  Roman  alliance,  and  he  was  re-elected 
Consul  for  the  next  year. 

The  history  of  the  rest  of  this  period  is  obscure.  Two  years 
passed  in  another  armistice,  during  which  the  Romans  created 
the  two  new  Oscan  Tribes  above  noticed.*  But  fortune  continued 
to  favour  the  Samnites.  They  advanced  still  further  along  the 
upper  valley  of  the  Liris;  Sora  revolted  to  them,  and  they  expelled 
the  Roman  colonists  from  Fregellse ;  so  that  the  Romans  lost  the 
command  of  the  upper  road  into  Campania.  Still  the  Senate 
persisted  in  their  aggressive  policy ;  and  in  the  eleventh  year  of 
the  war,  Papirius  and  Publilius,  again  colleagues  in  the  Consul- 
ship, again  led  their  arms  into  Apulia  and  Samnium,  leaving 
the  lower  Campanian  road  undefended.     On  this  the  Samnites 

*  Cliapt.  xxi.  §  5. 


206  ROME  CONQUEROR  OF  ITALY.  Book  III. 

descended  into  Campania ;  and  Fabius,  being  appointed  Dictator, 
had  only  just  time  to  occupy  the  pass  of  Lautulae,  which  has 
been  mentioned  as  an  important  position  on  the  lower  road, 
between  Anxur  and  Fundi.  But  Fabius,  brave  and  skilful  as  he 
was,  could  not  hold  his  post  with  an  army  so  hastily  drawn 
together.  He  was  defeated  with  great  loss,  Q.  Aulius  Cerre- 
tanus,  Master  of  the  Horse,  being  in  the  number  of  the  slain. 
The  loss  of  Lautulae  opened  Latium  to  the  Samnite  army;  the 
Auruncans  and  other  Oscan  tribes  rose  against  Rome,  and 
Campania  threatened  to  revolt.  The  condition  of  the  city 
seemed  desperate.  But  old  Rome  never  shone  so  bright  as 
when  her  light  seemed  quite  put  out.  "Merses  profundo,  pul- 
chrior  evenit,"  is  no  poetic  fancy,  but  an  historic  truth.  And  so 
it  was  even  now.  Fabius  appears  to  have  saved  part  of  his 
army,  and  with  it  to  have  joined  one  of  the  Consuls,  who  had 
returned  home  in  haste,  when  the  news  of  the  battle  of  Lautulae 
reached  him.  They  fell  upon  the  Samnites,  and  defeated  them 
completely. 

From  this  time  the  star  of  the  Samnites  began  to  wane.  For 
the  remaining  ten  years  of  the  war  the  Roman  arms  uniformly 
prevailed ;  and  with  these  begin  our  third  and  last  period. 

§  10.  Third  Period  (314—304  b.c.).— The  defeat  of  the  Sam- 
nites just  mentioned  was  so  complete,  that  they  could  not  meet 
the  Romans  in  the  field.  The  wretched  Auruncans,  who  had 
been  tempted  to  revolt  after  the  battle  of  Lautulae,  were  betrayed 
to  their  old  masters,  and  (to  use  the  words  of  Livy)  were  annihi- 
lated.* Maenius  was  named  Dictator  to  inquire  into  Campanian 
disaffection ;  and  his  presence  at  Capua  created  so  much  terror, 
that  the  two  Calavii,  the  leaders  of  the  confederacy,  were  delivered 
up  to  him,  and  a  general  amnesty  was  granted. 

The  Senate  then  busied  themselves  with  so  fortifying  the 
upper  road,  that  they  might  never  again  lose  it.  Sora  was  a 
second  time  betrayed  to  them ;  they  re-established  the  Colony 
of  Fregellae,  and  sent  colonists  to  Casinum,  Interamna,  and 
Suessa,  so  that  these  places,  with  Cales,  formed  a  line  of  for- 
tresses along  the  Samnite  frontier.  They  also  took  the  large 
town  of  Nola  in  Southern  Campania,  and  probably  also  Salernum, 
so  that  the  Samnites  were  now  almost,  if  not  quite,  cut  off  from 
the  southern  sea.  Lastly,  a  large  body  of  colonists  was  sent  to 
the  distant  town  of  Luceria,  to  prevent  its  being  again  surprised 
by  the  enemy.  Thus  were  the  Samnites  held  in  check  on  every 
side. 

§  11.  The  war  would  probably  have  come  to  a  quick  conclusion 

*  "  Deleta  gens  Ausonum." — ix.  25. 


Chap.  XXII  SECOND  SAMNITE  WAR.  207 

had  it  not  been  that  in  the  fifteenth  year  the  forty  years'  truce 
with  the  Etruscans  of  the  southern  country  ended,  and  this 
people  stirred  up  other  cities  of  Northern  Etruria  to  join  with 
them  in  war  against  Rome.  In  that  year  Q.  Fabius  was  appointed 
Consul  for  the  second  time,  to  conduct  the  war  against  the  Etrus- 
cans, while  0.  Marcius  Rutilus,  his  colleague,  held  the  Samnites  in 
check.  But  the  Plebeian  Consul  was  defeated  by  the  Samnites, 
and  cut  off  from  communication  with  the  city.  The  Senate,  in 
great  alarm,  resolved  that  Papirius  Cursor  should  be  named  Dic- 
tator. But  who  was  to  name  him?  Marcius  could  not;  and 
Fabius,  it  was  feared,  would  not.  However,  they  sent  to  the  lattei 
in  Etruria,  trusting  that  love  of  his  country  would  overcome 
memory  of  his  private  wrongs.  Fabius  received  the  order  to  exalt 
his  old  enemy  in  silence,  and  turned  abruptly  from  the  messengers; 
but  at  dead  of  night  he  rose,  according  to  ancient  custom,  and 
named  his  deadly  foe  to  the  Dictatorship. 

§  12.  For  the  next  year  (309  b.c),  it  appears  from  the  Fasti 
that  no  Consuls  were  elected.  Papirius,  with  dictatorial  power, 
led  his  legions  into  Samnium ;  while  Fabius  continued  as  Pro- 
consul in  Etruria.  The  Samnites  had  made  great  exertions  to 
improve  their  success,  and  the  splendid  equipment  of  their  army  i& 
described  by  Livy.  One  division  wore  striped  tunics  with  gilded 
shields ;  the  other  was  clad  in  white,  with  shields  of  silver.  But 
all  was  of  no  av.ail ;  the  long-tried  fortune  of  Papirius  again  pre- 
vailed, and  the  Samnites  were  once  more  utterly  defeated.  This 
was  the  last  battle  they  fought  in  this  war. 

§  13.  Meanwhile  Fabius  had  been  no  less  successful  in  Etruria. 
He  first  madft  another  attempt  upon  the  Etruscan  lines  at 
Sutrium  ;  but  finding  them  too  strong  to  be  forced,  with  the 
bold  decision  which  marks  the  Roman  leaders  of  this  time  he 
determined  to  make  an  inroad  into  their  country.  He  knew 
their  weakness  at  home,  caused  by  the  tyranny  which  was 
exercised  by  the  Lucumones  over  their  serfs.  Still  his  enter- 
prise was  a  bold  one.  To  reach  the  Vulsinian  territory  he  must 
traverse  the  Ciminian  hills.*  Since  Lower  Etruria  had  been  con- 
quered, these  hills  had  been  left  as  a  frontier,  not  to  be  occupied 
by  either  party.  They  were  quite  overgrown  with  wood,  and  no 
Roman  foot  (it  is  said)  had  traversed  them  for  many  years. 
Fabius  proposed  to  make  his  way  through  this  barrier,  and 
descend  at  once  upon  Vulsinii,  justly  calculating  that  the  alarm 
caused  by  his  appearance  would  draw  off  the  invading  army. 
He  sent  forward  his  brother  Marcus,  who  had  been  brought  up 
at   Caere   and   spoke   Etruscan    like    a   native,    to    examine   the 

*  See  Chapt.  vi.  §  9. 


208  ROME  CONQUEROR  OF  ITALY.  Book  III. 

country  beyond  the  forest;  and  sent  word  to  the  Senate  of  his 
intention,  that  they  might  provide  means  to  defend  the  city,  in 
case  the  Etruscans  ventured  to  attack  it  in  his  absence.  The 
Senate  was  alarmed  by  his  boldness,  and  sent  off  ambassadors, 
attended  by  two  Tribunes,  with  positive  orders  to  stop  his  march. 
But  Fabius  was  already  in  Etruria.  He  ravaged  the  country 
far  and  wide  ;  and  the  enemy  broke  up  from  Sutrium  to  defend 
their  own  homes.  He  encountered  them  near  Perusia,  and,  after 
a  bloody  battle,  defeated  them  utterly.  The  result  was  that 
the  cities  whom  the  Vulsinians  had  drawn  into  the  war,  made 
a  peace  for  thirty  years.  The  Vulsinians,  however,  continued  in 
arms. 

§  14.  The  Samnites  were  now  quite  worn  out.  The  war  had 
lasted  more  than  twenty  years.  The  Romans  every  year  invaded 
their  country  ;  and  at  length,  upon  the  fall  of  Bovianum,  the  chief 
town  of  the  Pentrians,  they  sued  for  peace.  It  was  granted,  but 
on  hard  terms.  They  lost  all  their  territory  on  the  sea-coast :  they 
gave  up  all  foreign  alliances  and  conquests,  and  acknowledged  the 
supremacy  of  Rome. 

§  15.  The  Senate  were  more  ready  to  come  to  terms,  because 
some  of  her  other  neighbours  threatened  to  be  troublesome. 
Even  the  Hernicans,  the  old  and  faithful  allies  of  Rome,  had  risen 
against  her  just  before  the  close  of  the  war ;  but  they  were  re- 
duced in  a  single  campaign,  and  their  towns  treated  as  those  of  the 
Latins  had  been  before.  Anagnia,  their  chief  city,  became  a 
Roman  municipal  town.  Part  of  the  Volscian  lands  also  were 
occupied  by  the  colonies  of  Interamna  and  Casinum  (as  above 
noted),  and  more  recently  by  Sora.  x\t  the  close  of  the  war,  the 
remnant  of  the  ^quians  also  ventured  to  provoke  the  wrath  of 
Rome.  They  also  were  soon  subdued,  and  two  Colonies  were 
planted  among  their  mountains- — at  Alba  on  the  Fucine  Lake,  and 
at  Carseoli ;  and  by  the  next  Censors  the  ^quian  territory  on  the 
Anio  was  formed  into  two  new  Tribes,  so  that  now  the  number 
amounted  to  Thirty -three.*  This  near  approach  of  Roman  .settlers 
alarmed  the  Sabellian  tribes  on  the  high  Apennines,  and  the  Mai  - 
sians  declared  war.  They  also  were  defeated ;  upon  which  thj 
Senate  at  once  offered  to  enter  into  a  league  with  them  on  equal 
terms :  and  the  Marsians  long  remained  the  faithful  ally  of  Rome. 
The  Marrucinians,  Pelignians,  Frentanians,  and  Vestinians,  also 
joined  the  Roman  league. 

*  In  the  censorship  of  P.  Sempronius  Sophus,  P.  Sulpicius,  299  b.c.  "Tri- 
busque  additae  duae,  Anienis  et  Terentina." — Liv.  x.  9. 


■EliiO  WMEim^CM  Mtwm 


1  ■  I  ■  I  ■■■■■■  ■■■■■■  lAI  1  ■  ■  ■  I  ■  ■  ■■■■■■■  ■■■■■■■■■  ■ 


/,.,,  aOR/VELIVS  -LVCIVS-SCIPIOrBARBATVS-CMAIVOD-RATRF. 

,iJi;'    PP0C/VATVS-F0R1IS-VIR-SAPIEN5-QVE-QV0IVS  FORMA- VIRTVTEI-PARISVMA 
X/zf  VIT-  CONSOLCENSOR-AIDILIS  QVEIFVIT-APVD-VOS-  TAVRASIA-C  SAVNA. 


SAMNIO-CEPIT-SVBIGIT-OMNE-LOVCANA-OBSIDESQVEABDOVCIT- 


Toinb  of  Scipio  Barbatus. 


CHAPTER  XXIII. 

THIRD    SAMNITE    WAR.       (299 290    B.C.) 

§  1.  Hollo wness  of  the  late  peace.  §  2.  Rome  engaged  in  war  with  Etrus- 
cans, Umbrians,  and  G-auls.  §  3.  Samnites  choose  this  crisis  for  declaring 
war.  §  4.  Samniura  desolated  by  Fabius  and  Decius.  §  5.  Great  con- 
federacy organised  by  Gellius  Egnatius,  the  Samnite.  §  6.  Fabius  and 
Decius  again  elected  Consuls :  great  efforts  for  Campaign.  §  7.  Decisive 
battle  of  Sentinum :  self-sacrifice  of  second  Decius.  §  8,  Victory  in  Sam- 
nium  by  Papirius  and  Carvillus.  §  9.  C.  Pontius  again  appears,  and  is 
taken  prisoner  by  Fabius.  §  10.  Great  Colony  planted  at  Yenusia.  §  11. 
Submission  of  Samnites.     §  12.  Shameful  death  of  C.  Pontius. 

§  1.  The  peace  which  concluded  the  Second  Samnite  War  was 
made  in  304  b.c,  and  in  less  than  six  years  from  that  time  the 
Third  Samnite  War  beg;an.  This  peace  indeed  was  no  peace  (in 
onr  sense  of  the  word),  but  a  mere  armistice  on  the  part  of  the 
Samnites,  who  no  doubt  were  resolved  to  break  it  as  soon  as  they 
felt  themselves  strong  enough  to  renew  hostilities. 

Their  great  want  in  the  late  war  had  been  allies.  They  had 
fought  single-handed  against  Rome,  who  was  supported  by  Latins, 
Campanians,  and  Apulians.  The  greater  part  of  the  Sabellian 
tribes  had  stood  aloof  in  cold  neutrality,  or  had  rendered  a  very 
doubtful  succour.  But  an  opportunity  now  offered  which  seemed 
to  present  occasion  for  forming  a  great  confederation  of  Central 
Italy  against  Rome. 


210  ROME  CONQUEROR  OF  ITALY.  Book  IIL 

§  2.  After  the  conclusion  of  the  peace  before-named,  Rome 
again  appears  in  hostility  with  many-  of  the  Etruscan  cities,  not- 
withstanding the  thirty  years'  truce  which  all  except  Vulsinii  had 
lately  made.*  At  Arretium  (Arezzo)  we  find  the  noble  house  of 
the  Cilnii,  from  whom  C.  Cilnius  Maecenas,  the  minister  of  Augus- 
tus, claimed  descent,  inviting  the  Romans  to  restore  them  to  the 
city  from  which  they  had  been  banished.  Perusia  also  and  other 
cities  appear  in  arms.  Even  beyond  Etruria,  in  TJmbria,  we  find 
the  Romans  at  war  with  the  people  of  Nequinum,  a  city  strongly 
situated  on  the  Nar  (Nera).  After  an  obstinate  siege  they  took 
the  place,  and  planted  a  Colony  there,  under  the  name  of  Narnia 
(Narni),  to  command  the  point  at  which  the  frontiers  of  Etruria, 
Umbria,  and  the  Sabines  meet.  The  TJmbrians  were  so  alarmed 
by  this  aggressive  movement,  that  they  called  in  to  aid  them  a 
people  who  had  hitherto  been  regarded  with  horror  by  all  Italian 
nations. 

A  tribe  of  the  Senonian  Gauls,  the  same  who  had  burnt  Rome, 
had  made  a  permanent  settlement  on  the  Umbrian  coast-land, 
between  the  Utis  and  the  ^Esis.  The  Umbrians,  once  a  large 
and  powerful  nation,  had  been  gradually  confined  to  the  moun- 
tain land  on  the  left  bank  of  the  Tiber ;  and  these  Gauls  had 
been  the  last  enemy  who  had  encroached  upon  their  lands  till  the 
late  settlement  of  the  Romans  at  Narnia,  We  may  infer  the 
alarm  felt  by  the  Umbrians  from  the  fact  of  their  seeking  such 
assistance. 

§  3.  In  the  year  298  b.c.  the  Consuls  were  preparing  to  resist  an 
attack  from  the  Umbrians  and  Gauls ;  and  this  was  the  favourable 
moment  chosen  by  the  Samnites  for  renewing  the  war. 

Their  first  step  was  to  overpower  the  Roman  party  in  Lucania 
and  Apulia ;  the  colony  of  Luceria  alone  held  out.  Then  they 
attempted  to  draw  over  the  Marsians  to  their  league ;  but  this 
people  turned  a  deaf  ear  to  the  voice  of  the  tempter.  The 
Sabines,  however,  of  the  upper  country,  gave  a  favourable  answer. 

With  this  formidable  confederacy  on  the  one  hand,  and  the 
fear  of  the  Etrurians,  Umbrians,  and  Senonian  Gauls  on  the 
other,  the  position  of  Rome  appeared  critical.  But  for  some 
reason  the  fickle  Gauls  failed  in  their  engagement,  the  Umbrians 
did  not  move,  and  Rome  was  left  to  deal  with  the  Samnite 
league  on  the  south,  and  the  Etruscan  cities  on  the  north.  But 
no  doubt  the  interposition  of  the  Frentanians  and  of  the  Marsians, 
with  their  associated  cantons,  between  the  Samnites  and  Northern 
Italy,  must  have  greatly  strengthened  the  hands  of  Rome  in  the 
ensuing  war. 

*  Chapt.  xxil  §  12. 


Chap.  XXIIl.  THIRD  SAMNITB  WAR.  211 

§  4.  The  patrician  Consul  of  the  year  298  B.C.,  L.  Cornelius 
Scipio  Barbatus,  the  first  of  a  great  name,*  invaded  Etruria,  while 
his  colleague,  Cn.  Fulvius,  entered  the  country  of  the  Pentrian 
Samnites.  Fulvius  gained  not  that  advantage  which  the  Roman 
people  expected  over  an  enemy  whom  they  considered  as  already 
conquered.  Accordingly,  the  general  wish  was  to  elect  Q.  Fabius 
Maximus,  the  hero  of  the  late  war.  Consul  for  the  next  year. 
Fabius  was  now  an  elderly  man,  and  this  would  be  his  fourth 
Consulship.  He  was  fain  to  decline  the  task,  but  at  length  gave 
way  on  condition  that  his  plebeian  colleague  should  be  P.  Decius 
Mus,  son  of  him  who  devoted  himself  in  the  great  Latin  war; 
and  he  also  had  been  Consul  twice  before.  They  had  been  col- 
leagues in  the  Consulship  four  years  before  (301  b.c),  and  had 
cordially  united  in  measures  calculated  to  preserve  harmony  in 
the  state,  as  we  shall  show  in  the  next  chapter.  They  continued 
firm  friends  till  the  death  of  Decius,  and  present  a  most  honoura- 
ble specimen  of  a  Patrician  and  Plebeian  combined  for  the  com- 
mon good. 

Etruria  was  neglected.  Both  Consuls  invaded  Samnium :  Fa- 
bius the  Pentrian,  Decius  the  Caudine  valleys.  They  overran 
every  part,  burning  and  destroying.  It  is  said  that  in  this  sum- 
mer's campaign,  Decius  encamped  in  forty-five  different  places, 
Fabius  in  eighty-six.  The  campaign  served  to  detach  the  Luca- 
nians  and  Apulians  from  alliance  with  the  Samnites. 

§  5.  It  appeared  as  if  this  brave  people  were  again  at  the  feet 
of  Rome ;  and  L.  Volumnius,  the  plebeian  Consul  of  the  next 
year  (296  b.c),  whilst  his  colleague  App.  Claudius  was  sent  into 
Etruria,  entered  Samnium  as  if  to  take  possession.  But  the 
Samnites  rose  from  under  their  calamities  with  an  elasticity  as 
great  as  Rome  herself  displayed.  Probably  in  the  terrible  assault 
of  the  last  year  great  part  of  their  flocks  and  herds,  their  chief 
wealth,  had  been  secured  in  mountain  fastnesses,  and  therefore 
they  suffered  not  so  much  as  an  agricultural  people  might  have 
done.  But  the  chief  merit  of  their  renewed  vigour  must  be  at- 
tributed to  a  brave  chief,  named  Gellius  Egnatius,  who  shines 
forth  for  a  moment,  like  Pontius  in  the  former  war,  through  the 
uncertain  mist  of  Samnite  history,  as  it  is  transmitted  to  us  by 
Roman  annalists.  The  plan  for  an  Italian  confederation,  which 
had  been  faintly  attempted  at  the  beginning  of  the  war,  this  man 
attempted  to  realise  by  a  step  as  bold  as  ever  was  taken  in  a  des- 
perate emergency. 

*  This  was  the  Scipio  whose  sarcophagus  (figured  at  the  head  of  this  Chap- 
ter) is  so  famihar  to  all  eyes.  The  inscription  on  it  records  that  he  "  conquered 
the  Lucanians,  &c.,  apd  led  away  hostages."  When  this  wa§  dooe  ig  »P*  re* 
porded  in  Livy- 


212  ROMP]  CONQUEROR  OF  ITALY.  Book  IIL 

With  a  chosen  body  of  Samnites  he  made  a  rapid  march  into 
the  valley  of  the  Tiber,  between  Umbria  and  Etruria,  hoping  that 
his  presence  might  rouse  to  action  the  slumbering  energies  of  those 
countries,  leaving,  however,  a  sufficient  force  to  keep  Volumnius 
employed  in  Samnium.  App.  Claudius,  a  remarkable  man,  of 
whose  acts  in  peace  we  shall  have  to  speak  in  the  next  chapter, 
was  more  skilled  in  the  contests  of  the  Senate  than  of  the  field, 
and  he  was  alarmed  to  hear  that  Gellius  was  likely  to  rouse  both 
Umbrians  and  Gauls  to  join  the  Etruscans.  He  shut  himself  up 
in  an  entrenched  camp,  and  sent  orders  to  his  colleague  to  join 
him.     But  no  attack  was  made  that  year. 

§  6.  In  this  state  of  alarm  the  people  were  convened  to  elect 
Consuls  for  the  ensuing  year  (295  b.c).  They  at  once  chose  old 
Fabius  for  the  fifth  time,  and  would  have  continued  Volumnius  in 
oflSce.  But  Fabius  again  refused  to  be  elected  unless  he  was  united 
to  his  old  and  tried  colleague,  P.  Decius ;  and  this  noble  Plebeian 
was  elected  for  the  fourth  time  Consul. 

At  the  very  beginning  of  the  year  Fabius  went  to  the  camp  of 
the  late  Consuls,  where  he  found  Appius  adding  to  the  fortifica- 
tions. He  treated  the  statesman  with  much  contempt,  and  led 
forth  the  men  into  the  field,  exercising  them  daily.  He  then 
returned  for  a  short  time  to  the  city,  to  concert  measures  with  thci 
Senate  for  the  eventful  campaign  that  followed. 

It  was  settled  that  both  the  Consuls,  with  four  legions,  were 
to  go  forward  into  Umbria,  so  as  to  separate  the  Samnites,  with 
their  Umbrian  and  Gallic  allies,  from  Etruria.  Scipio  Barbatus 
had  been  sent  forward  with  a  single  legion  to  watch  the  move- 
ments of  the  enemy.  Volumnius,  as  Proconsul,  was  sent  into 
Samnium.  Fulvius  was  to  be  stationed  near  Falerii  with  a  re- 
serve force  to  overawe  Etruria ;  while  a  fourth  army,  under  Pos- 
tumius,  was  to  cover  Rome  herself.  This  was  the  largest  number 
of  troops  that  the  Republic  had  ever  yet  called  into  the  field. 
With  her  allies  she  could  not  have  had  less  than  100,000  men 
under  arms. 

§  7.  When  the  Consuls  took  the  field,  they  were  greeted  with 
the  unwelcome  news  that  Scipio  had  been  overpowered  by  the 
Gauls ;  and  that  these  barbarians,  with  some  of  the  Etruscans, 
had  joined  the  brave  Gellius  Egnatius  in  Umbria.  They  im- 
mediately pushed  across  the  Apennines,  and  (probably  to  supply 
Scipio's  place)  recalled  Volumnius  from  Samnium.  At  the  same 
time  they  sent  orders  to  Fulvius  to  advance  into  Etruria,  hoping 
by  this  diversion  to  draw  ofi"  the  Etruscans,  and  thus  weaken 
the  confederate  army.  The  scheme  was  successful ;  and  when 
the  Roman  army  met  the  confederates  at  Sentinum  in  Umbria, 
the  Etruscans  had  already  returned  home.     Here,  as  on  all  occa' 


Chap.  XXIII.  THIRD  SAMNITB  WAR.  213 

sions,  the  conduct  of  that  people  was  weak  and  selfish.  No  brave 
man  could  trust  his  fortunes  in  their  hands. 

The  Roman  army  of  Umbria,  legionaries  and  allies,  amounted 
to  not  less  than  60,000  men.  The  enemy,  even  without  the 
Etruscans,  were  far  more  numerous.  Fabius  commanded  the 
right  wing,  which  was  opposed  to  Gellius  with  his  Samnites, 
the  Umbrians,  and  probably  some  other  Italian  tribes ;  Decius 
on  the  left  faced  an  immense  host  of  Gauls.  Just  before  the 
battle  began,  a  hind  and  a  wolf  (so  runs  the  story)  ran  down 
between  the  armies :  the  hind  turned  in  among  the  Gauls, 
and  was  slain  by  their  javelins;  the  wolf  sought  refuge  in  the 
Roman  ranks,  and  no  man  touched  the  sacred  beast  of  Romulus. 
This  was  hailed  as  an  omen  of  good,  and  the  battle  began. 
Fabius,  after  an  obstinate  struggle,  brought  up  his  reserve  and  the 
Samnites  gave  way.  But  he  could  not  pursue  them ;  for  Decius 
on  his  side  had  been  less  successful.  The  Gauls  had  brought 
their  war-chariots  into  action,  and  the  Romans  were  terror- 
struck  by  these  strange  engines  of  destruction.  A  panic  seized 
the  cavalry,  and  the  legions  wavered ;  when  Decius  resolved  to 
follow  the  example  of  his  father,  and  devote  himself  for  his 
country.  He  went  through  the  same  solemn  forms ;  his  heroic 
death  lent  new  courage  to  his  men,  and  they  returned  to  the 
charge  under  the  command  of  M.  Livius,  the  Pontifex  Maximus. 
Still  the  Gauls  kept  their  ground  unflinching,  though  the  heat 
of  an  Italian  sun  relaxed  the  strength  of  their  northern  frames. 
At  this  time  Fabius,  having  driven  the  Samnites  and  their  con- 
federates from  the  field,  wheeled  round,  and  assailed  the  Gauls  on 
their  left  flank,  while  he  detached  the  Campanian  cavalry  to  take 
them  in  rear.  Thus  surrounded,  they  were  soon  completely 
broken,  and  a  general  pursuit  took  place.  Then  the  Samnites 
were  attacked  anew,  and  the  brave  Gellius  Egnatius  fell  fighting. 
But  a  remnant  of  his  hardy  mountaineers  retreated  in  good  order, 
and  regained  their  own  country.  The  slaughter  on  both  sides  was 
prodigious. 

Such  was  the  battle  of  Sentinum,  which  determined  the  fate  of 
Samnium  and  of  Italy.  The  triumph  of  Fabius,  who  returned  not 
home  till  he  had  gained  another  victory  over  the  Etruscans  at 
Perusia,  was  well  deserved.  But  it  was  marred  by  the  absence  of 
his  brave  colleague ;  and  none  felt  this  more  than  Fabius  himself. 
He  pronounced  an  oration  over  the  grave  of  his  thrice-proved 
friend,  lamenting  that  he  had  borne  all  the  danger,  but  had  not 
lived  to  share  the  glory. 

§  8.  Notwithstanding  this  complete  rout  of  the  confederates, 
the  Samnites  maintained  the  contest  for  five  years  more.  In  293 
B.C.  they  made  a  desperate  eflfort ;  certain  picked  battalions  were 


214  ROME  CONQUEROR  OF  ITALY.  Book  III. 

Bplendidly  armed,  as  in  the  last  war,  and  bound  themselves  by 
horrid  oaths  to  die  or  conquer.  The  Consuls  of  the  year  were 
L.  Papirius,  son  of  Papirius  Cursor,  and  Sp.  Carvilius ;  and  they 
both  invaded  Samnium,  as  Fabius  and  Decius  had  done  four 
years  before.  The  Samnites  resolved  to  try  the  fortune  of 
another  battle  with  their  new  levies,  and  their  armies  met 
Papirius — we  know  not  where.  When  the  omens  were  taken 
from  the  feeding  of  the  sacred  fowls  (pulli),  their  keeper  (the 
puUarius)  reported  that  "  they  fed  well, — so  greedily  indeed,  that 
some  of  the  corn  fell  over."  The  omen  was  good.  But  just  as 
the  battle  was  beginning  the  nephew  of  the  Consul  Papirius 
came  to  him  in  great  fear :  "  for,"  said  he,  "  the  pullarius  has 
lied ;  the  fowls  will  not  eat  at  all."  "  Be  it  so,"  replied  the 
Consul,  "  the  omens  were  reported  to  me  as  good,  and  I  shall 
begin  the  battle.  If  the  report  was  false,  let  the  false  speaker 
look  to  it ;"  and  he  ordered  the  pullarius  to  be  set  in  the  front 
rank.  At  the  first  onset  the  wretch  was  killed ;  by  his  death  the 
anger  of  the  gods  was  believed  to  be  averted,  and  the  Romans 
advanced  to  battle  with  fresh  confidence.  In  the  heat  of  battle 
Papirius,  confident  of  victory,  shouted :  "  Jupiter,  grant  me  vic- 
tory, and  I  will  give  thee  a  cup  of  wine  and  honey  before  I  touch 
a  cup  myself."  The  soldiers  recognised  the  rough  humour  of  old 
Papirius  Cursor,  and  shared  the  general's  confidence.  The  enemy 
were  utterly  defeated ;  and  the  rest  of  the  year  was  spent  in 
ravaging  the  country.  The  booty  taken  was  immense  ;  and  Car- 
vilius signalised  his  triumph  by  erecting  a  colossal  statue  of  Jupi- 
ter on  the  Capitol,  so  huge  that  it  could  be  seen  from  the  Alban 
Hill,  twelve  miles  off". 

§  9.  These  vigorous  measures  were  not  continued  the  next 
year,  when  Q.  Fabius  Gurges,  son  of  old  Fabius,  was  sent  alone 
into  Samnium.  He  had  the  name  but  not  the  nature  of  his 
father,  and  the  Samnites  were  once  more  commanded  by  their 
greatest  man,  C.  Pontius,  of  whom  we  hear  nothing  from  the 
year  of  the  Furculae  Caudinse  to  the  present  time.  He  resumed 
his  old  tactics,  and  again  drew  the  Romans  into  a  defile,  from 
which,  however,  he  allowed  them  to  escape,  but  not  without 
heavy  loss.  The  news  of  this  unexpected  reverse  raised  a 
storm  of  indignation  at  Rome,  and  the  Consul  was  only  saved 
from  disgrace  by  his  father,  who  volunteered  to  join  the  army 
as  his  son's  legatus  or  lieutenant.  His  presence  restored  spirit 
to  the  army.  Another  battle  was  fought ;  many  thousand 
Samnites  fell,  and  C.  Pontius  was  taken  prisoner.  The  tri- 
umphal procession  was  remarkable,  because  old  Fabius  and  his 
son  both  appeared  in  the  car  of  victory,  and  ascended  together  to 
the  Capitol. 


Chap.  XXIII.  THIRD  SAMNITE  WAR.  215 

§  10.  The  Senate  had  some  fear  lest  Tarentiim  and  the  Southern 
tribes  might  even  yet  be  excited  to  join  the  Samnites  ;  and  to  curb 
them,  they  determined  to  colonise  Venusia,  in  Southern  Apulia. 
It  is  said  that  20,000  Romans  and  Latins  settled  in  the  future 
birthplace  of  Horace,  and  we  shall  find  Venusia  hereafter  appear- 
ino"  as  one  of  the  most  faithful  of  the  Colonies. 

§  11.  Two  years  after,  in  the  year  290  B.C.,  the  Samnites  finally 
laid  down  their  arms,  and  submitted  to  Roman  supremacy.  One 
short  struggle  more  followed  ten  years  after,  when  the  arrival  of 
Pyrrhus  gave  fals3  hopes  to  the  people  of  Southern  Italy.  After 
his  departure  the  Samnites,  with  the  rest  of  the  Italians,  bowed 
without  further  dispute  to  the  sovereignty  of  Rome. 

§  12.  The  close  of  this  war  was  marked  by  one  disgraceful  act, 
the  death  of  C.  Pontius.  He  followed  the  triumphal  procession 
of  Fabius  Gurges,  and  was  beheaded  in  the  prison  under  the 
Capitol.  We  blush  for  Rome  when  we  hear  of  such  treatment  of 
a  noble  and  generous  enemy.  We  grieve  that  the  last  we  hear  of 
old  Fabius  is  that  he  should  have  been  associated  in  a  triumph 
whose  laurels  were  so  grievously  sullied.  The  death  of  Pontius 
not  only  showed  a  great  want  of  magnanimity,  but  was  a  viola- 
tion of  common  humanity.  But  the  religion  of  the  Romans  did 
not  teach  humanity ;  and  though  they  were  magnanimous  in  mis- 
fortune, they  were  always  tyrannical  in  success. 


Appian  Way. 


CHAPTER    XXIV. 


CIVIL    HISTORY    DURING    THE    TIME    OF    THE    SAMNITE    WARS. 


§  1.  Internal  changes  during  Samnite  Wars :  remnants  of  jealousy  between 
two  Orders:  Pudicitia  Plebeia.  §  2.  Patrician  Clubs  put  down  by  C. 
Msenius.  §  3.  Ogulnian  Law  for  admitting  Plebeians  to  Pontificate  and 
Augurate.  §  4.  Plebeians,  as  a  class,  no  longer  poor.  §  5.  Increasing 
number  of  Slaves  and  Freedmen.  §  6.  Political  condition  of  Freedmen. 
§  7.  Appius  Claudius  Caecus :  his  scheme  of  uniting  Patricians  and  Freed- 
men against  Plebeians.  §  8.  Choice  of  Senate  by  Appius  as  Censor :  his 
colleague  resigns,  but  he  remains  sole  Censor.  §  9.  He  enrols  Freedmen 
in  aU  TriDes.  §  10.  His  agent,  Cn.  Flavins  the  notary :  publishes  a  Calendar. 
§  11.  Elected  Curule  ^dile.  §  12.  Appius  retains  his  Censorship  for  four 
years.  §  13.  His  public  works:  Appian  Road:  Appian  Aqueduct.  §  14. 
His  later  life.  §  15.  Restoration  of  old  rule  with  respect  to  Freedmen  by 
Fabius  and  Decius :  peaceable  end  of  the  question. 

§  I.  In  a  period  of  continued  war,  home  affairs  commonly  present 
a  monotonous  aspect.  It  is  after  a  war  that  civil  commotions 
usually  arise  and  political  innovations  take  place.     There  weie, 


G'HAP.  XXIV.     CIVIL  HISTORY  DURING  SAMNITE  WARS.  21 Y 

however,  some  changes  introduced  during  the  Samnite  wars  that 
-jail  for  special  notice. 

First,  it  may  be  noticed  that  as  all  political  inequality  be- 
tween Patricians  and  Plebeians  had  been  removed,  so  all  social 
distinctions  were  fast  disappearing.  Many  Patrician  families  had 
fallen  into  decay ;  a  Plebeian  Nobility  had  grown  up  by  their 
side ;  and  the  Publilii,  the  Marcii,  the  Decii,  boasted  names  as 
great  as  the  Manlii,  the  Papirii,  the  Fabii.  Moreover  access  to 
the  Senate  was  obtained,  as  we  have  before  said,  by  the  tenure  of 
political  office ;  and,  now  that  these  offices  were  equally  divided, 
it  may  be  presumed  that  there  were  as  many  Plebeian  Senators 
as  Patrician. 

That  jealousy  still  lingered  in  many  minds  is  certain.  A  sign 
of  this  appears  in  the  story  preserved  of  the  wife  of  Volumnius, 
the  plebeian  colleague  of  Appius  Claudius  in  296  b.c.  She  was 
a  Patrician  of  the  Virginian  Gens,  but  the  patrician  matrons 
would  not  allow  her  to  join  in  the  worship  of  the  Pudicitia 
Patricia,  alleging  that  by  marriage  with  a  Plebeian  she  had  for- 
feited her  rights.  Upon  this  she  consecrated  a  chapel  to  Pudi- 
citia Plebeia.  But  petty  jealousies  of  this  kind  did  not  find  place 
among  the  better  sort  of  either  order.  The  example  of  Fabius 
and  Decius  shows  that  there  were  noble-minded  men  in  each  who 
could  join  heart  and  hand  in  the  service  of  the  state. 

§  2.  But  there  were  many  of  the  young  Patricians  who  could 
not  brook  to  part  even  with  their  political  supremacy.  Clubs 
(coitiones)  were  formed  for  the  purpose  of  promoting  the  elec- 
tion of  their  own  order  at  the  Comitia,  and  debarring  the  Ple- 
beians from  the  rights  accorded  to  them  by  the  Licinian  law. 
But  C.  Maenius,  a  Plebeian,  who  had  been  appointed  Dictator  to 
inquire  into  the  threatened  revolt  of  Capua  (314  b.c.),*  after 
executing  his  duty  abroad,  went  on  summarily  to  break  up  these 
political  clubs  as  contrary  to  public  good.  The  outcry  raised  by 
the  clubbists  was  so  great  that  he  laid  down  his  office,  and  sub- 
mitted to  be  impeached  before  the  Senate,  together  with  his 
Master  of  the.  Horse,  M.  Foslius,  and  the  noble  plebeian  Q.  Pnb- 
lilius  Philo,  by  whose  advice  he  had  acted.  The  complaint,  how- 
ever, was  dismissed,  and  the  Clubs  are  little  heard  of  afterwards. 

§  3.  The  only  exclusive  privilege  which  was  still  maintained  by 
the  Patricians  was,  that  they  alone  were  eligible  to  the  sacred 
offices  of  the  Pontificate  and  Augurate.f  There  were  still  only 
four  Pontifices,   beside  the   Pontifex  Maximus,  and   four  Augurs, 

*  Above,  Chapt.'xxii.  §  10. 

f  The  Plebeians,  indeed,  first  obtained  entrances  to  the  Censorship  in  280 
B.c. — Liv.  Epit.  xiii.  But  there  seems  to  have  been  no  law  necessary  to 
admit  tbem. 

10  .  . 


218  ROME  OONQUEROR  OF  ITALY.  Book  III 

all  Patricians,  according  to  the  original  institutions  ascribed  to 
Numa.  But  this  privilege  was  little  worth  preserving,  when  it 
had  been  conceded  that  Plebeians  could  hold  curule  offices,  enter 
the  Capitoline  Temple  in  triumphal  procession,  and  take  the  aus- 
pices at  the  meeting  of  the  Centuriate  Assembly.  Accordingly, 
in  the  year  300  b.c,  a  law  was  proposed  by  two  Tribunes,  both 
bearing  the  name  of  Ogulnius,  for  removing  this  last  symbol  of 
exclusive  privilege.  It  was  proposed  that  henceforth  there  should 
be  eight  Pontifices,  four  from  each  order,  besides  the  chief  Pontiff, 
who  might  be  either  patrician  or  plebeian,  for  we  find  the  office 
held  by  Ti.  Coruncanius,  a  distinguished  Plebeian,  not  many  years 
later.  The  number  of  Augurs  was  also  to  be  increased  to  nine, 
four  from  each  order,  the  ninth  probably  being  President  of  the 
College,  as  was  the  Chief  Pontiff  of  the  Pontifical  College. 
Vacancies  were  to  be  filled  up  as  heretofore,  by  the  surviving  mem- 
bers of  the  College,  a  practice  which  in  Roman  language  was 
called  Cooptatio*  Decius  spoke  warmly  in  favour  of  the  law, 
and  it  was  carried  by  general  consent. 

§  4.  "We  have  now  ceased  to  hear  the  epithet  poor  applied  to 
the  Plebeians  as  a  class.  There  were  still,  no  doubt,  poor 
Plebeians,  as  there  were  poor  Patricians ;  but  the  law  which  de- 
livered debtors  into  bondage  was  no  more,  and  the  late  divisions 
of  Public  Land  to  those  who  had  been  sent  out  to  settle  in  the 
colonies  lately  planted  in  the  Volscian,  JEquian,  and  other  dis- 
tricts, must  have  removed  poverty  from  a  large  number  of  families. 
The  colonial  system  of  Rome,  which  afterwards  played  so  import- 
ant a  part  in  her  policy,  was  as  yet  in  its  infancy,  and  we  shall 
defer  our  consideration  of  its  nature  and  intentions.  But  its 
effect  in  diminishing  the  number  of  the  poor  Plebeians  is  self-evi- 
dent ;  nor  was  anything  now  remaining  to  affix  poverty  to  them 
as  a  class. 

§  5.  But  while  this  complete  fusion  of  the  Orders  was  peace- 
ably brought  about,  a  new  element  of  discord  was  appearing  in 
the  state.  The  poor  of  the  plebeian  order  had  been  relieved  by 
colonisation.  But  another  class  of  poor  was  rapidly  arising  with 
the  increase  of  the  city  in  population  and  wealth.  In  all  large 
communities  assembled  in  towns  a  vast  number  of  needy  per- 
sons are  found,  who  live  from  hand  to  mouth,  and  are  ready  to 
take  advantage  of  any  political  or  social  disturbance.  In  ancient 
cities,  where  labour  and  mechanical  arts  were  chiefly  left  to 
slaves,  this  class  was  separated  from  the  burgesses  or  citizens  by 
a  yet  wider  gulf  than  prevails  in  modern  communities.  For  a 
long  period   of  Rome's  earlier  age,  Slaves  seem  not  to  have  been 

*  Being  the  process  by  which  Fellows  of  Colleges  at  Oxford  and  Cambridge 
we  elected, 


Chap.  XXtT.    CIVIL  HISl^ORY  DtfRIJ^G  SAMI^ITE  WAHS.         219 

numerous.  Agricultural  labour  was  mostly  done  by  the  Plebeians 
themselves,  either  as  the  owners  of  small  estates  or  as  free  la- 
bourers. The  mechanical  works  of  artisans  and  the  business  of 
trade  were  mostly  carried  on  by  the  Clients  under  the  protection 
and  for  the  benefit  of  their  Patrons.  But,  no  doubt,  when  Rome 
became  a  powerful  monarchy  under  the  later  kings,  she  followed 
the  example  of  all  ancient  states,  and  made  Slaves  of  a  large 
number  of  those  whom  she  conquered.  And  the  same  process 
must  have  been  repeated  with  accelerated  rapidity  during  the 
progress  which  the  arms  of  the  Republic  had  made  since  the  union 
of  Patricians  and  Plebeians.  We  find,  in  fact,  that  the  Freedmen, 
that  is,  those  who  had  once  been  Slaves  or  whose  parents  had  been 
Slaves,  had  become  an  important  class  in  the  state';  and  therefore 
it  follows  that  Slaves,  from  whose  ranks  the  Freedmen  were  sup- 
plied, must  also  have  become  numerous. 

These  Freedmen  were  many  of  them  wealthy ;  but  when  a 
large  number  of  Slaves  were  set  free  at  once,  as  was  sometimes 
the  case  on  the  death  of  their  master,  a  number  of  indigent  per- 
sons must  have  been  left  to  their  own  resources  :  and  thus  it  was 
that  the  new  race  of  poor  citizens  arose,  of  whom  we  shall  hear 
so  much  in  th^  later  period  of  our  history  under  the  name  of  the 
Populace  of  Rome,  the  factio  forensis  of  the  Roman  writers. 

§  6.  We  have  called  these  Freedmen  citizens.  They  were  so ; 
but  their  citizenship  was  limited  by  this  particular  stigma,  that 
they  could  only  belong  to  one  of  the  four  City  Tribes,  Therefore, 
even  if  they  formed  a  majority  in  these  four  Tribes,  they  never 
could  exercise  much  weight  in  the  Comitia  Tributa.  For,  since 
there  were  at  present  twenty-seven  Rustic  Tribes,  the  votes  of 
the  full  Burgesses  stood  to  those  of  the  Freedmen  in  the  proportion 
of  more  than  six  to  one.  But  it  was  obvious  that  if  these  Freed- 
men were  thrown  into  the  Rustic  Tribes,  their  single  votes  would 
gain  great  weight,  and  give  much  political  power  to  any  one  who 
could  command  these  votes. 

§  7.  It  is  not  an  unusual  thing  to  find  persons  of  high  patri- 
cian blood  associating  themselves  politically  with  the  lowest 
orders  rather  than  with  the  class  immediately  below  them. 
The  proud  Patrician  may  find  more  complete  submission  in  the 
one  case  than  will  be  rendered  in  the  other ;  and  the  lower 
orders  themselves  are  glad  to  find  a  leader  among  those  whom 
historical  association  and  ancient  wealth  connect  with  the 
highest  order  in  iue  state.  Such  a  combination  was  easy  at 
Rome,  because  the  elevation  of  the  Plebeian  order  still  rankled 
in  the  minds  of  many  Patricians ;  and  it  might  have  been  ex- 
pected that  there  would  not  be  wanting  unscrupulous  men  of 
this  class  who  would  avail  themselves  of  any  means  to  recover 


220  ROME  CONQUEROR  OF  ITALY.  Book  IIL 

their  exclusive  privileges.  Such  a  man  appears  at  the  present 
juncture. 

Appius  Claudius,  afterwards  named  Csecus  or  the  Blind,  was 
this  man.  He  was  descended  from  that  proud  Sabine  family 
which  in  the  earlier  times  of  the  Republic  had  for  three  gene- 
rations led  the  high  Patrician  party  in  their  opposition  to  the 
claims  of  the  Plebeians.  But  for  nearly  a  century  and  a  half, 
from  the  end  of  the  Decemviral  government  to  this  period,  the 
name  of  that  great  family  disappears  from  the  Annals.  He  was, 
as  we  have  seen,  devoid  of  military  talent  among  a  people  where 
every  man  was  more  or  less  a  soldier,  and  where  every  magis- 
trate was  expected  to  be  a  general.  But  his  abilities  as  a  states- 
man must  have  been  great.  He  is  the  first  man  of  whom  we 
hear  as  rising  to  high  honours  with  this  recommendation  only  to 
favour  :  his  temper  was  determined,  and  his  will  inflexible. 

This  eminent  man  first  conceived  the  plan  of  creating  a  new 
party  by  means  of  the  Freedmen,  so  as  to  neutralise  the  equality 
lately  won  by  the  Plebeians.  The  Patricians  were  as  yet  the 
chief  slave-owners.  The  Freedmen  were  therefore  chiefly  attached 
to  them,  and  whatever  influence  was  conceded  to  them  would 
probably  be  used,  for  a  time  at  least,  on  the  side  of  the  Patricians, 
especially  if  the  political  boon  conferred  were  conferred  by  the 
hand  of  a  patrician  statesman. 

§  8.  In  312  B.C.,  three  years  after  the  disastrous  defeat  sustained 
by  Fabius  at  Lautulae,  Appius  was  chosen  Censor,  together  with 
the  plebeian  C.  Plautius.  He  was  not  Consul  till  five  years 
later,  a  reversal  of  the  usual  order  of  office,  which  may  be 
attributed  to  his  want  of  military  skill.  One  of  the  first  duties 
of  the  Censor  was  to  make  up  the  list  of  the  Senate.  The  com- 
mon practice  was  to  leave  all  the  old  members  on  the  list,  unless 
Buy  man  had  been  guilty  of  some  dishonourable  act,  and  to  fill 
ap  the  vacancies  by  a  regular  rule,  of  which  we  shall  speak  here- 
after.* But  Appius  disdained  all  precedent,  and  called  up  into 
the  Senate  a  number  of  persons  devoted  to  himself,  who  had  no 
claim  to  such  a  dignity.  No  doubt  the  chief  slight  was  shown 
to  the  Plebeians,  for  L.  Junius  Bubulcus,  who  in  the  next  year 
was  Plebeian  Consul  for  the  third  time,  treated  the  list  made  out 
by  Appius  as  null,  and  the  Plebeian  Censor,  C.  Plautius,  resigned 
his  office.  The  purpose  of  this  resignation  was  to  force  Appius 
aJso  to  resign ;  for  it  was  the  custom  when  by  any  cause  a  Cen- 
sor was  deprived  of  his  colleague,  that  he  should  lay  down  his 
office  at  once.  But  here  again  Appius  defied  precedent,  and  re- 
mained sole  Censor. 

§  9.  He  was  now  quite  unfettered,  and  undertook  the  great 
*  Chapt.  XXXV.  §  9. 


Chap.  XXIY.    CIYIL  HISTORY  DURING  SAMNITE  WARS.  221 

alteration  to  which  we  have  before  alluded.  In  revising  the 
Census-register,  or  list  of  all  who  belonged  to  the  Tribes,  he 
allowed  the  Freedmen  to  be  registered  in  the  list  of  any  Tribe 
they  pleased,  country  as  well  as  city.  By  this  means,  as  we  have 
said,  the  Freedmen's  votes  became  available  in  every  Tribe,  in- 
stead of  being  confined  to  four.  Moreover  the  Freedmen,  being 
resident  in  Rome,  were  always  present  at  the  assemblies,  whereas 
the  country  voters  attended  much  less  regularly, — a  fact  which 
gave  to  the  Freedmen  a  power  beyond  their  numerical  propor- 
tion.. It  is  not  too  much  to  assume  that  in  this  measure  Appius 
had  the  interest  of  the  Patrician  party  at  heart  rather  than  that 
of  the  Freedmen  and  Populace,  whom  he  admitted  to  equality 
with  the  rest  of  the  Burgesses. 

§  10,  The  agent  whom  he  employed  in  dealing  with  the  popu- 
lace was  one  Cn.  Flavins,  the  son  of  a  freedman,  who  followed 
the  calling  of  a  public  scrivener  or  notary  (scriba),  a  class  which 
in  ancient  times,  when  printing  was  unknown,  was  numerous 
and  important.  This  man's  name  is  best  known  in  connexion 
with  another  matter,  the  publication  of  the  forms  and  times  to 
be  observed  in  legal  proceedings.  Up  to  that  time  the  Patri- 
cians had  kept  all  the  secrets  of  law  in  their  own  hands  ;  they 
alone  knew  which  were  the  days  when  courts  could  be  held  and 
when  they  could  not  ;*  they  alone  were  in  possession  of  those 
technical  formularies  according  to  which  all  actions  must  pro- 
ceed. But  Flavins,  probably  by  the  help  of  his  patron  Appius, 
got  possession  of  these  secrets,  and  drew  up  a  regular  Calendar, 
in  which  the  Dies  Fasti  and  Nefasti  were  marked ;  and  this  he 
set  up  in  the  forum,  so  that  all  might  see  it :  he  also  published 
an  authentic  list  of  the  formularies  proper  to  be  employed  in 
the  several  kinds  of  action ;  and  thus,  as  Cicero  says,  "  he  picked 
out  the  crows'  eyes."t 

§  11.  Soon  after  the  admission  of  the  Freedmen  to  the  full 
citizenship,  Flavins  became  a  candidate  for  the  Curule  ^dile- 
ship.  The  Tribune  presiding  at  the  election  said  he  could  not 
take  votes  for  a  person  who  was  engaged  in  trade ;  upon  which 
Flavins  stepped  forward  and  laid  down  his  tablets  and  stile,  the 
badges  of  his  occupation,  declaring  that  he  would  be  a  scrivener 
no  longer.     Then  he  was  elected,  to  the  great  indignation  of  the 

*  Originally  the  court  days  had  been  on  the  Nundinse,  or  one  day  in  every 
week  when  the  markets  were  held.  But  they  were  now  held  irregularly  on 
the  Dies  Fasti,  that  is,  on  all  days  which  were  not  marked  as  Nefasti  or  lUicit 
in  the  secret  calendar  of  the  Pontiffs,  as  Ovid  says: — 

Ille  Nefastus  erit,  per  quern  tria  verba  silentur ; 
Fastus  erit,  per  quem  lege  licebit  agi. 
f  "  Scriba  quidam,  Cn.  Flavins,  qui  cornicum  oculos  conflxerit." — Cicero 
pro  Murena,  ch.  11. 


222  ROME  CONQUEROR  OF  ITALY.  Book  111 

old  citizens,  who  saw  two  of  their  own  candidates,  men  of  consular 
rank,  rejected  in  favour  of  this  Freedman's  son.  Flavins,  how- 
ever, was  no  common  man ;  he  maintained  his  position  with 
dignity,  and  was  so  struck  with  the  evils  that  might  result  from 
continued  disunion,  that  he  vowed  a  shrine  to  Concord  if  the 
upper  and  lower  classes  could  be  reconciled. 

§  12.  We  have  seen  that  Appius  remained  sole  Censor,  and 
when  he  had  held  his  office  for  eighteen  months  it  was  expected 
that  he  would  lay  it  down,  as  ordered  by  the  ^milian  law.* 
But  he  had  no  such  intention.  He  had  begun  some  great  na- 
tional works,  and  determined  to  hold  his  office  for  the  whole 
Lustrum,  that  is,  for  three  and  a  half  years  longer.  The  works 
we  speak  of  became  and  still  remain  famous  as  the  Appian  road 
and  the  Appian  aqueduct. 

§  13.  The  Appian  Road  is  well  known,  even  to  those  who  have 
not  visited  Rome,  by  the  amusing  description  which  Horace  has 
given  of  his  journey  along  it.  It  led  from  Rome  to  Capua, 
passing  through  the  Pontine  marshes  to  Terracina,  then  skirted 
the  seaward  side  of  the  Auruncan  hills,  so  as  to  avoid  the  pass  of 
Lautulae,  and  went  on  by  way  of  Fundi,  Formise,  and  Sinuessa  to 
Capua.  There  had  been  a  road  this  way  before,  which  we  have 
called  the  lower  road  to  Capua.  What  Appius  did  was  to  straighten 
it,  and  make  it  fit  for  military  purposes  :  its  length  was  about 
120  miles.  Some  years  later  it  was  paved  with  large  angular 
blocks  of  basalt  or  hard  lava  (silex)  and  long  afterwards  it  was 
continued  through  Beneventum  and  the  Samnite  Apennines  to 
Brundusium.f  The  Latin  road,  as  the  upper  road  to  Capua  was 
now  called,  left  Rome  by  the  same  gate,  the  Porta  Capena. 

The  Appian  Aqueduct  (aqua  Appia)  was  the  first  of  these 
great  works  by  which  Rome  was  so  abundantly  supplied  with 
water,  to  the  shame  of  the  great  cities  of  modern  times.  But 
it  did  not  resemble  the  Roman  Aqueducts  of  later  times — those 
long  lines  of  arches  with  which  every  one  is  familiar.  In  those 
days  enemies  often  penetrated  even  to  the  walls  of  Rome,  and 
might  easily  have  broken  ofi"  a  raised  Aqueduct.  It  passed  under 
ground,  except  after  it  had  entered  the  city,  when  it  rose  on  a 
few  arches  near  the  Porta  Capena  :;|;  thence  it  passed  down  into 

*  See  Chapt.  xii.  §  5.  (3). 

f  Part  of  it  has  recently  been  laid  bare  of  the  rubbish  which  had  collected 
over  it,  and  an  interesting  description  of  the  discoveries  made,  with  restora- 
tions, has  been  given  by  Canina,  the  well-known  Roman  antiquary.  See  the 
woodcut  at  the  head  of  this  Chapter. 

X  "Substitit  ad  veteres  arous  madidamque  Capenam." — Juven.  iii.  11. 

From  this  it  will  appear  that  the  common  Roman  practice  of  raising  their 
aqueducts  on  high  arches  arose,  not  from  io^norance  of  the  fact  that  watf\r 


Chap.  XXIY.     CIVIL  HISTORY  DURING  SAMNITB  WARS.  223 

the  lower  parts  of  the  city  next  the  river,  between  the  Capitol 
and  the  Aventine,  where  spring-water  there  was  none.  In  this 
quarter  dwelt  those  poorer  classes  whose  favour  Appius  had 
otherwise  endeavoured  to  gain.  It  may  therefore  be  suspected 
that  in  this  work  also  he  had  a  political  end  in  view ;  but  how- 
ever this  may  be,  every  one  will  agree  with  the  remark,  that  one 
must  "  feel  unmixed  pleasure  in  observing  that  the  first  Roman- 
aqueduct  was  constructed  for  the  benefit  of  the  poor,  and  of 
those  who  most  needed  it."* 

§  14.  At  the  end  of  the  fourth  year  of  his  Censorship  Appius 
was  elected  Consul.  He  intended  to  have  continued  Censor  for 
this  year,  but  the  Tribunes  interfered  with  so  much  determina- 
tion that  he  deemed  it  prudent  to  resign  his  office,  and  content 
himself  with  the  Consulship.  He  was  Consul  again  ten  years 
later  (296  e.g.),  when  Gellius  Egnatius  led  his  Samnites  into  Etru- 
ria,  and  the  next  year  he  was  Prastor  :  it  was  not  long  after  this, 
probably,  that  he  lost  his  sight.  This  deprivation  was  regarded 
as  a  punishment  for  his  having  advised  the  Patrician  Gentes  of 
the  Potitii  and  Pinarii,  who  were  hereditary  priests  of  Hercules, 
to  delegate  their  ministry  to  slaves,  another  evidence  of  the  con- 
tempt of  Appius  for  old  customs.  These  Gentes,  adds  the  legend, 
soon  after  ceased  to  exist, 

§  15.  During  the  whole  of  Appius'  arbitrary  Censorship  the 
Senate  and  the  old  citizens  behaved  with  marvellous  self-control, 
and  refrained  from  offering  any  direct  opposition  to  his  acts. 
But  when  the  next  Censors  (of  .the  year  307  b.c.)  left  office 
without  attempt  to  restore  the  balance  of  power  which  Appius 
had  destroyed,  the  Senate  resolved  that  new  Censors  should 
be  chosen  for  this  purpose  two  and  a  half  years  before  the 
proper  time,  and  the  choice  of  the  people  fell  on  Rome's  two 
worthiest  sons,  Q.  Fabius  Maxiraus  and  P.  Decius  Mus.  These 
two  great  men,  who  agreed  heart  and  hand  together,  accepted 
the  office,  and  applied  a  remedy  simple  but  effectual.  They  did 
not,  as  some  of  the  more  violent  might  have  wished,  disenfran- 
chise the  new  citizens,  but  merely  removed  their  names  from  the 
country  Tribes  and  restored  them  to  the  four  city  Tribes,  to 
which  they  had  before  belonged.  Thus  the  new  voters  could  only 
carry  four  Tribes,  while  there  were  twenty-nine  in  the  hands 
of  the  old  citizens.  This  measure  was  executed  in  the  year  303 
B.C.  Fabius  and  Decius  saved  the  state  as  much  by  their  firm- 
ness and  moderation  now  as  they  did  afterwards  by  the  glorious 
victory  of  Sentinum. 

rises  to  \ts  own  level,  but  probably  because  they  were  not  able  to  manufacture 
pipes  of  sufficient  magnitude  for  conveying  very  large  streams, 
*  Arnold,  Hist,  of  Rome,  ii.  p.  289, 


The  Island  of  the  Tiber. 


CHAPTER    XXV, 


EVENTS  BETWEEN  THE  THIRD  SAMNITE  WAR  AND  THE  LANDING  OF 
PYRRHUS.       (289—282  B.C.) 

§  1.  M'  Curius  Dentatus:  conquest  of  Upper  Sabines.  §  2.  Agrarian  Law  of 
Curius:  Secession  of  poorer  Citizens :  Hortensian  Laws.  §3.  Early  inter 
course  of  Rome  with  Greece  Proper :  the  Snake  of  ^sculapius  and  Sacred 
Isle.  §  4.  Now  brought  into  contact  with  Magna  Grsecia  and  Sicily: 
retrospective  view  of  their  wealth  and  population.  §  5.  Syracuse.  §  6. 
Other  towns  of  Sicily:  Rhegium  occupied  by  Mamertines.  §  7.  Tarentum: 
her  situation  and  people :  practice  of  hiring  foreign  captains.  §  8.  Her 
treaty  with  Rome.  §  9.  She  intrigues  with  Italian  nations  against  Rome 
§  10.  Thurii  seek  aid  of  Rome  against  Lucanians.  §11-  General  rising  of 
Southern  Italians,  as  also  of  Etruscans  and  Gauls :  Praetor  Metellus  cut  off 
in  Etruria.  §  12.  Consul  Dolabella  extirpates  Senonians.  §  13.  Boian 
Gauls  defeated  in  a  great  battle  on  Lake  Vadimo :  Colony  of  Sena  Gallica. 
§  14.  Fabricius  conducts  war  in  South.  §  15.  Ten  Roman  ships  are 
as.saulted  in  harbour  of  Tarentum :  sack  of  Thurii.  §  16.  Roman  Envoys 
insulted :  speech  of  L.  Postumius.  §  17.  Hopes  of  peace  frustrated  by 
promised  arrival  of  Pyrrhus. 

§  1.  Of  the  years  which  follow  the  Samnite  wars  little  is 
known.  The  glowing  pages  of  Livy  desert  us  at  this  point,  and 
from  the  end  of  the  Samnite  wars  to  the  beginning  of  the  great 


Chap.  XXV.  CONQUEST  OF  UPPER  SABINES.  225 

war  with  Hannibal  and  the  Carthaginians,  a  brief  and  naked 
epitome  of  each  book  is  all  that  remains  to  us.  For  the  cam- 
paigns of  Pyrrhus  we  have  Plutarch.  But  for  the  intervening 
years  the  materials  are  few  and  scanty. 

Immediately  upon  the  final  submission  of  the  Samnites,  in 
290  B.C.,  the  Senate  resolved  to  punish  the  Sabines  for  their 
^  spicious  conduct  in  listening  to  the  overtures  of  Gellius 
iv»-natius  at  the  beginning  of  the  late  war,  when  the  Marsians 
and  their  neighbours  stood  firm  in  their  alliance.*  The  com- 
mander entrusted  with  the  invasion  of  the  difficult  country 
formed  by  the  valleys  of  the  highest  Apennines,  was  M'  Curius 
Dentatus,  a  name  which  may  be  counted  among  the  most  illus- 
trious in  Roman  history,f  though  we  confess  with  regret  that 
we  know  little  of  his  life.  He  is  said  himself  to  have  been  of 
Sabine  origin, — sprung  from  the  Sabines  of  the  lower  country,  no 
doubt,  who  had  long  been  closely  united  with  Rome.J  We  first 
hear  of  him  as  Tribune  of  the  Plebs,  when  he  stood  forth  as  a 
defender  of  his  order,  and  forced  Appius  Claudius,  then  presiding 
as  interrex,  to  receive  the  votes  of  the  Plebeians,  which  the 
Patricians  wished  to  reject.||  He  lived,  like  the  old  plebeian 
yeomen,  on  his  own  farm,  and  himself  shared  with  his  men  the 
labours  of  the  field.  It  is  said  that  on  one  occasion  the  Samnites 
sent  messengers  to  tempt  him  with  costly  presents  of  gold ;  the 
messengers  found  him  toasting  radishes  at  the  fire ;  and  when 
he  had  heard  their  business,  he  pointed  to  his  rude  meal,  and 
said — "  Leave  me  my  earthen  pans,  and  let  those  who  use  gold 
be  my  subjects."  His  honesty  and  rough  vigour  of  character 
recommended  him  to  the  Tribes,  and  notwithstanding  his  humble 
condition,  he  rose  to  the  first  offices  of  state.  In  the  year  290 
B.C.  he  was  elected  Consul,  and  received  the  final  submission 
of  the  Samnites.  He  then  straightway  turned  his  arms  against 
the  Sabines,  who  fell  an  easy  prey.  What  surprises  us  is 
to  hear  that  he  took  a  very  large  booty,  a  quantity  of  gold, 
and  other  things,  which  sound  strangely  as  the  possessions  of 
a  tribe  that  dwelt  in  the  upland  valleys  of  the  Apennines.  The 
Sabines  became  now  absolutely  subject  to  Rome,  being  obliged 
to  accept  the  citizenship  without  suffrage,  the  burdens  without 
the  privileges* 

*  Chapt.  Jfxiii.  §  7. 

f  So  thought  Horace : — "Hunc,  et  incomtis  Curium  capillis 

Sseva  paupertas  tulit,  et  CamiDum,"  etc. 

And  So  Milton  : — "  Canst  thou  not  remember 

Quinctius,  Fabricius,  Curius,  Regulus?" 
1  Chapt.  xiii.  §  1. 

I  Sex>  Aurelius  Victor  de  Viris  Illustr.,  c.  xxxiii. 

10* 


226  ROME  CONQUEROR  OF  ITALY.  Book  lit 

§  2.  After  his  double  triumph  over  the  Samnites  and  Sabines, 
Curius  proposed  an  Agrarian  Law,  providing  that  all  the  poorer 
citizens  (these  probably  were  for  the  most  part  the  Freedmen  and 
others  lately  admitted  into  the  Tribes)  should  receive  each  man 
an  allotment  of  seven  jugera  in  the  Sabine  country.*  This  was 
vehemently  opposed  by  the  greater  part  of  the  old  citizens,  Ple- 
beians as  well  as  Patricians,  and  the  life  of  Curius  was  thought  to 
be  in  so  great  danger,  that  eight  hundred  young  men  attached 
themselves  to  him  as  a  body  guard. 

The  sequel  of  this  strife  cannot  be  unfolded.  All  we  know  is, 
that  the  poverty  of  the  poor  was  aggravated  by  several  years  of 
famine  and  pestilence :  at  the  same  time  debts  again  multiplied 
and  became  oppressive.  The  end  of  it  was,  that  about  the  year 
286  B.C.  the  mass  of  the  poorer  citizens,  consisting  (as  may  be 
guessed)  chiefly  of  those  who  had  lately  been  enfranchised  by 
Appius,  left  the  city  and  encamped  in  an  oak-wood  upon  the 
Janiculum.f  To  appease  this  last  Secession,  Q.  Hortensius  was 
namad  Dictator,  and  he  succeeded  in  bringing  back  the  people  by 
allowing  them  to  enact  several  laws  upon  the  spot.  One  of  these 
Hortensian  laws  was  probably  an  extension  of  the  Agrarian  Law 
of  Curius,  granting  not  seven,  but  fourteen  jugera  (about  9  acres) 
to  each  of  the  poor  citizens.];  Another  provided  for  the  reduc- 
tion of  debt.  But  that  which  is  best  known  as  the  Hortensian 
law  was  one  enacting  that  all  Resolutions  of  the  Tribes  should 
be  law  for  the  whole  Roman  people.||  This  was  nearly  in  the 
same  terms  as  the  law  passed  by  Valerius  and  Horatius  at  the 
close  of  the  Decemvirate,  and  that  passed  by  Publilius  Philo  the 
Dictator,  after  the  conquest  of  Latium.*[f 

Hortensius  died  in  his  Dictatorship — an  unparalleled  event, 
which  was  considered  ominous.  Yet  with  his  death  ended  the 
last  Secession  of  the  People.  For  one  hundred  and  fifty  years 
from  this  time  to  the  appearance  of  the  Gracchi,  we  hear  of  no 
civil  dissensions  at  Rome. 

It  may  be  here  added,  that  on  the  allotment  of  the  Sabine 
domain  lands,  Curius  refused  to  take  more  than  any  other  poor 
citizen.  But  it  was  decreed  by  acclamation  that  he  should  be 
rewarded  by  a  gift  of  five  hundred  jugera  (about  320  acres).  And 
we  shall  find  him  acting  with  the  same  single-minded  honesty 
ten  years  later  in  the  war  with  Pyrrhus. 

*  See  Chapt.  viii.  §  3. 
f  In  cesculeto,  Plin.  Hist.  Nat,  xvi.  §  37. 

I  Aurel.  Victor  says  that  Curius  assigned  fourteen  jugera ;  Pliny  (H.  N., 
xviii.  §  8)  says  seven.    The  statement  in  the  text  attempts  to  reconcile  the  twa 
I  "  Quod  Piebs  jussisset,  omnes  Quirites  teneret." 
^  Above,  chapt.  x.  §  22,  and  chapt.  xx.  §  11. 


Chap.  XXY.  PESTILENCE  AT  ROME.  227 

§  3.  Notwithstanding  the  part  played  by  Hellenic  heroes  in  the 
earliest  Roman  Legends,  the  Romans  had  as  yet  had  few  dealings 
with  the  Greeks.  The  tale  of  Tarquin  sending  to  consult  the 
Oracle  at  Delphi,  of  the  mission  of  the  three  men  to  procure  the 
laws  of  Solon,  of  the  answer  of  the  Delphic  Priestess  with  respect 
to  the  draining  of  the  Alban  Lake,  are  Legends  of  dubious 
authority.  A  story  that  Roman  envoys  appeared  among  the 
ambassadors  of  other  Italian  peoples  at  Alexander's  court  at  Baby- 
lon, is  rejected  as  false  by  Arrian,  the  most  trustworthy  historian 
of  the  great  king.  The  next  time  we  find  Rome  mentioned  as 
having  intercourse  with  Greece  was  soon  after  the  close  of  the  third 
Samnite  war.  Pestilence  was  raging  at  Rome  ;  and  the  Senate 
is  said  to  have  sent  to  Epidaurus,  to  request  that  ^Esculapius 
(the  tutelary  god  of  that  place)  might  come  to  avert  the  evil. 
The  ambassadors  returned  with  a  sacred  snake,  the  emblem  of  the 
god,*  who  found  his  own  way  into  their  ship,  and  ensconced  him- 
self in  the  cabin.  When  they  arrived  in  the  Tiber,  the  snake 
glided  from  the  ship,  and  swimming  to  the  land  which  lies 
between  the  Capitol  and  Aventine  disappeared  there.  Here  a 
temple  was  built  to  the  Greek  god  of  medicine.  The  island  was 
shaped  into  the  rude  resemblance  of  a  trireme,  which  it  still  bears, 
and  to  this  day  it  is  called  by  the  name  of  the  Sacred  Isle  (Isola 
Sacra)  .f 

Such  are  the  faint  records  of  Rome's  early  intercourse  with 
Greece  Proper. 

§  4.  But  there  was  another  Greece,  nearer  home,  with  which 
she  was  soon  to  come  in  direct  collision.  In  early  times,  when  the 
name  of  Rome  was  yet  unknown,  the  cities  of  Greece,  especially 
the  great  Dorian  city  of  Corinth,  were  sending  out  their  superflu- 
ous population  to  seek  settlements  in  the  western  worlds,  Italy 
and  Sicily  were  to  them  what  North  America  has  been  to  us. 
All  the  eastern  and  southern  coasts  of  Sicily — all  the  coasts  of 
Lower  Italy,  from  the  Bay  of  Naples  to  the  promontory  of  lapygia, 
were  thick-studded  with  Grecian  Colonies,  which  had  become 
large  and  flourishing  cities  when  Rome  was  yet  struggling  for 
existence.  The  inhabitants  of  these  Greek  colonies  were  known 
by  the  names  of  Siceliotes  and  Italiotes,J;  to  distinguish  them  from 
the  native  Siceli  and  Itali.  The  whole  seaboard  of  Southern  Italy 
received,    and    still    retains,   the    appellation    of  Magna   Grecia. 

*  See  the  coin  of  Epidaurus  at  the  end  of  this  Chapter. 

f  See  the  cut  at  the  head  of  this  Chapter.  There  is  no  doubt  that  this  tem- 
ple was  a  Hospital,  like  other  temples  of  ^sculapius.  Its  insular  position 
might  be  chosen  to  avoid  the  noise  of  the  thoroughfares,  and  to  obtain  fresher 
air  than  was  possible  in  the  close  and  crooked  streets  of  the  old  cit^, 

I  2t/cf/lfdiraf,'lraAi6Jrai. 


228  ROME  CONQUEROR  OF  ITALY.  Book  HI. 

Hitherto  the  name  of  Rome  had  been  unfeared  and  uncared  for. 
The  Greeks  of  Sicily  were  defended  by  the  sea ;  those  of  Italy  by 
the  barrier  of  hardy  tribes  which  lay  between  them  and  their 
future  mistress.  But  now  this  barrier  was  broken  down.  The 
brave  Samiiites  had  submitted  after  a  struggle  as  noble  as  any 
which  history  has  recorded.  The  Lucanians  and  Apulians  had 
formed  a  league  with  Rome.  Already  had  Pala}polis  and 
Neapolis  bowed  before  her.  Any  day  the  Consuls  and  their 
legions  might  be  expected  to  knock  at  the  gates  of  the  southern 
cities. 

These  cities,  so  famous  in  early  time,  had  most  of  them  fallen 
into  decay.  This  had  been  caused  in  part  by  the  inroads  of  the 
Oscan  and  Sabellian  tribes  (as  above  noticed),*  in  part  by  civil 
wars  with  one  another,  and  by  domestic  convulsions  in  each.  In 
Sicily  especially,  the  Carthaginians  were  always  dangerous ;  and 
here,  above  all,  the  changes  of  Government  were  most  frequent 
and  most  violent.  Aristocracies  were  supplanted  by  turbulent 
democracies,  and  these  gave  way  in  turn  to  despotic  rulers,  who 
had  been  elevated  in  ancient  times,  or  who  had  raised  themselves 
by  force  or  fraud  to  sovereign  power.  Such  rulers  were  called 
Tyrants  by  the  Greeks — a  name  which  (as  is  well  known)  referred 
rather  to  the  mode  in  which  power  was  gained  than  to  that  in 
which  it  was  exercised.  In  seditions  and  civil  wars  thousands  and 
tens  of  thousands  of  citizens  had  fallen  ;  the  prosperity  of  ancient 
cities  had  decayed ;  cities  themselves  had  perished.  The  vast 
remains  of  temples  at  Agrigentum,  at  Selinus,  at  Psestum,  show 
what  those  cities  must  have  been,  where  now  not  a  house  is  left. 
Whole  mounds  of  broken  pottery  cover  the  environs  of  Tarentum, 
and  show  what  masses  of  men  must  have  peopled  those  now  deso- 
late shores.  The  series  of  coins  due  to  this  city  is  surpassed 
in  beauty  and  variety  of  type  only  by  those  of  Syracuse. 
Sybaris,  the  splendid  and  luxurious  rival  of  Croton,  was  destroyed 
by  the  latter  city.  Croton  herself,  though  supported  by  the  old 
I'emembrance  of  her  Pythagorean  rulers,  had  fallen  into  insignifi- 
cance. Thurii,  the  chosen  seat  of  the  old  age  of  Hciodotus,  aid 
its  neighbouring  Metapontum,  Locri,  and  Rhegium,  still  retair.td 
the  vestiges  of  ancient  grandeur.  The  most  noted  tyrant  of  Syia- 
cuse,  Dionysius,  was  one  of  the  chief  causes  of  the  decay  of  the 
Greek  towns  of  Lower  Italy.  About  the  time  that  the  Gauls 
were  devastating  Latium,  he  did  not  scruple  to  league  himself 
with  the  barbarous  Lucanians  to  establish  a  tyranny  over  his 
fellow-countrymen.  And  about  a  century  later,  Agathocles  of 
Syracuse   ravaged    Lower    Italy.      Thus,  by  combined   violence 

*  Chapt  I  §  20. 


Chap.  XXV.  SYRACUSE.  229 

from  many  sources,  the  Hellenic  communities  both  of  Italy 
and  Sicily,  were  fallen  from  their  sometime  magnificence. 
Tarentum  and  Syracuse  remained,  and  a  brief  sketch  of  the 
previous  history  of  these  two  places  will  illustrate  the  above 
remarks,  and  will  serve  to  make  the  succeeding  narrative  in- 
telligible. 

§  5.  Syracuse  was  founded  about  the  same  time  as  Rome,  by 
Archias,  a  noble  Corinthian,  who  led  forth  a  colony  of  his  coun- 
trymen, to  seek  a  new  country  in  the  far  west.  For  many  years 
the  colony  was  governed  (like  the  mother  city)  by  a  moderate 
aristocracy.  This  was  interrupted  by  the  princely  tyranny  of  Gelo 
and  his  son  Hiero,  who  held  the  sceptre  of  Syracuse  at  the  time  of 
the  Persian  wars  from  485  to  467  b.c.  The  old  republic  was  then 
restored  till  the  invasion  of  the  Athenians  in  415,  when  it  was 
supplanted  by  a  violent  democracy.  This  again  was  overthrown 
by  the  elder  Dionysius  in  406  ;  but  the  sceptre  which,  after  an 
active  reign  of  thirty-eight  years,  he  transmitted  to  his  son,  passed 
finally  from  that  son's  feebler  grasp  about  the  beginning  of  the 
Samnite  wars.  For  twenty-six  years  the  republic  was  restored, 
when  in  317  another  adventurer  possessed  himself  of  the  throne. 
This  was  Agathocles,  who  began  life  as  a  potter's  apprentice,  and 
raised  himself  first  by  his  personal  strength  and  beauty  of  form, 
then  by  the  continued  exertion  of  an  almost  fabulous  boldness. 
His  reign  terminated  in  289,  just  as  the  third  Samnite  war  had 
been  concluded.  A  new  king,  Hiero  II.,  was  called  to  the  throne 
in  270,  and  it  was  in  his  reign  that  the  Romans  first  set  foot  in 
Sicily. 

Of  these  sovereigns,  it  may  be  observed  that  the  two  last, 
Agathocles  and  Hiero,  were  no  longer  called  Tyrants,  but  Kings. 
The  former  name  had  fallen  into  disuse  after  the  splendid  royalty 
of  Alexander,  whom  no  one,  save  Demosthenes  and  his  republican 
followers,  ventured  to  call  by  the  name  of  Tyrant.  Yet  they  had 
all  risen  by  the  same  means,  and  held  their  power  by  the  same 
tenure.  Nor  were  any  of  them  able  to  transmit  the  sceptre  to  a 
line  of  successors.  They  all  rose  to  power,  because  the  Republic 
needed  a  skilful  captain  to  carry  on  the  war  against  the  Cartha- 
ginians. Gelo  defeated  the  enemy  in  a  great  naval  battle  on  the 
same  day  as  the  battle  of  Salamis.  Dionysius  I.,  after  being 
besieged  in  his  capital,  took  Motye,  the  Calcutta  of  those  merchant- 
princes,  and  established  his  rule  over  the  greater  part  of  Sicily. 
Agathocles  carried  fire  and  sword  up  to  the  gates  of  Carthage. 
More  than  once  he  landed  in  Italy  for  the  purpose  of  defending 
the  Tarentines  from  the  Bruttians,  their  barbarous  neighbours. 
Strange  to  say,  the  name  of  this  remarkable  man  is  not  mentioned 
by  the  Roman  historians.     Yet,  but  for  his  perpetual  wars  with 


230  ROME  CONQUEROR  OF  ITALY.  Book  III. 

Carthage,  he  might  have  employed  his  restless  arms  in  supporting 
the  Samnites  against  Rome. 

§  6.  The  other  Greek  cities  of  Sicily  suffered  similar  vicissitudes. 
But  we  know  little  of  them,  nor  is  it  important  that  we  should. 
The  state  of  one  will  serve  to  inform  us  of  all. 

But  before  we  leave  Sicily,  an  event  must  be  mentioned,  which 
has  no  small  influence  on  the  subsequent  history.  A  large  portion 
of  the  army  of  Agathocles  consisted  of  Italians,  who  called  them 
selves  Mamertines,  that  is,  servants  of  Mamers,  or  Mars.  They 
were  Campanian  adventurers  of  Samnite  origin,  who  took  service 
with  any  government  that  would  pay  them.  They  chose  their 
own  captains,  like  the  free  troops  led  by  the  condottieri  of  the 
middle  ages.  On  the  death  of  Agathocles,  a  large  body  of  these 
Mamertines  seized  Syracuse  as  a  guarantee  for  the  payment  of 
their  wages.  On  payment  being  made,  they  were  induced  to 
leave  the  city,  and  were  marched  to  Messana,  for  the  purpose 
of  crossing  into  Italy.  But  finding  this  city  an  inviting  prey,  they 
seized  it  and  became  its  lords ;  and  soon  they  established  their 
power  over  a  large  portion  of  northern  Sicily.  Meanwhile,  the 
Carthaginians  recovered  possession  of  the  west  of  the  islands. 
Syracuse  and  the  other  Greek  cities  retained  a  precarious 
independence. 

Hence  it  will  appear  that  the  Greek-Sicilian  cities  were  in  no 
case  to  help  their  brethren  in  Italy,  should  they  be  attacked  by 
Rome.  They  could  not  defend  themselves,  much  less  render 
aid  to  others. 

§  7.  Our  attention  is  now  claimed  by  Tarentum,  the  chief  of  the 
Greek-Italian  cities. 

The  origin  of  Lacedaemonian  Tarentum  is  veiled  in  fable.  The 
warriors  of  Sparta  (so  runs  the  well-known  legend)  went  forth  to 
the  second  Messenian  war  under  a  vow  not  to  see  their  homes 
till  they  had  conquered  the  enemy.  They  were  long  absent,  and 
their  wives  sought  paramours  among  the  slaves  and  others  who  had 
not  gone  out  to  war.  When  the  warriors  returned,  they  found  a 
large  body  of  youth  grown  up  from  this  adulterous  intercourse. 
These  youths,  (the  Parthenii,  as  they  were  called)  disdaining 
subjection,  quitted  their  native  land  under  the  command  of 
Phalantus,  one  of  their  own  body,  and  founded  the  colony  of 
Tarentum. 

Whatever  may  be  the  truth  of  this  legend,  thus  much  is 
certain,  that  Tarentum  was  a  Lacedaemonian  colony  of  very  great 
antiquity.  Its  history  is  little  known.  But  what  is  known 
shows  that  the  colony  partook  of  the  steady  nature  of  her 
mother-city,  and  resisted  those  violent  and  frequent  changes 
which  were  «»o  rife  in  Syracuse  and  the  other  Greek  cities  of  the 


Chap.  XXY.  TARENTUM.  231 

west.  Tarentum  lay  at  the  northern  corner  of  the  great  gulf 
which  still  bears  its  name.  It  had  an  excellent  harbour,  almost 
land-locked.  On  its  eastern  horn  stood  the  city.  Its  form  was 
triangular ;  one  side  being  washed  by  the  open  sea,  the  other  by 
the  waters  of  the  harbour,  while  the  base  or  land  side  was  pro- 
tected by  a  line  of  strong  fortifications.  Thus  advantageously 
posted  for  commerce  the  city  grew  apace.  She  possessed  an 
opulent  middle  class;  and  the  poorer  citizens  found  an  easy  sub- 
sistence in  the  abundant  supply  of  fish  which  the  gulf  aff'orded. 
These  native  fishermen  were  always  ready  to  man  the  navy  of 
the  state.  But  they  made  indifferent  soldiers.  Therefore  when 
any  peril  of  war  threatened  the  state,  it  was  the  practice  of  the 
government  to  hire  foreign  captains,  soldiers  of  fortune,  who 
were  often  kings  or  princes,  to  bring  an  army  for  their  defence. 
Thus  we  find  them  taking  into  their  service  Archidamus  of 
Sparta  and  Alexander  of  Molossus,*  to  defend  them  against  the 
Lucanians.  So  also,  after  the  second  Samnite  war,  when  they 
began  to  fear  the  power  of  Rome,  they  engaged  the  services  of 
Cleonymus  Prince  of  Sparta  to  fight  their  battles.  They  called  in 
Agatliocles  of  Syracuse  to  war  against  the  Bruttians.  And  last  of 
all,  when  they  came  into  actual  conflict  with  Rome,  they  put  them- 
selves under  the  protection  of  Pyrrhus,  as  we  shall  presently  have 
to  narrate. 

It  was  probably  this  practice  of  hiring  foreign  armies  for  their 
wars  which  saved  them  from  the  domination  of  successive  tyrants ; 
for  at  Syracuse,  as  we  have  seen,  these  tyrants  were  citizens  who 
had  raised  themselves  by  means  of  the  military  power  with  which 
they  had  been  invested.  However,  this  practice  had  many  evils. 
The  city  learnt  every  day  to  trust  more  to  stiangers  and  less  to  the 
energies  of  her  own  citizens ;  and  the  foreign  captains  whose  aid 
she  sought  often  proved  mere  buccaneers,  who  plundered  and  ruined 
friendly  Greeks  as  well  as  hostile  barbarians..  Such  was  the  con- 
duct of  Cleonymus  towards  Metapontum  and  Thurii,  of  Agathocles 
towards  Locri  and  Rhegium. 

Yet  on  the  whole  the  government  of  Tarentum  was  better  and 
more  regular  than  that  of  most  Greek  Republics,  Seven  times  was 
Archytas,  the  Pythagorean  Philosopher,  raised  to  the  supreme 
magistracy,^that  Archytas  who  has  been  mentioned  above  as  the 
friend  of  Herennius  the  Samnite,  and  instructor  of  C.  Pontius.f 
This  shows  that  the  Tarentines  could  value  duly  the  merits  of  this 
great  man,  without  that  jealousy  which  in  many  Greek  states  pre- 
vented the  people  from  reaping  the  full  service  of  their  best  and 
wisest  citizens. 

*  Cbapt.  xxi.  §  3.  t  Chapt.  xxii.  §  5. 


232  ROME  CONQUEROR  OF  ITALY.  Book  IIL 

This  brief  sketch  of  the  state  of  Sicily  and  Magna  Graecia  will 
have  shown  that  of  all  the  Greek  cities,  lately  so  great  and  power- 
ful, Tarentum  alone  was  in  a  condition  to  cope  with  Rome. 

§  8.  Once  already  they  had  been  engaged  in  brief  hostilities:  this 
was  at  the  close  of  the  second  Samnite  war,  when  the  Romans 
lent  aid  to  the  Lucanians  in  attacking  the  Sallentines.  This  last- 
named  people  were  neighbours  of  Tarentum,  and  the  Greek 
republic,  willing  to  defend  them,  called  in  the  aid  of  Cleonymus,  as 
has  been  just  mentioned.  The  appearance  of  this  soldier  of  fortune 
inclined  the  Lucanians  to  peace,  and  at  the  same  time  no  doubt 
was  made  the  treaty  between  Rome  and  the  Tarentines  by  which 
certain  limits  were  prescribed  to  the  fleets  of  the  latter  power, 
while  the  Romans:  on  their  part  bound  themselves  not  to  pass  the 
temple  of  Lacinian  Juno,  nor  let  any  ships  of  theirs  appear  in  the 
Gulf  of  Tarentum. 

§  9.  After  this  followed  the  third  Samnite  war.  At  its  close  it 
seemed  clear  that  Rome  was  to  be,  if  she  was  not  already,  mistress 
of  Italy.  What  power  could  withstand  her  ?  Tarentum  must  now 
meet  Rome  face  to  face,  and  must  decide  whether  they  should 
meet  as  friend  or  foe.  She  chose  the  latter.  For  the  next  few  years 
we  find  various  nations  of  Italy,  the  Etruscans  and  Gauls  in  the 
north,  the  Lucanians  and  other  barbarians  in  the  south,  renewing 
war  with  Rome,  and  finally  crushed  by  her  energy.  These  last 
struggles  are  attributed  to  the  intrigues  of  Tarentum,  and  when 
they  availed  not,  she  at  length  threw  herself  into  the  gap,  and 
called  in  Pyrrhus,  the  greatest  general  of  the  age,  to  fight  the 
battles  of  the  Greeks  against  Rome. 

§  10.  The  first  link  in  the  chain  of  events  which  led  to  the  war 
with  Tarentum  was  (curiously  enough)  the  aid  lent  by  Rome  to  a 
neighbouring  Greek  city.  This  was  Thurii.  Soon  after  the  close 
of  the  third  Samnite  war  Thurii  was  attacked  by  the  Lucanians. 
The  Thurians  knew  that  Tarentum  would  not  defend  them.  Some 
years  before,  when  Cleonymus  of  Sparta  made  a  descent  upon 
their  coast  and  took  their  city,  they  had  implored  the  aid  of 
Roman  legions,  which  came  too  late  indeed,  but  yet  came,  and 
Thurii  now  hoped  for  more  effectual  succour.  But  at  this  time  the 
domestic  struggle  was  going  on  which  ended  in  the  Hortensian 
law.  Soon  after  quiet  was  restored,  the  Tribune  ^lius  proposed, 
and  the  people  voted,  to  declare  war  against  the  Lucanians, 
(284  B.C.). 

§  11.  This  declaration  of  war  was  followed  by  a  general  rising 
of  the  Italian  nations  against  Rome.  The  Lucanians,  lately  her 
allies,  now  her  enemies,  were  joined  by  the  Bruttians,  part  of  the 
Apulians,  and  even  by  some  relics  of  the  Samnites.  But  the 
attention  of  the  Senate  was  diverted  from  this  southern  war  by 


Chap.  XXV.  EXTIRPATION  OF  SENONIANS.  233 

more  imminent  peril  in  the  north.  Early  in  the  year  283  b.c. 
news  came  that  the  Etruscans  of  Vulsinii,  who  had  been  for  the 
last  twenty  years  engaged  in  feeble  and  uncertain  war  against 
Rome,  had  roused  the  other  states  of  Northern  Etruria  to  make 
a  joint  attack  upon  Arretium,  which,  under  the  rule  of  the 
friendly  Cilnii,  remained  faithful  to  Rome.  They  had  summoned 
to  their  aid  an  army  of  Senonian  Gauls  from  the  coasts  of  Um- 
bria,  and  these  Celtic  barbarians,  though  at  peace  with  Rome, 
came  eager  for  plunder,  and  burning  to  avenge  their  defeat  at 
the  battle  of  Sentinum.  Q.  Caecilius  Metellus,  the  Consul  of  the 
last  year,  and  now  Praetor,  was  ordered  to  march  to  the  relief  of 
Arretium,  while  the  new  Consuls,  P.  Cornelius  Dolabella  and  Cn. 
Domitius,  prepared  to  crush  the  Etruscan  war.  But  what  was  the 
consternation  at  Rome  when  tidings  came  that  Metellus  had  been 
utterly  defeated,  himself  slain,  and  his  whole  army  cut  to  pieces  or 
made  prisoners. 

§  12.  The  Senate,  nothing  daunted,  ordered  the  Consul  Dola- 
bella to  advance,  while  Domitius,  with  M'  Curius  the  Praetor,  re- 
mained in  reserve.  Meanwhile  they  sent  the  Fecials  into  Umbria 
to  complain  of  the  breach  of  faith  committed  by  the  Senonian 
Gauls.  But  it  happened  that  in  the  battle  with  Metellus,  Brito- 
maris  the  Gallic  chief  had  fallen,  and  the  young  chief,  his  son, 
burning  with  mad  desire  of  vengeance,  committed  another  and  a 
worse  breach  of  faith  :  he  murdered  the  sacred  envoys  in  cold 
blood.  As  soon  as  the  news  of  this  outrage  reached  the  Consul 
Dolabella,  he  promptly  changed  his  plan.  Instead  of  marching 
towards  Arretium  he  turned  to  the  right,  and  crossing  the  Apen- 
nines descended  into  the  Senonian  country.  This  he  found 
almost  defenceless,  for  the  warriors  were  absent  in  Etruria.  He 
took  a  bloody  revenge,  ravaging  the  country,  burning  the  dwell- 
ings, slaying  the  old  men,  enslaving  the  women  and  children. 
The  Celtic  warriors  hastily  returned  to  defend  their  homes,  but 
in  vain ;  they  sustained  a  complete  defeat,  and  "  the  race  of  the 
Senonians  was  annihilated."*  Such  is  the  brief  and  terrible 
epitome  of  their  fate. 

§  13.  The  work  of  death  was  not  yet  done.  The  Boian  Gauls, 
who  lived  along  the  southern  bank  of  the  Po,  from  the  Trebia  to 
the  Rubicon,  seized  their  arms  and  marched  southwards  to  assist 
or  avenge  their  brethren.  They  overtook  the  Consul  Dolabella 
on  the  Tiber  at  its  junction  with  the  Nar,  but  not  till  after  he  had 
been  joined  by  his  colleague  Domitius.  The  battle  was  fought  on 
the  right  bank  of  the  Tiber,  near  the  little  lake  Vadimo.  It  was 
a  fierce  conflict,  the  most  terrible  probably  which  the  Roman* 

*  "  Gens  Senonum  deleta  est." — Liy, 


234  ROME  CONQUEROR  OF  ITALY.  Book  III. 

had  fought  since  the  battle  of  Sentinum.  But  the  legionaries 
had  become  used  to  the  huge  bodies,  strange  arms,  and  savage 
cries  of  the  Celtic  barbarians  ;  and  their  victory  was  complete. 
Once  more,  however,  the  Boians  made  a  desperate  rally,  and  were 
again  defeated. 

These  great  successes  kept  the  Celtic  tribes  of  Northern  Italy 
quiet  for  nearly  sixty  years.  Meanwhile  the  Senate  secured  the 
frontier  of  Umbria  and  occupied  the  vacant  lands  of  the  Senonians 
by  the  Colony  of  Sena  Gallica,  which,  under  the  name  of  Senigaglia, 
still  preserves  the  memory  of  its  Celtic  possessors. 

§  14.  Meanwhile  the  war  had  been  going  on  feebly  in  Lucania; 
but  these  prompt  and  successful  operations  in  the  north  enabled 
the  Senate  to  prosecute  it  more  energetically  ;  and  in  the  year 
282  B.C.  the  Consul  of  the  year,  C.  Fabricius  Luscinus,  a  remark- 
able man,  of  whom  we  shall  have  more  to  say  presently,  defeated 
the  confederates  in  several  actions,  and  finally  compelled  them  to 
raise  the  siege  of  Thurii.  The  Roman  army  was  withdrawn,  but 
a  garrison  was  left  to  defend  the  city ;  and  the  grateful  people  de- 
dicated a  statue  to  their  deliverers,  the  first  honour  paid  by  Greeks 
to  their  future  masters. 

§  15.  It  was  believed  at  Rome,  and  not  without  reason,  tbj  I 
the  Tarentines,  though  they  had  not  themselves  drawn  the  sword, 
had  been  the  secret  instigators  of  these,  wars,  both  in  Lucania 
and  Etruria.  The  Senate  therefore  determined  to  pay  no  atten- 
tion to  the  treaty,  by  which  Roman  ships  were  forbidden  to 
appear  in  the  bay  of  Tarentum  ;  and  on  the  withdrawal  of  the 
army  of  Fabricius,  L.  Valerius,  one  of  the  duumviri  navales,* 
sailed  round  the  Lacinian  headland,  and  with  ten  ships  stood 
across  the  gulf  towards  Tarentum.  It  was  a  summer  noon,  and 
the  people  were  assembled  in  their  theatre,  which  (as  was  com- 
mon in  Greek  cities)  was  used  alike  for  purposes  of  business  and 
pleasure.!  This  theatre  was  cut  out  of  the  side  of  the  hill  look- 
ing towards  the  sea,  and  commanded  a  view  of  the  whole  bay. 
The  whole  assembly  therefore  saw  the  treaty  violated  before  their 
eyes,  and  lent  a  ready  ear  to  a  demagogue  named  Philocharis, 
who  rose  and  exhorted  them  to  take  summary  vengeance.  The 
people,  seamen  by  habit,  rushed  down  to  the  harbour,  manned  a 
number  of  ships  and  gained  an  easy  victory  over  the  little  Roman 
squadron.     Four  ships  were  sunk,  one  taken,  and  Valerius  him- 

*  This  ofi&ce  was  abolished  not  long  after.  In  the  Punic  and  subsequent 
wars  the  Consuls  and  Praetors  commanded  both  the  armies  and  fleets  indiffer- 
ently, as  was  the  case  in  all  modern  European  countries  till  the  close  of  the 
17th  century. 

f  Compare  the  assembly  in  the  theatre  at  Ephesus  to  hear  the  complaint  of 
the  silver- workers  against  the  Christians. — Acts  xix.  29. 


Chap.  XXV.  L.  POSTUMIUS  AT  TARBNTUM.  235 

self  was  killed.  The  die  was  now  cast,  and  the  demagogues 
pushed  the  people  to  further  outrages.  They  marched  forth  to 
Thurii,  and,  accusing  that  people  of  seeking  aid  from  the  barba- 
rians, required  the  instant  dismissal  of  the  Roman  garrison. 
This  was  done,  and  no  sooner  was  it  done  than  the  Tarentine 
populace  plundered  the  unfortunate  city  and  drove  its  chief  citizens 
into  exile. 

§  16.  The  Senate,  unwilling  to  undertake  a  new  war,  in  which 
their  coasts  might  be  ravaged  by  the  superior  navy  of  the  Taren- 
tines,  sent  an  embassy,  headed  by  L.  Postumius,  to  require  some 
explanation  of  this  outrageous  conduct.  They  knew  that  the 
wealthier  citizens  of  Tarentum  were  as  averse  from  war  as  them- 
selves, and  hoped  that  by  this  time  the  people  might  be  inclined 
to  hear  the  voice  of  reason.  But  unfortunately  the  ambassadors 
arrived  at  the  season  of  the  Dionysia,  when  the  whole  people, 
given  up  to  wine  and  revelry,  were  again  collected  in  the  theatre. 
The  Roman  envoys  were  led  straight  into  the  orchestra,  and 
ordered  to  state  the  purpose  of  their  mission.  When  Postumius 
endeavoured  to  do  so,  his  bad  Greek  produced  peals  of  laughter 
from  the  thoughtless  populace.  He  bore  all  patiently  till  a 
Irunken  buffoon  ran  up  and  defiled  his  white  toga  with  ordure. 
This  produced  fresh  laughter  and  loud  applause,  which  was  again 
renewed,  when  Postumius  held  up  the  sullied  robe  in  the  sight 
of  all,  "  Aye,"  said  he,  "  laugh  on  now  :  but  this  robe  of  mine 
shall  remain  uncleansed  till  it  is  washed  in  your  best  blood  !" 

§  17.  Yet  even  after  these  gross  insults  the  Roman  People  was 
so  weary  of  war  that  the  Senate  debated  long  before  they  ordered 
L.  ^rnilius  Barbula,  the  Consul  of  the  year  281  B.C.,  to  march 
southward,  while  his  colleague  covered  the  Etruscan  frontier. 
yE-nilius  was  instructed  to  ravage  the  lands  of  the  democratic 
party,  and  to  spare  the  property  of  those  citizens  who  wished  to 
maintain  peace ;  and  so  successful  was  this  policy,  that  the 
demagogues  lost  their  power,  and  Agis  or  Apis,  the  chief  of  the 
moderate  party,  was  chosen  strategus.  And  now  there  was  good 
hope  that  some  satisfaction  would  be  offered  for  the  outrages 
committ3d  against  the  Romans  and  their  allies,  and  that  peace 
might  be  maintained  :  but  this  hope  was  soon  frustrated.  Early 
in  the  year  the  chiefs  of  the  democratic  party  had  sent  to  invite 
Pyrrhus,  King  of  Epirus,  to  bring  over  an  army  and  undertake 
the  defence  of  Tarentum.  These  Tarentine  envoys  were  accom- 
panied by  ambassadors  from  the  Lucanians  and  Samnites,  with 
Iarg3  promises  of  soldiers  to  recruit  his  army  and  provisions  to 
feed  them.  Pyrrhus  needed  no  great  persuasion  to  undertake  a 
romantic  enterprise,  and  he  forthwith  despatched  Milo,  one  of 
his   best   officers,  with    3000   men,  to   garrison   the   citadel   of 


236  ROME  CONQUEROR  OF  ITALY.  Book  lit 

Tarentum.  The  arrival  of  Milo  restored  tlie  democratic  party 
to  power.  Agis  was  deprived  of  his  office :  the  Roman  Consul 
retired  into  Apulia,  and  fixed  his  head-quarters  at  the  colony  of 
Venusia. 

Pyrrhus  was  now  expected  every  day,  and  the  Tarentine  popu- 
lace gave  themselves  up  to  immoderate  joy.  "  Aye,  dance  and 
sing,  while  ye  may,"  said  one  of  their  graver  citizens  ;  "  there  will 
be  something  else  to  do  when  Pyrrhus  comes." 

He  did  not  arrive  till  winter,  and  before  we  speak  of  his  opera- 
tions, it  will  be  necessary  to  give  some  account  of  his  life  and 
character. 


Coin  of  Epidauriur. 


(Join  of  Pyrrhus  with  head  of  Dodonean  Zeus, 


CHAPTER  XXVI. 

PYRRHUS  IN  ITALY.       (280 2*75   B.C.) 

g  1.  Adventurous  youth  of  Pyrrhus,  King  of  Epirus :  lust  of  conquest.  §  2. 
Arrives  at  Tarentum  :  stern  discipline.  §  3.  Preparations  of  Romans : 
comparison  of  forces.  §  4.  Pyrrhus  meets  Romans  on  Siris :  battle  of 
Heraclea.  §  5.  Remarks  of  Pyrrhus  after  victory  §  6.  Locri  joins 
Pyrrhus :  Rhegium  seized  by  Campanian  captain,  Decius  Jubellius :  disap- 
pointment of  Pyrrhus.  §  7.  Mission  of  Cineas  to  Rome  :  patriotic  speech 
of  App.  Claudius.  §  8.  Report  of  Cineas :  Pyrrhus  marches  into  Latium, 
but  Rome  remains  firm.  §  9.  Embassy  of  Fabricius  during  winter.  §  10. 
Second  campaign :  Battle  of  Asculum  in  Apulia :  Pyrrhus  inclined  to  Peace. 
§  11.  Consuls  of  the  next  year  warn  him  of  his  physician's  treachery: 
Pyrrhus  restores  prisoners  and  departs  for  Sicily.  §  12.  His  fortunes  in 
Sicily.  §  13.  Returns  to  Italy  in  third  yean  §  14.  M'  Curius,  the  Consul, 
compels  Romans  to  enlist.  §  15,  Battle  of  Beneventum :  defeat  of  Pyrrhus. 
§  16,  After  fate  of  Pyrrhus. 

§  1.  Pyrrhus,  King  of  Epirns,  when  he  landed  in  Italy,  was  in 
his  thirty-eighth  year.  His  whole  early  life  had  been  a  series  of 
adventure  and  peril.  His  father's  name  was  ^acidas,  a  kinsman 
of  that  Alexander  of  Molossus,  who,  some  fifty  years  before,  had 
been  invited  by  the  Tarentines  to  defend  them  against  the 
Lucanians.*  When  Alexander  fell  at  Pandosia,  ^Eacidas  seized 
the  throne  of  the  Molossians.  But  he  did  not  long  retj^in  it 
*  Chapt.  xxi.  §  3, 


238  ROME  CONQUEROR  OF  ITALY.      .  Book  III 

For  soon  after  followed  the  death  of  Alexander  the  Great  at 
Babylon  (323  b.c),  and  the  whole  of  his  vast  empire  was  broken 
up  into  separate  kingdoms,  which  became  the  appanages  of  his 
generals.  Cassander  obtained  Macedon,  first  as  Regent,  after- 
wards as  king.  But  Olympias,  the  mother  of  the  great  Alexander, 
raised  a  faction  against  him,  and  ^acidas  took  her  part.  After 
some  years  of  conflict,  ^acidas  fell  in  battle  (ol3  n.c.)  and  by 
order  of  the  ruthless  Cassander  all  his  family  were  massacred 
except  Pyrrhus,  who  was  then  a  child  of  about  five  years  old. 
The  boy  was  carried  oft'  secretly,  and  found  safe  harbourage  v/ith 
Glaucias,  an  Illyrian  chief  In  this  obscure  retreat  he  remained 
till  he  had  reached  the  age  of  twelve  or  thirteen  years,  when  his 
foster-father  took  advantage  of  disturbances  in  Macedon  to 
restore  his  young  charge  to  the  throne  of  Epirus.  But  Cassander 
again  triumphed  over  opposition,  and  prevailed  upon  the  Epi- 
rotes  to  expel  the  young  prince.  Pyrrhus,  now  about  seventeen 
years  old,  sought  refuge  at  the  court  of  Antigonus,  the  Macedonian 
king  of  Syria.  Here  he  formed  a  friendship  with  the  king's  son, 
the  celebrated  Demetrius  Poliorcetes.  But  the  ambition  of  the 
Syrian  princes  provoked  the  other  Macedonian  monarchs  to 
form  a  league  against  them;  and  the  bloody  field  of  Ipsus  (301 
B.C.)  deprived  Antigonus  of  his  life,  and  Demetrius  of  his  crc- 
cession.  Pyrrhus  was  present  at  the  battle.  On  the  defeat  of 
his  friend  Demetrius,  he  off'ered  himself  as  a  hostage  for  him, 
and  was  so  received  at  the  magnificent  court  of  Ptolemy  Soter, 
the  first  Macedonian  king  of  Egypt.  Here  he  had  opportu- 
nities of  completing  the  education  which  the  friendship  of  Deme- 
trius had  off'ered  him.  Ptolemy  was  one  of  the  best  of  Alexander's 
officers  ;  and  himself,  with  his  son  Philadelphus,  did  all  that  lay 
in  their  power  to  encourage  the  cultivation  of  Greek  arts  and 
letters.  Pyrrhus  found  favour  with  the  queen  Berenice,  who  gave 
him  in  marriage  Antigone,  her  daughter  by  a  former  marriage, 
and  persuaded  Ptolemy  to  assist  him  in  recovering  his  Epirote 
sovereignty.  For  some  time  he  reigned  conjointly  with  Neop- 
tolemus,  son  of  that  Alexander  who  had  been  killed  in  Italy. 
But,  as  was  to  be  expected,  the  two  sovereigns  broke  out  into 
quarrels,  which  ended  in  the  death  of  Neoptolemus  (295  b.c),  so 
that  Pyrrhus,  now  about  twenty-three  years  of  age,  became  sole 
monarch.  In  that  same  year  Cassander  died,  and  a  war  arose 
about  the  succession  to  the  throne  of  Macedon.  At  length  De- 
metrius, who  had  long  been  an  outcast  and  a  wanderer,  gained 
possession  of  the  Macedonian  throne.  But  Pyrrhus  thought  his 
own  claims  better  than  those  of  his  old  friend,  and  joined  a  general 
league  against  him.  In  287  b.c.  Demetrius  was  overthrown  ;  and 
while  Lysimachus  took  possession  of  the  eastern  part  of  Macedon, 


Chap.  XXYI.  PYRRKUS  IN  ITALY.  239 

the  western  provinces  were  ced(^  to  the  young  and  enterprising 
sovereign  of  Epirus.  But  Pyi-rhus  did  not  long  retain  this  much- 
coveted  prize.  The  Macedonians  preferred  Lysimachus  as  their 
king ;  and,  after  a  seven  months'  reign,  Pyrrhus  was  again  driven 
across  the  mountains  into  Epirus  (b.c.  287).  For  the  next  few 
years  he  lived  at  peace  ;  built  Ambracia  as  a  now  capital  of  his 
dominions,  and  reigned  there  in  security  and  magnificence.  He 
was  in  the  prime  of  life,  handsome  in  person,  happy  in  tempci; 
popular  from  his  frankness  and  generosity,  and  reputed  to  be  a 
skilful  soldier.  But  neither  his  nature  nor  his  restless  youth 
had  fitted  him  for  the  enjoyment  of  happy  tranquillity.  He  had 
married  as  his  second  wife  the  daughter  of  Agathocles  of  Syra- 
cuse ;  the  exploits  of  that  remarkable  man  fired  his  soul ;  he 
remembered  that  Alcibiades,  that  Alexander,  that  every  Greek 
conqueror  had  looked  to  the  West  as  a  new  scene  for  enter- 
prise and  triumph ;  and  he  lent  a  ready  ear  to  the  solicitations 
of  the  Italian  envoys.  After  defeating  the  Romans  and  Cartha- 
ginians, he  miglit  return  as  king  of  Southern  Italy  and  Sicily, 
and  dictate  terms  to  the  exhausted  monarchs  of  Macedon  and 
Asia.  These  had  been  the  dreams  of  less  romantic  persons  than 
himself. 

§  2.  It  was  at  the  end  of  the  year  281  b.c.  that  he  left  Epirus 
with  a  force  of  about  20,000  foot,  and  4000  or  5000  horse,  together 
with  a  squadron  of  20  elephants,  held  by  the  Greeks  of  that  time 
to  be  a  necessary  part  of  a  complete  armament.  On  the  passage 
his  ships  were  scattered  by  a  storm,  but  eventually  they  all 
reached  Tarentum  in  safety.  His  infantry  was  in  part  supplied  by 
Ptolemy  Ceraunus,  the  new  King  of  Macedon.  His  cavalry  were 
Thessalian,  the  best  in  Greece.  It  was  a  small  army  for  the  execu- 
tion of  designs  so  vast.  But  he  trusted  to  the  promises  of  the 
Lucanians  and  Samnites  ;  and  he  also  intended  to  make  the 
Tarentines  into  soldiers.  No  sooner  had  he  landed  than  this 
people  found  how  true  were  the  words  of  their  fellow-citizen. 
They  had  meant  him  to  fight  their  battles,  like  his  kinsman, 
Alexander  of  Molossus  ;  but  he  resolved  that  they  also  should 
fight  his  battles.  He  shut  up  the  theatres  and  other  places  of 
public  amusement;  closed  the  democratic  clubs;  put  some  dema- 
gogues to  death,  and  banished  others ;  and  ordered  all  citizens  of 
military  age  to  be  drilled  for  the  phalanx.  The  indolent  popu- 
lace murmured,  bat  in  vain.  The  horse  had  taken  a  rider  on  his 
back  to  avenge  him  on  the  stag,  and  it  was  no  longer  possible  to 
shake  him  off. 

§  3.  With  the  early  spring  the  Romans  took  the  field.  Ti. 
Coruncanius,  plebeian  Consul  for  the  year  280,  commanded  against 
the  Etrurians,  with  orders  to  make  a  peace  if  possible.  P.  Valerius 


240  ROME  CONQUEROR  OF  ITALY.  Book  III. 

Lsevinus,  his  patrician  colleague,  Vas  to  march  through  Lucania, 
so  as  to  prevent  the  Lucanians  from  joining  the  king ;  while 
^milius,  Consul  of  the  former  year,  was  stationed  at  Venusia,  to 
hold  the  Samnites  and  Apulians  in  check.  A  Campanian  legion, 
composed  of  Mamertines,  commanded  by  Decius  Jubellius,  an 
officer  of  their  own  choosing,  occupied  Rhegium,  in  order  (we  may 
suppose)  to  intercept  communication  from  Sicily. 

The  army  with  which  Pyrrhus  advanced  along  the  coast  of  the 
Bay  of  Tarentum,  to  encounter  Lsevinus,  is  said  to  have  been 
inferior  to  that  of  the  Consul.  It  must  be  supposed  that  the 
latter  had  not  only  his  own  two  legions,  but  also  a  third  legion, 
under  the  command  of  a  Prsetor.  These  three,  together  with 
the  allies,  would  .amount  to  about  30,000  foot,  and  the  cavalry 
might  be  4000.  But  this  arm  was  in  quality  very  inferior  to  the 
Thessalian  horse  of  the  king ;  and  when  we  take  the  elephants 
into  account,  it  is  difficult  to  understand  how  Pyrrhus'  army, 
which  must  have  been  increased  by  Tarentine  levies,  though  none 
of  the  Italians  had  yet  joined,  could  have  been  inferior  to  that  of 
the  Romans.  It  is  rather  matter  of  wonder  that  the  Senate 
should  not  have  sent  both  Consuls  against  so  formidable  an 
antagonist,  relying  on  a  praetorian  army  to  keep  the  Etruscans  in 
check. 

§  4.  As  the  king  moved  along  the  coast  from  Heraclea  he  came 
in  view  of  the  Roman  army,  encamped  on  the  right  bank  of  the 
little  river  Siris.  His  practised  eye  was  at  once  struck  by  the 
military  order  of  the  enemy's  camp.  And  when  he  saw  them 
cross  the  broad  but  shallow  stream  in  the  face  of  his  own  army, 
and  form  their  line  before  he  could  close  with  them,  he  remarked, 
"  In  war,  at  least,  these  barbarians  are  no  way  barbarous." 

And  now  for  the  first  time  the  Roman  Legions  had  to  stand 
the  shock  of  the  Greek  Phalanx.  The  tactics  of  the  two  armies 
were  wholly  different.  The  Roman  army  had  undergone  no 
cssejitial  change  since  we  had  occasion  to  describe  its  order  in 
the  great  Latin  war.*  Each  soldier  stood  free  of  his  right  and 
left  hand  man.  When  all  had  discharged  their  pila  they  then 
came  to  close  quarters  with  their  short  strong  swords,  and  large 
oblong  shields,  each  man  fighting  separately.  But  the  Epirots 
formed  two  great  columns,  called  the  Phalanxes,  in  which  each 
man  stood  close  to  his  fellow,  so  that  half  his  body  was  covered 
by  his  right-hand  man's  shield.  They  were  drawn  up  sixteen 
deep,  and  their  long  pikes,  called  sarissae,  bristled  so  thickly  in 
front,  that  the  line  was  impenetrable  unless  a  gap  could  be  made 
in   the  front  ranks.     They  acted  mechanically,   by  weight.     If 

^  Chapt  XX.  §  5. 


Chap.  XXYl.  PYRRHUS  IN  ITALY.  241 

they  were  once  broken  they  were  almost  defenceless.  Level 
ground,  therefore,  was  necessary  to  their  effective  action. 

Pyrrhus  had  secured  this  last-named  advantage  :  the  plain  ot 
Heraclea  was  well  adapted  for  the  regular  movement  of  the 
phalanxes,  as  well  as  for  that  of  his  cavalry  and  elephants.  The 
action  began  by  the  Roman  cavalry  crossing  the  Siris,  and  driving 
back  a  squadron  of  the  Thessalian  horse,  the  remainder  of  which, 
with  the  elephants,  were  yet  in  rear.  The  main  body  of  the 
Romans,  inspirited  by  this  success,  followed  across  the  bed  of  the 
river  to  assail  the  phalanxes.  But  they  could  make  no  impres- 
sion on  these  solid  masses ;  the  Principes  took  the  place  of  the 
Hastati,  and  the  Triarii  succeeded  to  the  Principes,  in  vain.  Laevi- 
nus  then  ordered  up  his  cavalry  to  attack  the  phalanxes  in  flank. 
But  they  were  met  by  the  whole  body  of  Thessalian  horse,  sup- 
ported by  the  elephants.  The  Romans  had  never  before  seen 
these  monstrous  animals,  which  in  their  ignorance  they  called 
"Ijucanian  oxen:"  their  horses  would  not  face  them,  and  galloped 
back  affrighted  among  the  infantry.  Pyrrhus  now  led  the  whole 
line  forward,  and  the  rout  was  general.  The  Romans  were  driven 
back  across  the  Siris,  and  did  not  attempt  to  defend  their  camp. 
Yet  they  soon  rallied,  and  retired  in  good  order  into  Apulia, 
where  Venusia  was  ready  to  receive  them.  It  was  now  seen  with 
what  judgment  the  Senate  had  occupied  that  place  with  a  large 
Colony. 

§  5.  The  victory  of  Heraclea  was  gained  at  a  heavy  loss.  Pyrr- 
hus now  rightly  estimated  the  task  he  had  undertaken.  He  had  a 
soldier's  eye.  When  he  visited  the  field  of  battle  next  day,  and 
saw  every  Roman  corpse  with  its  wounds  in  front,  he  exclaimed : 
"  If  these  were  my  soldiers,  or  if  I  were  their  general,  we  should 
conquer  the  world."  When  he  offered  in  the  temple  of  Jove  at 
Tarentum  a  portion  of  the  spoils  taken  after  the  battle,  he  placed 
on  them  the  following  inscription  : — 

"  Those  who  had  ne'er  been  vanquished  yet,  great  Father  of  Olympus, 
Those  have  I  vanquished  in  the  fight,  and  they  have  vanquished  me."* 

And  when  he  was  asked  why  he  spoke  thus,  he  answered : 
"  Another  victory  like  this  will  send  me  without  a  man  back  to 
Epirus." 

§  6.  The  battle  of  Heraclea,  however,  encouraged  the  Greek 
cities  of  Locri  and  Rhegium  to  throw  off"  the  Roman  yoke. 
Locri  joined  Pyrrhus ;  but  Decius  Jubellius,  with  his  Campanian 
soldiers,  declared  themselves  independent,  and  seized  Rhegium 

*  The  lines  quoted  by  Orosius,  iv.  1,  are,  no  doubt,  those  of  Enniua,  4 
translation  of  the  original  Greek : — 

"  Qui  ante  liac  invicti  fuere  viri.  Pater  6ptirae  Olympi, 
Hos  ego  in  pugna  viol    *     *,  victusque  sum  ab  Isdem." 
11 


242  ROME  CONQUEROR  OF  ITALY.    ^    Book  III. 


for  themselves,  as  their  brethren  the  Mamertines  had  seized  Mes- 
sana  on  the  opposite  side  of  the  straits.  But,  above  all,  the  battle 
of  Heraclea  left  the  ground  open  for  the  Lucanians  and  Samnites 
to  join  the  king ;  and  he  advanced  into  Samnium  to  claim  the 
fulfilment  of  their  promises.  But  as  he  advanced  he  was  struck 
by  the  fewness  of  the  men,  and  the  desolate  condition  of  the  whole 
country;  and  he  bitterly  reproached  the  Italians  with  deceiving 
him.  The  battle  which  had  just  been  fought  taught  him  how  for- 
midable was  the  foe  he  had  to  deal  with,  and  what  he  now  saw 
showed  him  how  much  he  must  trust  to  his  own  resources.  He 
resolved  therefore  to  end  the  war  at  once  by  negotiating  an  advan- 
tageous peace,  while  he  himself  advanced  slowly  to  support  his 
negotiations  by  the  show  of  force. 

§  7.  The  person  employed  in  this  negotiation  was  Cineas,  a. 
name  only  less  remarkable  than  that  of  Pyrrhus  himself.  He  was 
a  Thessalian  Greek,  famous  for  his  eloquence,  but  still  more 
famous  for  his  diplomatic  skill.  He  served  Pyrrhus  as  minister  at 
home  and  ambassador  abroad.  "  The  tongue  of  Cineas,"  Pyrrhus 
used  to  say,  "had  won  him  more  battles  than  his  own  sword." 
So  quick  was  his  perception,  and  so  excellent  his  memory,  that 
lis  had  hardly  arrived  in  Rome  when  he  could  call  every  Senator 
by  his  name,  and  address  everyone  according  to  his  character. 
The  terms  he  had  to  offer  were  stringent ;  for  Pyrrhus  required 
that  all  Greek  cities  should  be  left  free,  and  that  all  the  places  that 
had  been  taken  from  the  Samnites,  Apulians,  and  his  other  allies, 
should  be  restored.  Yet  the  skill  of  Cineas  would  have  persuaded 
the  Senate  to  submit  to  these  terms  if  it  had  not  been  for  one  man. 
This  was  Appius  Claudius  the  Censor.  He  was  now  in  extreme 
old  age ;  he  had  been  blind  for  many  years,  and  had  long  ceased 
to  take  part  in  public  aftairs.  But  now,  when  he  heard  of  the 
proposed  surrender,  he  caused  himself  to  be  conducted  to  the 
senate-house  by  his  four  sons  and  his  five  sons-in-law,  and  there, 
with  the  authoritative  eloquence  of  an  oracle,  he  confirmed  the 
wavering  spirits  of  the  Fathers,  and  dictated  the  only  answer 
worthy  of  Rome, — that  she  would  not  treat  of  peace  with  Pyrrhus 
till  he  had  quitted  the  shores  of  Italy.  The  dying  patriotism  of 
Appius  covers  the  multitude  of  arbitrary  acts  of  which  he  was 
guilty  in  his  Censorship. 

§  8.  Cineas  returned  to  Pyrrhus,  bafiled  and  without  hope. 
He  told  his  master,  that  "  to  fight  with  the  Roman  People  was 
like  fighting  with  the  hydra ;"  he  declared  that  "  the  City  was  as 
a  temple  of  the  gods,  and  the  Senate  an  assembly  of  kings."  But 
the  king  resolved  to  try  what  efi'ect  might  be  produced  by  the 
presence  of  his  army  in  Latium.  He  passed  rapidly  through 
Campania,  leaving  it  to  be  plundered  by  the  Samnites,  and  ad 


Chap.  XXVL  PYRRHUS  IN  ITALY.  243 

vanced  upon  Rome  by  the  upper  or  Latin  road.  He  took  the 
colony  of  Fregellse  by  storm  ;  he  received  the  willing  submis- 
sion of  Anagnia,  the  capital  of  the  Hernicans,  and  was  admitted 
into  the  impregnable  citadel  of  Prseneste,  for  both  the  Hernicans 
and  the  Prsenestines  were  only  half  Roman  citizens ;  they  bore 
the  burthens  without  enjoying  the  privileges,  and  were  therefore 
glad  to  welcome  a  chance  of  liberty.  He  then  advanced  six 
miles  beyond  Prseneste,  within  eighteen  miles  of  Rome.  But 
here  his  course  was  stayed.  There  were  no  signs  of  defection 
among  the  bulk  of  the  Latins,  or  Volscians,  or  Campanians,  who 
had  been  admitted  into  the  Tribes  and  enjoyed  the  full  honours 
of  Roman  citizenship.  Ti.  Coruncanius,  afterwards  Chief  Pontiff, 
and  now  Consul,  was  himself  a  Latin  of  Tusculum.  What  he 
had  now  gained  all  might  hope  for. 

The  situation  of  Pyrrhus  now  became  perilous.  Coruncanius 
himself  had  just  concluded  a  peace  with  the  Etruscans,  and  his 
army  was  free  to  act  in  front  of  Rome ;  Laevinus  had  recruited 
his  shattered  army  and  was  coming  up  in  rear ;  his  own  army 
was,  except  the  Epirotes,  ill-disciplined  and  disorderly,  and  he 
therefore  determined  to  close  the  campaign  and  retire  into  win- 
ter quarters  at  Tarentum. 

§  9.  This  winter  is  famous  for  the  embassy  of  C.  Fabricius,  who 
was  sent  by  the  Senate  with  two  other  Consulars  to  propose  an 
interchange  of  prisoners.  The  character  and  habits  of  Fabricius 
resembled  those  of  Curius.  He  lived  in  frugal  simplicity  upon  his 
own  farm,  and  was  honoured  by  his  countrymen  for  his  inflexible 
uprightness.  He  was  somewhat  younger  than  Curius,  and  seems 
to  have  been  less  rough  in  manners  and  more  gentle  in  dispo- 
sition. The  stories  are  well  known  which  tell  how  Pyrrhus 
practised  upon  his  cupidity  by  offering  him  gold,  and  upon  his 
fe^rs  by  concealing  an  elephant  behind  the  curtains  of  the  royal 
tent,  which,  upon  a  given  signal,  waved  its  trunk  over  his  head  ; 
and  how  Fabricius  calmly  refused  the  bribe,  and  looked  with  un- 
moved eye  upon  the  threatening  monster.  Pyrrhus,  it  is  said, 
80  admired  the  bearing  of  the  Roman  that  he  wished  him  to 
enter  into  his  service  like  Cineas,  an  offer  which,  to  a  Roman 
ear,  could  convey  nothing  but  insult.  He  refused  to  give  up 
any  Roman  citizens  whom  he  had  taken,  unless  the  Senate  would 
make  peace  upon  the  terms  proposed  through  Cineas :  but  he 
gave  his  prisoners  leave  to  return  home  in  the  month  of  De- 
cember to  partake  in  the  joviality  of  the  Saturnalia,  if  they 
would  pledge  their  word  of  honour  to  return.  His  confidence 
was  not  misplaced.  The  prisoners  used  every  effort  to  procure 
peace;  but  the  Senate  remained  firm,  and  ordered  every  man,  under 
penalty  of  death,  to  return  to  Tarentum  by  the  appointed  daj. 


244  ROME  CONQUEROR  OF  ITALY.  Book  m 

§  10.  Hostilities  were  renewed  next  year.  The  new  Consuls 
were  P.  Sulpicius  for  the  Patricians,  and  P.  Decius  Mus,  son  and 
grandson  of  those  illustrious  Plebeians  who  bore  the  same  name, 
and  had  devoted  themselves  to  death  beneath  Vesuvius  and  at 
Sentinum.  Since  peace  was  now  concluded  with  the  Etrus- 
cans, both  Consuls  led  their  armies  into  Apulia,  where  Pyrrhus 
had  already  taken  the  field.  He  was  anxious  to  make  himself 
master  of  the  Colonies  of  Venusia  and  Luceria,  so  that  the 
Romans  might  be  forced  to  quit  that  country  and  leave  him 
master  of  all  Southern  Italy.  But  he  failed.  We  are  ignorant 
of  the  details  of  the  campaign  till  we  find  the  Consuls  strongly 
encamped  on  the  hills  which  command  the  plain  of  Apulian 
Asculum.*  Here  Pyrrhus  encountered  them.  After  some 
skilful  manoeuvring  he  drew  the  Romans  down  into  the  plain, 
where  his  phalanx  and  cavalry  could  act  freely.  He  placed 
the  Tarentines  in  the  centre,  the  Italian  allies  on  his  left  wing, 
and  his  Epirotes  and  Macedonians  in  phalanx  on  the  right ;  his 
cavalry  and  elephants  he  kept  in  reserve.  What  success  the 
Roman  Legions  had  against  the  Tarentines  and  Italians  we  know 
not,  but  they  wasted  their  strength  upon  the  phalanxes.  Again 
and  again  they  charged  that  iron  wall  with  unavailing  bravery. 
At  length,  when  they  were  well  nigh  exhausted,  Pyrrhus  brought 
up  his  cavalry  and  elephants,  as  at  Heraclea,  and  the  Romans 
were  broken.  But  this  time  they  made  good  their  retreat  to 
their  entrenched  camp,  and  Pyrrhus  did  not  think  it  prudent  to 
pursue  them.  He  had  little  confidence  in  his  Italian  allies,  who 
hated  the  Greeks  even  more  than  they  hated  the  Romans,  and 
gave  signal  proof  of  their  perfidy  by  plundering  the  king's  camp 
while  he  was  in  action.  The  loss  on  both  sides  was  heavy.  The 
second  victory  was  now  won ;  but  the  king's  saying  was  fast 
being  fulfilled.  In  these  two  battles  he  had  lost  many  of  his 
chief  officers  and  a  great  number  of  the  Epirotes,  the  only  troops 
on  whom  he  could  rely.     He  dared  not  advance. 

When  he  returned  to  Tarentum  news  awaited  him  which  dis- 
pirited him  still  more.  The  Romans,  he  heard,  had  concluded  a 
defensive  alliance  with  Carthage,  so  that  the  superiority  of  Taren- 
tum at  sea  would  be  lost  ;t  Ptolemy  Ceraunus,  who  had  pro- 
raised  him  fresh  troops  from  Macedon,  had  been  slain  by  the 
Gauls,  and  these  barbarians  were  threatening  to  overrun  the 
whole  of  Greece.J; 

§  11.  Under  these  circumstances  he  seized  the  first  occasion 
of  making  peace  with  Rome.     This  was  aff'orded  early  in  the 

*  Otherwise  called  Apulum,  now  Ascoli  di  Satriano.  This  town  must  not 
be  confounded  with  Asculum  (Ascoli)  in  Picenum. 

+  Polyb,  iii,  2-^  |  See  above,  Chapt.  xiv.  §  3, 


Chap.  XXVI.  PYRRHUS  m  ITALY.  246 

next  year  by  a  communication  he  received  from  tne  new  Consuls 
Q.  ^^milius  and  C.  Fabricius.  They  sent  to  give  him  notice 
that  his  physician  or  cup-bearer  (the  accounts  vary)  had  otfered 
to  take  him  off  by  poison.  Pyrrhus  returned  his  warmest 
thanks,  sent  back  all  his  prisoners  fresh-clothed  and  without 
ransom,  and  told  his  allies  he  should  accept  an  invitation  he  had 
just  received  to  take  the  command  of  a  Sicilian-Greek  army 
against  the  Carthaginians  and  Mamertines.  Accordingly  he  sailed 
from  Locri  to  Sicil}^,  evading  the  Carthaginian  fleet  which  had 
been  lying  in  wait  for  him.  He  left  the  Italians  to  the  mercy  of 
the  Romans,  but  Milo  still  kept  hold  of  the  citadel  of  Tarentum, 
and  Alexander,  the  king's  son,  remained  in  garrison  at  Locri. 

He  had  been  a  little  more  than  two  years  in  Italy,  for  he  came 
at  the  end  of  the  year  281  b.c.  and  departed  early  in  278  :  he  re- 
turned towards  the  close  of  276,  so  that  his  stay  in  Sicily  was 
about  two  years  and  a  half.  The  events  of  this  period  may  be 
very  briefly  summed  up. 

§  12.  The  Samnites  and  Lucanians  continued  a  sort  of  partisan 
warfare  against  Rome,  in  which,  though  the  Consuls  were  ho- 
noured with  triumphs,  no  very  signal  advantages  seem  to  have 
been  gained.  The  Romans  no  doubt  took  back  the  places  on 
the  Latin  road  which  had  submitted  to  the  king ;  they  also  made 
themselves  masters  of  Locri,  and  utterly  destroyed  the  ancient 
city  of  Croton,  but  they  failed  to  take  Rhegium,  which  was 
stoutly  maintained  by  Decius  Jubellius  and  his  Campanians 
against  Pyrrhus  and  Romans  alike.  Meanwhile  Pyrrhus  was 
pursuing  a  career  of  brilliant  success  in  Sicily.  He  confined  the 
Mamertines  within  the  walls  of  Messana,  and  in  a  brilliant  cam- 
paign drove  the  Carthaginians  to  the  extreme  west  of  the  island. 
At  length,  in  an  evil  hour  and  by  the  advice  of  evil  counsellors, 
he  undertook  the  siege  of  Lilybaeum,  a  place  which  the  Cartha- 
ginians had  made  almost  impregnable.  He  was  obliged  to 
raise  the  siege,  and  with  this  first  reverse  of  fortune  he  lost  the 
confidence  of  his  fickle  Greek  allies.  Before  this  also  death  had 
deprived  him  of  the  services  of  Cineas.  Left  to  himself,  he 
was  guilty  of  many  harsh  and  arbitrary  acts,  which  proceeded 
rather  from  impatience  and  disappointment  than  from  a  cruel 
or  tyrannical  temper.  It  now  became  clear  that  he  could  hold 
Sicily  no  longer,  and  he  gladly  accepted  a  new  invitation  to  re- 
turn to  Italy. 

§  13.  Accordingly,  late  in  the  year  276  b.c,  he  set  sail  for 
Tarentum.  On  the  passage  he  was  intercepted  by  a  Carthaginian 
fleet,  and  lost  the  larger  number  of  his  ships ;  and,  on  landing 
between  Rhegium  and  Locri,  he  sufl*ered  further  loss  by  an 
assault  from  the  Campanians,  who   still   held   the   former   city. 


246  ROME  CONQUEROR  OF  ITALY.  Book  HL 

Yet,  once  in  Italy,  he  found  himself  at  the  head  of  a  large  array, 
composed  partly  of  his  veteran  Epirotes,  and  partly  of  soldiers  of 
fortune  who  had  followed  him  from  Sicily.  His  first  act  was  to 
assault  and  recover  possession  of  Locri;  and  here,  in  extreme 
want  of  money,  he  again  listened  to  evil  counsellors,  and  plun- 
dered the  rich  treasury  of  the  temple  of  Proserpine.  The  ships 
that  were  conveying  the  plunder  were  wrecked,  and  Pyrrhus, 
conscience-stricken,  restored  all  that  was  saved.  But  the  me- 
mory of  the  deed  haunted  him  :  he  has  recorded  his  belief  that 
this  sacrilegious  act  was  the  cause  of  all  his  future  misfor- 
tunes.* 

§  14.  The  Consuls  of  the  next  year  were  L.  Cornelius  Lentulus 
and  M'  Curius  Dentatus.  On  Curius  depended  the  fortunes  of 
Rome.  The  people  were  much  disheartened,  for  pestilence  was 
raging.  The  statue  of  Capitoline  Jupiter  had  been  struck  by 
lightning,  and  men's  hearts  were  filled  with  ominous  forebodings. 
When  the  Consuls  held  their  levy,  the  citizens  summoned  for 
service  did  not  answer  their  names.  Then  Curius  ordered  the 
goods  of  the  first  recusant  to  be  sold,  a  sentence  which  was  fol- 
lowed by  the  loss  of  all  political  rights.  This  severe  measure 
had  its  effect,  and  the  required  legions  were  made  up. 

§  15.  Lentulus  marched  into  Lucania,  Curius  into  Samnium. 
Pyrrhus  chose  the  latter  country  for  the  seat  of  war.  He  found 
Curius  encamped  above  Beneventum,  and  he  resolved  on  a  night 
attack,  so  as  to  surprise  him  before  he  could  be  joined  by  his 
colleague.  But  night  attacks  seldom  succeed  :  part  of  the  army 
missed  its  way,  and  it  was  broad  daylight  before  the  Epirote 
army  appeared  before  the  camp  of  the  Consul.  Curius  imme- 
diately drew  out  his  legions,  and  assaulted  the  enemy  while  they 
were  entangled  in  the  mountains.  He  had  instructed  .his  archers 
to  shoot  arrows  wrapped  in  burning  tow  at  the  elephants,  and  to 
this  device  is  attributed  the  victory  he  won.  One  of  the  females, 
hearing  the  cries  of  her  young  one,  which  had  been  wounded  in 
this  way,  rushed  furiously  into  the  ranks  of  her  own  men. 
Curius  now  brought  up  the  main  body  of  his  foot  and  attacked 
the  disordered  phalanxes :  they  were  broken,  and  became  help- 
less. The  defeat  was  complete  :  Pyrrhus  fell  back  at  once  upon 
Tarentum,  and  resolved  to  leave  the  shores  of  Italy.  However, 
he  left  Milo  still  in  the  citadel,  as  if  he  intended  to  return. 

§  16.  But  the  glory  of  his  life  was  ended  ;  the  two  or  three 
years  that  remained  of  it  were  passed  in  hopeless  enterprises. 
One  day  he  was  proclaimed  King  of  Macedon,  and  the  next  he 
lost   his  kingdom.     Then   he  attacked  Sparta,  and  nearly  took 

♦  *Qc  Koi  ai'Toc  6  Hvppog  ev  Tolg  Idioig  'bTZOUVTJfiaoi  ypd<^ei, — Dionys.  xix.  11. 


Chap.  XXVL  DEATH  OF  PYRRHUS.  247 

it.     Lastly,  he  assaulted  Argos,  and  was  killed  by  a  tile  thrown 
by  a  woman  from  the  roof  of  a  house. 

Such  was  the  end  of  this  remarkable  man.  Like  Richard  L  of 
England  or  Chai'les  XIL  of  Sweden,  he  passed  his  life  in  winning 
battles  without  securing  any  fruits  of  victory ;  and,  like  them, 
a  life  passed  in  the  thick  of  danger  was  ended  in  a  petty  war  and 
by  an  unknown  hand.  His  chivalric  disposition  won  him  the 
admiration  even  of  his  enemies  ;  his  impetuous  temper  and 
impatience  of  misfortune  prevented  him  from  securing  the  con- 
fidence of  his  friends.  Yet  he  left  a  name  worthy  of  his  great 
ancestry ;  and  we  part  with  regret  from  the  history  of  his  Italian 
wars,  for  it  is  the  most  frank  and  generous  conflict  in  which 
Rome  was  ever  engaged. 


Brunduaiuin. 


CHAPTER     XXVII. 

FINAL  REDUCTION  AND  SETTLEMENT  OF  ITALY.   (274 264  B.C.) 

§  1.  Milo  left  by  Pyrrhus  in  Tarentum.  §  2.  Final  reduction  of  Samnites 
and  Italians  of  South.  §  3.  Surrender  of  Tarentum :  embassy  of  Ptolemy 
Philadelphus  to  Rome.  §  4.  Campanian  soldiers  in  Rhegium  compelled  to 
surrender:  their  fate.  §  5.  Submission  of  Sallentines  and  Messapians: 
Colony  of  Brundusium.  §  6.  Reduction  of  Picenians  and  Umbrians.  §  7. 
Of  Etruscans.  §  8.  Account  of  Settlement  of  Italy :  present  extent  of 
Roman  Territory :  none  but  its  inhabitants  admitted  to  a  share  fn  govern- 
ment. §  9.  Principles  adopted  in  regulating  Italy:  Isolation  and  Self- 
government.  §  10.  How  Isolation  was  produced :  different  conditions  of 
Italian  Towns.  §  11.  Prefectures.  §  12.  Municipal  Towns.  §  13.  Colo- 
nies. §  14.  Colonies  of  Roman  Citizens.  §  15.  Latin  Colonies.  §  16. 
Jus.  Latii.  §1*7.  Free  and  Confederate  States.  §  18.  Constitutions,  of 
Italian  Towns.     §  19.  Admirable  results  of  the  system. 

§  1.  The  departure  of  Pyrrbus  left  Italy  at  the  mercy  of  Rome. 
Yet  Milo,  the  king's  lieutenant,  still  held  the  citadel  of  Tarentum, 
and  none  of  the  nations  who  had  lately  joined  the  Epirote  stan- 
dard submitted  without  a  final  struggle.  Of  this  strnirgle,  what 
few  particulars  have  survived  shall  be  related,  the  affairs  of  the 
south  being  taken  first,  and  then  those  of  the  north. 


Chap.  XXVII.         FINAI^  REDUCTION  OF  ITALY.  249 

§  2.  Affairs  of  the  South. — The  Samnites,  Lucanians,  Brut- 
tians,  and  other  tribes  continued  a  kind  of  guerilla  warfare,  for 
which  their  mountains  afforded  great  facilities.  To  put  an  end  to 
this,  in  the  year  272  b.c,  L.  Papirius  Cursor  the  younger,  and  Sp. 
Oarvilius,  who  had  been  the  instruments  of  crushing  the  Samnites 
at  the  close  of  the  third  war,  were  again  elected  Consuls  together 
a:id  sent  southward  with  all  their  legions.  Papirius  invested  Ta- 
rentum ;  and  while  the  lines  were  being  formed,  he  received  the 
submission  of  the  Lucanians  and  Bruttian^. 

Meanwhile  Carvilius  attacked  the  Samnites  in  their  mountains, 
and  the  scattered  remnants  of  that  brave  people,  deserted  by  all, 
saw  themselves  compelled  to  submit  finally  to  Rome,  after  a 
struggle  of  about  seventy  years.  Thus  ended  what  is  sometimes 
called  the  fourth  Samnite  war. 

§  3.  The  same  summer  witnessed  the  reduction  of  Tarentum. 
Papirius,  jealous  of  the  appearance  of  a  Carthaginian  fleet  in  the 
gulf,  entered  into  a  secret  treaty  with  Milo,  by  which  the  Epirote 
governor  agreed  to  evacuate  the  city  and  leave  it  to  the  will  of 
the  Romans.  This  man  had  ruled  the  Tarentines  like  a  tyrant, 
and  it  is  probable  that  they  on  their  part  would  have  gladly  pur- 
chased reasonable  terms  from  the  consul  by  surrendering  their 
Epirote  governor.  But  they  were  not  allowed  the  choice.  Milo 
sailed  for  Epirus  with  all  his  men  and  stores,  and  Tarentum  was 
left  to  itself.  The  aristocratical  party  instantly  seized  the  govern- 
ment, and  made  submission  to  Rome.  They  were  allowed  to  con- 
tinue independent,  on  condition  of  paying  an  annual  tribute  to  the 
conqueror :  but  their  fortifications  were  rased,  their  arsenal  dis- 
mantled, the  fleet  surrendered  to  Rome,  and  a  Roman  garrison 
placed  in  their  citadel. 

The  attention  generally  excited  in  the  east  of  the  Mediterranean 
by  the  failure  of  Pyrrhus  is  attested  by  the  fact  that  in  the  year 
273  B.C.  Ptolemy  Philadelphus,  the  king's  brother-in-law,  now 
sovereign  of  Egypt,  sent  ambassadors  to  Rome,  and  entered  into 
alliance  with  Rome.  Thus  began  a  friendly  connexion  with  Egypt 
which  continued  unbroken  to  the  time  of  Caesar. 

§  4.  In  271  B.C.  the  Plebeian  Consul,  C.  Genucius,  was  sent  to 
reduce  Decius  Jubellius  and  the  Campanian  soldiers,  who  had 
made  themselves  lords  of  Rhegium.  This  able  captain  had  added 
^  number  of  adventurers  to  his  original  legion,  and  was  in  fact 
head  of  a  military  oligarchy  in  that  city.  But  the  Senate  formed 
a  treaty  with  the  Mamertine  soldiery,  who  had  occupied  Messana 
in  precisely  the  same  manner,  and  thus  detached  them  from 
alliance  with  their  compatriots  :  they  also  secured  supplies  of 
corn  from  Hiero,  who  had  been  raised  to  the  sovereignty  of  Syra- 
cuse on  the  departure  of  Pyrrhus  from  Sicily,     The  Campanians 

11* 


250  ROME  CONQUEROR  OF  ITALY.  Book  IIL 

of  Rhegium  were  thus  left  to  themselves ;  the  city  was  taken  by 
assault  and  all  the  soldiery  put  to  the  sword,  except  the  original 
legionaries  of  Jubellius,  who  as  burgesses  of  Capua  possessed  some 
of  the  rights  of  Roman  citizens,  and  were  therefore  reserved  for 
trial  before  the  People  of  Rome.  Not  more  than  three  hundred 
still  survived  out  of  several  thousands ;  but  they  met  with  no 
mercy.  Every  Tribe  voted  that  they  should  be  first  scourged  and 
then  beheaded  as  traitors  to  the  Republic.  Rhegium  was  restored 
to  the  condition  of  a  Greek  community. 

§  5.  A  few  years  later,  the  Sallentines  and  Messapians  in  the 
heel  of  Italy  submitted  to  the  joint  forces  of  both  Consuls. 
Brundusium  and  its  lands  were  ceded  to  Rome ;  and  about  twenty 
years  afterwards  (244  b.c.)  a  colony  was  planted  there.  Brundu- 
sium became  the  Dover  of  Italy,  as  Dyrrhachium,  on  the  opposite 
Epirote  coast,  became  the  Calais  of  Greece. 

§  6.  Affairs  of  the  North. — In  the  year  268  B.C.  both  Con- 
suls undertook  the  reduction  of  the  Picenians,  who  occupied  the 
coast  land  between  Umbria  and  the  Marrucinians.  Their  chief 
city,  Asculum,  was  taken  by  storm.  A  portion  of  the  people 
was  transferred  to  that  beautiful  coast  which  lies  between  the 
bay  of  Naples  and  the  Silarus,  where  they  took  the  name  oi 
Picentines. 

Soon  after  (266  b.c.)  Sarsina,  the  chief  city  of  the  Umbrians, 
was  taken,  and  all  Umbria  submitted  to  Rome. 

§  7.  It  remains  to  speak  of  Etruria.  No  community  here  was 
strong  enough,  so  far  as  we  hear,  to  maintain  active  war  against 
Rome ;  and  the  haughty  Vulsinii,  which  had  so  long  resisted  her 
single-handed,  was  now  compelled  to  sue  for  succour.  The  ruling 
aristocracy  had  ventured  to  arm  their  serfs,  probably  for  the 
purpose  of  a  Roman  war  :  but  these  men  had  turned  upon  their 
late  masters,  and  were  now  exercising  a  still  direr  oppression  than 
they  had  suffered^  The  Senate  readily  gave  ear  to  a  call  for  as- 
sistance from  the  Volsinian  lords ;  and  (in  the  year  2,65  b.c.)  Q. 
Fabius  Gurges,  son  of  old  Fabius  Maximus,  invested  the  city.  He 
was  slain  in  a  sally  made  by  the  Etruscan  serfs,  who  were,  how- 
ever, obliged  to  surrender  soon  after.  The  Romans  treated  the 
city  as  lawfully-gotten  booty.  The  old  Etruscan  town  on  the  hill- 
top, with  its  polygonal  walls,  was  destroyed  ;  its  2000  statues  and 
other  works  of  art  were  transferred  to  Rome  ;  a  new  town  was 
founded  on  the  low  ground,  which  in  the  modernised  name  of 
Bolsena  still  preserves  the  memory  of  its  ancient  fame.  After  the 
fall  of  Vulsinii,  all  the  Etruscan  communities,  which  (like  Arre- 
tium)  were  not  already  in  alliance  with  Rome,  made  formal  sub- 
mission ;  and  Etruria,  like  every  other  district  of  Roman  ItalyJ 
awaited  the  will  of  the  conquering  city  of  the  Tiber, 


Chap.  XXVIL         FINAL  REDUCTION  OF  ITALY.  261 

§  8.  We  must  now  give  a  brief  account  of  the  manner  in  which 
the  Roman  government  so  ordered  the  noble  dominions  of  which 
they  were  now  masters,  that  for  many  years  at  least  absolute 
tranquillity  prevailed.  We  have  no  definite  account  of  the 
organisation  by  which  these  results  were  obtained  ;  but  by 
putting  together  incidental  facts  which  are  handed  down  with 
respect  to  various  communities,  a  tolerably  exact  knowledge  of 
their  system  may  be  obtained. 

To  conceive  of  ancient  Rome  as  the  capital  of  Italy  in  the 
same  sense  that  London  is  the  capital  of  England  or  Paris  of 
France  would  be  a  great  mistake.  London  and  Paris  are  the 
chief  cities  of  their  respective  countries  only  because  they  are 
the  seat  of  government.  The  people  of  these  cities  and  their 
surrounding  districts  have  no  privileges  superior  to  those  of  other 
English  or  French  citizens.  But  the  city  of  ancient  Rome,  with 
her  surrounding  territory,  was  a  great  Corporate  Body  or  Com- 
munity, holding  sovereignty  over  the  whole  of  Italy,  which  had 
now  obtained  that  signification  which  we  have  above  noticed,* 
and  comprehended  the  whole  Peninsula  from  the  Macra  and 
Rubicon  downwards,  except  that  the  territory  lately  taken  from 
the  Senonian  Gauls  was  for  some  years  later  termed  the  Pro- 
vince of  Ariminum.  The  Roman  territory  itself,  in  the  first 
days  of  the  Republic,  consisted  (as  we  have  seen)  of  twenty -one 
Tribes  or  Wards.  Before  the  point  at  which  we  have  arrived, 
these  Tribes  had  been  successively  increased  to  three-and-thirty. 
These  Tribes  included  a  district  beyond  the  Tiber  stretching 
somewhat  further  than  Veii  ;  a  portion  of  the  Sabine  and 
^quian  territory  beyond  the  Anio  ;  with  part  of  Latium,  part 
of  the  Volscian  country,  and  the  coast-land  as  far  as  the  Liris, 
southward.  None  but  persons  enrolled  on  the  lists  of  these 
Tribes  had  a  vote  in  the  Popular  Assemblies  or  any  share  in  the 
government  and  legislation  of  the  City.  The  Latin  Cities  not  in- 
cluded in  the  Tribes,  and  all  the  Italian  Communities,  were  subject 
to  Rome,  but  had  no  share  in  her  political  franchise. 

§  9.  The  principles  on  which  the  Italian  nations  were  so 
settled  as  to  remain  the  peaceable  subjects  of  Rome  were  these. 
First,  they  were  broken  up  and  divided  as  much  as  possible  ; 
secondly,  they  were  allowed,  with  little  exception,  to  manage 
their  own  aff'airs.  The  Isolation  enforced  by  Rome  prevented 
them  from  combining  against  her.  The  Self-government  granted 
by  Rome  made  them  bear  her  supremacy  with  contentment. 

§  10.  The  arts  by  which  Isolation  was  produced  we  have  seen 
put  in  full  practice  at  the  settlement  of  Latium  fifty  years 
before.f  The  same  plan  was  pursued  with  the  different  Italian 
*  Cha^t.  i  §  3.  t  See  below,  §  17. 


252  t^OME  CONQlTElROR  OF  ITALY.  Book  lit 

nations.  Those  which  submitted  with  a  good  grace  were  treated 
leniently.  Those  which  resisted  stubbornly  were  weakened  by 
the  confiscation  of  their  lands  and  by  the  settlement  of  colonies 
in  their  principal  towns.  The  Frentanians  are  the  best  example 
of  the  milder  treatment ;  the  Samnites  afford  the  most  notable 
instance  of  the  more  harsh. 

The  work  of  Isolation  was  promoted  partly  by  the  long  and 
narrow  shape  and  the  central  mountain  range,  which  still  makes 
a  central  government  so  difficult,  and  still  renders  it  easy  for 
many  states  to  maintain  a  separate  existence,  but  partly  also  by 
a  sentiment  common  to  most  of  the  Italian  nations,  as  well 
as  to  those  of  Greece.  They  regarded  a  free  man,  not  as 
one  of  a  Nation,  but  as  the  member  of  a  Civic  Community. 
Every  one  regarded  his  first  duties  as  owed  to  his  own  City, 
and  not  to  his  Nation.  Their  City  was  their  Country.  They 
addressed  one  another  not  as  fellow-countrymen,  but  as  fellow- 
citizens.  Rome  herself  was  the  noblest  specimen  of  this  form  of 
society.  And  the  settlement  which  she  adopted  throughout  Italy 
took  advantage  of  this  prevailing  rule,  and  perpetuated  it. 

Not  only  were  the  Italians  split  up  into  civic  communities, 
but  these  communities  were  themselves  placed  in  very  different 
"•conditions.  The  common  division  of  the  Italian  communities, 
as  established  by  the  Roman  Government,  is  threefold — Pre- 
fectures, Municipal  Towns,  and  Colonies.  In  each  of  these  three 
classes,  many  subordinate  differences  existed.  Yet  there  were 
certain  broad  distinctions  which  justify  this  division ;  and  they 
shall  now  be  described  briefly  in  their  order. 

§  II.  Prefectures.  We  will  begin  with  these,  because,  though 
they  may  be  regarded  as  exceptions,  they  are  examples  of  the 
simplest  form  under  which  Italian  cities  subject  to  Rome  present 
themselves. 

The  Prefectures  are  exceptional,  because  they  did  not  enjoy  the 
right  of  Self-government,  but  were  under  the  rule  of  Prefects ; 
that  is,  of  Roman  governors  annually  nominated  by  the  Praetor 
of  the  City.  All  lawsuits  were  tried  in  the  Prefect's  court ;  and 
the  inhabitants  of  the  Prefecture  were  registered  by  the  Roman 
Censor,  so  as  to  be  liable  to  all  the  burthens  and  duties  of  Roman 
citizens,  without  enjoying  any  of  their  privileges. 

This  condition  was  called  the  Caerite  Franchise,  because  the 
town  of  Caere,  in  Lower  Etruria,  was  the  first  community  placed 
in  this  dependent  position.*  Amid  the  terror  of  the  Gallic 
invasion,  Caere  had  afforded  a  place  of  refuge  to  priests  and 
sacred  things,  and  women  and  children  of  the  Romans,  and  had 

*  Cserite  cera  digni,  Horat  i.  Epistol  6.  62 :  c£  Gellius,  xvL  13. 


Chap.  XXYII.  FINAL  REDUCTION  OF  ITALY.  253 

been  rewarded  by  a  treaty  of  equal  alliance.  But  at  a  later 
period  she  joined  other  Etruscan  communities  in  war  against 
Rome,*  and  it  was  on  her  submission,  probably,  that  she  was 
reduced  to  the  condition  of  a  Prefecture.  Capua  afterwards 
became  a  notable  instance  of  a  similar  change.  She  also,  during 
the  Samnite  wars  and  afterwards,  enjoyed  a  state  of  perfect 
equality  in  respect  to  Rome.  The  troops  which  she  supplied  in 
virtue  of  the  alliance  between  her  and  Rome  formed  a  separate 
legion,  and  were  commanded  by  officers  of  her  own,  as  appeared 
in  the  case  of  Decius  Jubellius.  But  in  the  Hannibalic  war  she 
joined  the  Carthaginian  conqueror;  and  when  Rome  regained 
the  ascendancy,  she  was  degraded  to  the  condition  of  a  Pre- 
fecture f 

§  12.  Municipal  Towns.  At  the  period  of  which  we  write, 
these  were  Communities  bound  to  Rome  by  treaties  of  alliance 
varying  in  specific  terms,  but  framed  on  a  general  principle  with 
respect  to  burthens  and  privileges.  Their  burthens  consisted  in 
furnishing  certain  contingents  of  troops,  which  they  were 
obliged  to  provide  with  pay  and  equipments  while  on  service, 
provisions  being  found  by  the  Romans.];  Their  privileges  con- 
sisted in  freedom  from  all  other  taxes,  and  in  possessing  in  more 
or  less  completeness  the  right  of  Self-government.  This  con- 
dition was  secured  by  a  treaty  of  alliance,  which,  nominally  at 
least,  placed  the  Municipal  community  on  a  footing  of  equality 
with  Rome;  though  sometimes  this  treaty  was  imposed  by 
Rome  without  consulting  the  will  of  the  other  Community.! 
Thus  there  was,  no  doubt,  a  considerable  diversity  of  condition 
among  the  Municipia.  Some  regarded  their  alliance  as  a  boon, 
others  looked  upon  it  as  a  mark  of  subjection.  In  the  former 
condition  were  Caere  and  Capua  before  they  were  made  Prefec- 
tures ;  in  the  latter  condition  was  Yolsinii  and  the  other  Etrus- 
can Cities. 

The  Municipal  Towns,  then,  were  exempt  from  all  tribute  or 
toll  payable  to  Rome,  except  military  service.  They  enjoyed  the 
right  of  Self-government,  and  administered  their  own  laws. 
They  also  were  allowed  to  exercise  the  Civil  or  Private  rights  of 

*  Chapt.  xviii.  §  1. 

f  The  Prefectures  of  which  we  hear  are : — (1),  in  Campania :  Capua,  Cumas, 
Casilinum,  Volturnum,  Liternura,  PuteoU,  Acerrse,  Suessula,  Atella,  Calatia, 
Fundi,  Formise ;  (2),  in  Etruria:  Caere,  Saturnia;  (3),  in  Samnium:  Yena- 
frum,  AUifae;  (4),  in  the  Volscian  land:  Arpinum,  Privemum;  (5),  in  the 
Hemican :  Anagnia,  Frusino ;  (6),  in  the  Sabine :  Reate,  Nursia. 

t  Polyb.  vi.  39,  §  15. 

II  Hence  the  distinction  between  Qlvitates  Federatce,  and  Civitates  Libera. 
All  Federate  Communities  were  free,  but  not  all  Free  Communities  ver^ 
federate. 


254  ROME  CONQUEROR  OF  ITALY.  Book  IH 

Roman  citizens ;  but  none,  without  special  grant,  had  any  power 
of  obtaining  the  Political  or  Public  Rights.  In  some  cases  even 
the  Private  Rights  were  withheld,  as  from  the  greater  part  of  the 
Latin  communities  after  the  war  of  338  b.c,  when  the  citizens  of 
each  Community  were  for  a  time  forbidden  to  form  contracts  of 
marriage  or  commerce  with  Roman  citizens  or  with  their  neigh- 
bours. They  stood  to  Rome  and  to  the  rest  of  Italy  much  in  the 
same  condition  as  the  Plebeians  to  the  Patricians  before  the  Can- 
uleian  law.  But  these  prohibitions  were  gradually  and  silently 
removed.  Municipal  Towns  were  often  rewarded  by  a  gift  of  the 
Roman  franchise,  more  or  less  completely,  w^hile  those  which 
offended  were  depressed  to  the  condition  of  Prefectures. 

At  length,  by  the  Julian  and  other  Laws,  (b.c.  90),  of  which  we 
shall  speak  in  its  proper  place,  all  the  Municipal  Towns  of  Italy, 
as  well  as  the  Colonies,  received  the  full  Roman  franchise ;  and 
hence  arose  the  common  conception  of  a  Municipal  Town,  that  is, 
a  Community  of  which  the  citizens  are  members  of  the  whole 
nation,  all  possessing  the  same  rights,  and  subject  to  the  same 
burthens,  but  retaining  the  administration  of  law  and  government 
in  all  local  matters  which  concern  not  the  nation  at  large.  But 
the  Municipal  Towns  of  Italy,  before  the  Julian  law,  were  hardly 
members  of  a  nation  at  all.  Their  citizens  had  no  share  in  the 
central  government,  no  votes  in  the  National  Assemblies ;  while 
they  were  exempt  from  all  taxation,  except  that  which  they  found 
it  necessary  to  impose  on  themselves  for  sending  their  contingents 
of  troops  into  the  field ;  and  they  possessed  unfettered  power  of 
self-government,  except  when  a  Roman  Consul  or  Praetor  hap- 
pened to  be  present  in  their  city. 

§  13.  Colonies.  It  is  in  the  Colonial  Towns  that  we  must 
look  for  the  chief  instruments  of  Roman  supremacy  in  Italy. 
Directly  dependent  upon  Rome  for  existence,  they  served  more 
than  anything  to  promote  that  division  of  interests  which  ren- 
dered it  so  difficult  for  Italy,  or  any  part  of  Italy,  to  combine  na- 
tionally against  the  Roman  government. 

When  we  speak  or  think  of  Roman  Colonies,  we  must  dismiss 
all  those  conceptions  of  colonisation  which  are  familiar  to  our 
minds  from  the  practice  either  of  ancient  Greece  or  of  the  mari- 
time states  of  modern  Europe.  Roman  Colonies  were  not 
planted  in  new  countries  by  adventurers  who  found  their  old 
homes  too  narrow  for  their  wants  or  their  ambition,  and  whose 
bond  of  union  with  the  mother-country  was  rendered  feeble  and 
precarious  by  difference  of  interest  or  remoteness  of  situation. 
When  the  Romans  planted  a  Colony  (at  the  time  we  speak  of 
and  for  more  than  a  century  later),  it  was  always  within  the 
limits  of  the  Italian   Peninsula,  and  within  the  walls  of  ancient 


Chap.  XXYII.         FINAL  REDUCTION  OF  ITA.LT.  255 

cities  whose  obstinate  resistance  made  it  prudent  to  restore  them 
to  independence,  and  whose  reduced  condition  rendered  it  possible 
to  place  them  in  the  condition  of  subjects. 

It  was  a  custom  followed  by  the  Romans,  in  common  with  the 
Sabeliian  nations,  to  amerce  a  conquered  community  of  its  lands, 
either  in  whole  or  in  part,  for  the  benefit  of  the  conquering  state. 
The  lands  thus  confiscated  were  added  to  the  Public  Land,  of 
which  we  have  heard  so  much.  After  the  conquest  of  Italy,  this 
Public  Land  had  become  very  large  in  extent  in  every  part  of  the 
Peninsula.  -  We  have,  on  several  occasions,  mentioned  that  por- 
tions of  this  land  were  appropriated  to  the  citizens  who  migrated 
from  Rome  and  its  neighbourhood  to  become  the  citizens  of  a 
Colony.  Thus  two  purposes  were  served  at  once : — the  poorer 
plebeians  were  raised  to  a  state  of  easy  independence,  and  the 
sovereignty  of  Rome  was  secured  in  remote  districts  by  the  pres- 
ence of  a  new  population  devoted  to  her  interests. 

But  these  Colonies  were  not  all  of  the  same  character.  They 
must  be  distinguished  into  two  classes, — the  Colonies  of  Roman 
Citizens,  and  the  Latin  Colonies. 

§  14.  The  Colonies  of  Roman  Citizens  consisted  usually  of  three 
hundred  men  of  approved  military  experience,  who  went  forth  with 
their  families  to  occupy  conquered  cities  of  no  great  magnitude, 
but  which  were  important  as  military  positions,  being  usually  on 
the  sea-coast.*  These  three  hundred  families  formed  a  sort  of 
patrician  caste,  while  the  old  inhabitants  sank  into  the  condition 
formerly  occupied  by  the  plebeians  at  Rome.  The  heads  of  these 
families  retained  all  their  rights  as  Roman  citizens,  and  might  re- 
pair to  Rome  to  vote  in  the  Popular  Assemblies.  When  in  early 
Roman  history  we  hear  of  the  revolt  of  a  Colony,  the  meaning  seems 
to  be  that  the  natives  rose  against  the  colonists  and  expelled  them. 
Hence  it  is  that  we  hear  of  colonists  being  sent  more  than  once  to 
the  same  place,  as  to  Antium.f 

§  15.  But  more  numerous  and  more  important  than  these  were 
the  Latin  Colonies,  of  which  there  were  thirty  in  existence  when 
Hannibal  crossed  the  Alps.  Of  these  thirty  no  fewer  than 
twenty-six  had  been  founded  before  the  close  of  the  year 
263  B.C. 

The  reason  for  the  name  they  bore  was  this.  We  have  seen 
that  a  close  connection  had  subsisted  between  Rome  and  the 
Latin   communities   from   the    earliest   times.     Under   the   later 

*  All  such  were  called  specially  Colonice  Navales. 

f  The  Roman  Colonies  of  which  we  hear  previous  to  263  B.C.,  were  Antium^ 
Yitellia,  Satricum,  Terracina,  Casinum,  in  the  Volscian  land;  MinturnsB  and 
Sinuessa,  in  Campania  (296  b.c  ) ;  Sena  Gallica,  on  the  Umbrian  coast  (282 
B.C.);  Castrum  Novum,  in  Picenum  (264  B.C.). 


256  ROME  CONQUEROR  OF  ITALY.  Book  III. 

Kings  Rome  was  the  head  of  Latium ;  and  by  Spurius  Cassius 
a  League  was  formed  between  Rome  and  Latium,  which  continued 
with  a  slight  interruption  till  the  great  Latin  War  of  338  b.c.  So 
long  as  this  league  lasted,  Rome  on  the  one  side  and  the  Latin 
Communities  on  the  other  granted  certain  reciprocal  rights  to 
the  citizens  of  each  people.  Latins  enjoyed  all  the  Private  Rights 
of  Roman  citizens  in  Rome ;  and  Romans  enjoyed  all  the  Private 
Rights  of  the  Latin  citizens  in  any  of  the  cities  of  Latium.*  During 
the  period  of  the  league  a  number  of  Colonies  were  sent  forth,  in 
which  the  settlers  consisted  jointly  of  Romans  and  Latins,  and 
their  numbers  were  not  confined  to  the  small  number  of  three 
hundred,  but  usually  amounted  to  some  thousands.  But  the  citi- 
zens of  these  Latin  Colonies  seem  to  have  had  no  rights  at  Rome, 
except  such  as  were  possessed  by  the  allied  Municipal  Towns. 
They  were  therefore  regarded  politically  as  Communities  in  alliance 
with  Rome. 

After  the  Latin  wat-,  similar  Colonies  still  continued  to  be  sent 
forth ;  indeed,  these  were  the  Colonies  which  chiefly  relieved  the 
poor  of  the  Roman  territory.  At  first,  no  doubt,  the  Colonists 
remained  distinct  from  the  old  inhabitants ;  but  generally  both 
were  fused  into  one  body,  like  the  Sabines  and  Latins  at  Rome, 
like  the  Samnites  and  Oscans  in  Capua. 

The  Latin  Colonies,  then,  at  that  time  seem  to  have  been  merely 
Allied  Cities,  bound  like  them  to  furnish  troops  for  the  service  of 
Rome,  and  holding  their  cities  as  the  friends  of  Rome  in  the  midst 
of  a  hostile  population.  It  is  to  these  Colonies  that  we  must 
attribute  chiefly  that  tenacious  grasp  which  Rome  was  able  to 
keep  upon  every  district  in  Italy.  The  Volscians  were  overawed 
by  Fregellte,  Pontise,  Interamna,  and  Sora ;  the  Campanians  by 
Cales,  Suessa  Aurunca,  and  Cosa ;  the  JEquians  by  Carseoli ;  the 
Marsians  by  Alba  Fucentia  ;  Umbria  by  Narnia  and  Ariminum  ; 
the  Picenians  by  Hatria  and  Firmum ;  the  Samnites  by  Saticula, 
Beneventum,  and  vEsernia;  the  Apulians  by  Luceria  and  Venusia; 
the  Lucanians  by  Posidonia  (afterwards  Psestum).  These  places 
were,  no  doubt,  all  strongly  fortified.  The  ruins  of  massive  walls 
bailt  with  irregular  polygonal  blocks  of  stone,  which  crowned  their 
rocky  citadels,  still  remain  in  many  places,  to  show  that  they  must 
have  presented  most  formidable  obstacles  in  an  age  when  gun- 
powder was  unknown. 

§  16.  The  rights  and  privileges  of  these  Latin  Colonies  are  only 
known  to  us  as  they  are  found  at  a  later  period  of  the  Republic 
under  the  name  of  Latinitas,  or  the  Right  of  Latium  (Jus  Latii). 
This  Right,  at  the  later  time  we  speak  of,  we  know  to  have  con- 
sisted in  the  power  of  obtaining  the  full  Rights  of  a  Roman 
*  Comp.  Chapt.  xx.  §  14. 


Chap.  XXVIL         FKTAL  REDUCTION  OF  ITALY.  257 

Burgess,  but  in  a  limited  and  peculiar  manner.  Any  citizen  of  a 
Latin  Community,  whether  one  of  the  Free  Cities  of  Latium  or  a 
Latin  Colony,  was  allowed  to  emigrate  to  Rome  and  be  enrolled 
in  one  of  the  Roman  Tribes,  on  two  conditions  :  first,  that  he 
had  held  a  magistracy  in  his  native  town ;  secondly,  that  he  left  a 
representative  of  his  family  in  that  native  town.  Thus  was  formed 
that  large  body  of  half-Roman  citizens  throughout  Italy,  who  are 
so  well  known  to  readers  of  Livy  under  the  appellation  of  "  the 
Latin  name."  Socii  et  nomen  Latinum — the  Allies  and  the  Latin 
Name — was  the  technical  expression  for  all  those  Italian  Communi- 
ties, besides  Rome  herself,  who  were  bound  to  supply  soldiers  for 
her  armies. 

§  17.  Free  and  Confederate  States.*  It  will  be  seen,  then, 
that  the  mass  of  the  Italian  Communities  were  in  a  condition  of 
greater  or  less  dependence  upon  Rome, — the  Prefectures  being  in 
a  state  of  absolute  subjection,  the  Colonies  bound  by  ties  of  national 
feeling  and  interest,  the  Municipal  Towns  by  articles  of  alliance 
varying  in  kind.  Besides  these  more  or  less  dependent  communi- 
ties, there  remain  to  be  j^oticed,  fourthly,  the  Cities  which  remained 
wholly  independent  of  Rome,  but  bound  to  her  by  treaties  of 
Equal  Alliance.  Of  the  Latin  cities,  Tibur  and  Praeneste  alone 
were  in  this  condition  ;  in  Campania,  most  of  the  cities,  till,  after 
the  Hannibalic  war,  Capua  and  others  were  reduced  to  the  con- 
dition of  Prefectures,  while  Nola  and  Nuceria  alone  remained  free ; 
of  the  Hellenic  cities  in  the  south,  Neapolis,  Velia,  Locri,  Rhegium, 
and  Heraclea ;  in  Umbria,  Camerium ;  in  Etruria,  Iguvium ;  with 
all  the  cities  of  the  Frentanians.  But  as  Roman  power  increased, 
most  of  these  communities  were  reduced  to  the  condition  of  simple 
municipal  towns. 

§  18.  Whatever  is  known  of  the  internal  constitution  of  these 
various  communities  belongs  to  later  times,  when  by  the  Julian 
Law  they  had  all  obtained  the  Roman  franchise,  and  had  become 
part  and  parcel  of  the  Roman  state.  At  Capua,  indeed,  we  learn 
that  the  government  was  now  in  the  hands  of  a  Senate,  with  an 
elective  chief  called  the  Meddix  Tuticus.f  But  Capua,  as  wc 
have  just  seen,  was,  till  after  211  b.c,  to  all  intents  and  pur- 
poses an  independent  city,  and  affords  no  clue  to  assist  us  in 
judging  of  the  rest. 

There  can,  however,  be  little  doubt  that  in  the  Colonies  a  con- 
stitution was  adopted  similar  to  that  of  Rome  herself.  The 
Colonists  formed  a  kind  of  Patriciate  or  Aristocracy,  and  the 
heads  of  their  leading  families  constituted  a  Senate.  There  were 
two  chief  magistrates  representing  the  Consuls,  to  whom  (in  the 
more  important  towns)  were  added  one  or  two  men  to  fulfil  the 
*  Civitates  Liberae  et  Federatae.  f  Liv.  xxiii.  35 ;  xxiv.  19. 


268  ROME  CONQUEROR  OF  ITALY.  Book  III. 

duties  of  Censor  and  Quaestor.*  In  course  of  time  similar  con- 
stitutions were  introduced  into  the  Municipal  Towns  also.  And  it 
is  probable  that  from  the  first  Rome  exerted  her  influence  in  favour 
of  an  aristocratic  governmept. 

§  19.  Thus,  by  placing  the  Italian  Cities  in  every  possible  rela- 
tion to  herself,  from  real  independence  to  complete  subjection,  and 
by  planting  Colonies,  some  with  full  Roman  Rights,  some  with  a 
limited  power  of  obtaining  these  Rights,  Rome  wove  her  net  of 
sovereignty  over  the  Peninsula,  and  covered  every  part  with  its 
entangling  meshes.  It  is  not  to  be  supposed  that  every  step  in 
this  process  was  taken  with  a  full  consciousness  of  its  effect  But 
some  general  plan  there  must  have  been,  such  as  we  have  summed 
up  in  the  words  Isolation  and  Self-government.  The  effects,  at  all 
events,  were  such  as  would  have  corresponded  with  the  most  deep- 
laid  plans  of  policy.  The  campaigns  of  Pyrrhus  took  place  at  a 
time  when  Italy  was  yet  not  wholly  conquered.  But  few  cities  of 
importance,  except  those  of  his  own  countrymen,  opened  their  gates 
to  him.  In  the  first  Punic  war,  not  an  Italian  community  took 
advantage  of  the  exhausted  condition  to  which  Rome  was  more 
than  once  reduced.  In  the  Gallic  war  that  followed,  her  allies 
served  her  faithfully.  The  invasion  of  Hannibal  exposed  her  to  9 
pressure  as  severe  as  any  government  ever  underwent.  Yet  when 
the  great  General  was  asked  by  his  rivals  at  home,  "  Whether  the 
defeat  of  Canna3  had  caused  one  Latin  community  to  desert 
Rome  ?"f  he  could  not  answer  in  the  affirmative.  More  than  this. 
The  mass  of  the  Campanians,  the  poor  remains  of  the  brave 
Samnite  tribes,  the  Lucanians,  Apulians,  and  Bruttians,  all  rose  in 
favour  of  the  Carthaginian  invader.  But  in  central  Italy,  where 
the  Roman  government  was  best  known,  not  one  city,  federate 
or  municipal,  opened  her  gates  to  the  conqueror;  and  even 
in  the  insurgent  districts  the  Colonies  remained  immoveable 
as  rocks,  upon  which  the  seething  waves  might  lavish  their  utmost 
fury. 

*  This  was  so  in  later  times,  at  all  events.  Hence  in  some  towns  we  hear 
the  magistrates  called  Duumviri,  in  others  Tresviri,  in  others  Quatv^yviri 
For  purposes  of  business  the  municipal  senates  were  divided  into  committees 
of  ten,  whence  the  members  of  those  senates  are  called  Decuriones. 

f  "  Ecquis  Latini  Nominis  Populus  defecerit  ad  nos?"— Liv.  xxiil  12. 


Coin  of  Carthage,  with  Winged  Horse. 

BOOK  IV. 

ROME   AND    CARTHAGE. 


CHAPTER    XXVIII. 

CARTHAGE.       EVENTS  LEADING  TO  FIRST  PUNIC  WAR.       • 

§  1.  Good  fortune  of  Rome  in  her  successive  wars.  §  2.  Saying  of  PyiThw 
§  3.  Situation  of  Carthage.  §  4.  Origin  and  growth  of  Carthage.  §  5 
Her  subjects.  §  6.  Government.  §  7.  Army.  §  8.  Navy.  §  9.  Her 
attempts  to  gain  possession  of  Sicily.  §  10.  Mamertines  of  Messana  and 
Hiero  of  Syracuse :  Mamertines  seek  protection  of  Rome.  §  11.  Hiero  and 
Carthaginians  defeated  by  Romans.     §  12.  The  First  Punic  War  follows. 

§  1.  Nothing  is  more  remarkable  in  the  History  of  Rome  than 
the  manner  in  which  she  was  brought  into  contact  only  with  one 
enemy  at  a  time.  During  the  heat  of  her  contest  with  the 
Samnites,  Alexander  of  Macedon  was  terminating  his  career. 
The  second  Samnite  war  broke  out  in  324  b.c.  ;  and  in  the  fol- 
lowing year  the  great  King  died  at  the  untimely  age  of  thirty- 
two.  When  he  took  rest  at  Babylon,  after  ten  years  spent  in 
ceaseless  activity,  he  received  embassies  from  all  parts  of  the 
known  world.  If  it  is  to  be  believed  that  among  these  envoys 
there  were  representatives  of  the  Samnites  and  other  tribes 
of  Lower   Italy,   their   business   at   the   distant   court  of  Alex- 


260  ROME  AND  CARTHAGE.  Book  IY. 

ander  could  have  been  no  other  than  to  solicit  the  aid  of  his 
victorious  arms  to  arrest  the  course  of  Rome,  and  protect  the 
south  of  Italy,  so  dear  to  every  Greek,  from  her  overpowering 
ambition.  The  possibility  that  the  great  King  might  have 
turned  his  course  vrestward  to  execute  the  plan  which  had 
once  presented  itself  to  the  young  ambition  of  Alcibiades,*  oc- 
curred to  Roman  minds.  Why  should  not  he  have  attempted, 
what  his  kinsman  Alexander  of  Molossus  had  attempted,  and 
what  Pyrrhus  after  him  was  destined  to  attempt?  Livy 
broaches  the  question  whether  Rome  would  have  risen  su- 
perior to  the  contest  or  not,  and  decides  it  in  the  affirmative. 
But  his  judgment  is  that  of  a  patriot,  rather  than  of  an  histo- 
rian. Scarcely  did  Rome  prevail  over  the  unassisted  prowess  of 
the  Samnites.  Scarcely  did  she  drive  the  adventurous  Pyrrhus 
from  her  shores,  after  she  had  broken  the  force  of  Italy.  If  a 
stronger  than  Pyrrhus — a  man  of  rarest  ability  both  for  war  and 
peace — had  joined  his  power  to  that  of  C.  Pontius  the  Samnite, 
it  can  hardly  be  doubted  that  the  History  of  the  World  would  have 
been  changed. 

§  2.  The  same  good  fortune  attended  Rome  in  her  collision 
with  Carthage.  The  adventurous  temper  of  Pyrrhus  led  him 
from  Italy  to  Sicily,  and  thus  threw  the  Carthaginians  into  neces- 
sary alliance  with  the  Romans.  When  the  King  was  on  his 
return  to  the  Italian  shore,  the  greater  part  of  his  forces  were 
destroyed  by  a  Carthaginian  fleet.  What  might  have  been  the 
result  of  the  Tarentine  war,  if  the  diplomacy  of  Cineas  had,  in 
the  first  instance,  been  employed  to  engage  the  great  African  city 
against  Rome  ?  Now  that  Italy  was  prostrate,  it  was  plain  that 
a  collision  between  the  two  governments  so  encroaching  and  so 
jealous  was  inevitable.  As  Pyrrhus  left  the  soil  of  Italy  for  ever, 
he  said  regretfully  : — "  How  fair  a  battle-field  we  are  leaving  for 
the  Romans  and  Carthaginians !" 

§  3.  Before  we  begin  the  narration  of  the  first  Punic  War,  it 
will  be  well  to  give  a  brief  account  of  Carthage  and  the  Cartha- 
ginians. 

The  north  coast  of  Africa,  at  a  point  nearly  due  south  of 
Florence,  turns  abruptly  southward,  and  the  coast  continues  to 
run  in  a  southerly  direction  for  about  two  hundred  miles,  when 
it  again  trends  eastward.  Just  before  the  coast  takes  its  sudden 
ourn  to  the  south,  it  is  hollowed  out  into  a  deep  bay,  of  which 
the  western  extremity  was  named  the  Fair  Promontory  (Pulcrum 
Promontorium),  and  the  eastern  horn,  anciently  called  the  Pro- 
montory of  Mercury  (Promontorium  Hermaeum),  is  now  well 
known  under  the  appellation  of  Cape  Bon.  About  the  middle  of 
*  Thuc.  vi.  90. 


Chaf.  xXVIII.  CARTHAGE.  ^61 

tliis  great  bay  a  tongue  of  land  juts  out  into  the  water,  and  on 
this  now  desolate  spot  once  stood  the  great  commercial  city  of 
Carthage.*  Cape  Bon  is  not  more  than  eighty  miles  distant 
from  Lilybseum,  the  southernmost  point  of  Sicily,  and  Carthage 
itself  was  not  more  than  one  hundred  miles  from  the  same  point. 
If  the  African  coast  ran  on  straight  eastward  from  Cape  Bon,  it 
would  strike  against  the  headland  of  Lilybaeum. 

§  4.  It  is  well  known  that  this  celebrated  city  was  a  colony 
from  Tyre,  the  great  centre  of  Phoenician  commerce  in  the  east, 
and  that  the  common  date  for  its  foundation  is  about  a  century 
before  the  foundation  of  Rome.  The  language  of  the  colony  con- 
tinued to  be  Phoenician,  or  (as  the  Romans  called  it)  Punic  ;f 
and  the  scanty  remains  of  that  language  are  sufficient  to  show  its 
near  affinity  with  Hebrew  and  other  kindred  tongues.  In  very 
early  times  Carthage  had  assumed  a  leading  position  in  the  west 
of  the  Mediterranean.  At  the  time  of  her  fall,  after  the  long  and 
disastrous  struggle  with  Rome,  and  the  loss  of  all  her  empire, 
she  still  numbered  a  population  of  700,000  within  her  walls ;  and 
the  circumference  of  these  walls  measured  more  than  twenty 
miles.  As  her  wealth  and  power  increased,  she  had  planted 
numerous  colonies  on  the  African  coast.  Three  hundred  Libyan 
cities  are  said  to  have  paid  her  tribute ;  and  her  dominion  was 
gradually  extended  to  the  Pillars  of  Hercules  on  the  one  side, 
and  nearly  to  the  Great  Syrtis  on  the  other.  Much  of  this  coast- 
land,  especially  the  great  plain  that  extends  south  of  Carthage  to 
the  Lesser  Syrtis,  is  extraordinarily  fertile. 

§  5.  This  fertility  naturally  attracted  inhabitants.  Besides  the 
native  Libyan  Tribes,  there  was  a  large  mixed  population  of 
Libyans  and  Phoenicians  in  and  around  the  colonies  of  Carthage, 
and  of  other  cities  which,  like  Carthage,  claimed  descent  from 
Phoenicia  itself.  These  people  were  ruled  by  Carthage  with  ex- 
cessive rigour.  They  were  treated  as  mere  tillers  of  the  ground, 
subject  to  the  payment  of  tribute,  but  were  not  entrusted  with 
any  political  rights  whatsoever.  Their  condition  somewhat 
resembled  that  of  the  Rayahs  or  Christian  peasantry  in  the 
Turkish  dominions,  before  the  recent  reforms ;  but  whereas  the 
Turkish  tribute  was  always  light,  the  burdens  imposed  upon 
these  subjects  of  the  Carthaginian  government  were  often  more 
than  the  utmost  industry  could  furnish.  The  result  was  that 
the  Carthaginian  Government  was  detested  everywhere,  and  the 
presence  of  a  foreign  invader  was  always  the  signal  for  a  general 

*  A  plan  of  Carthage,  with  its  harbours,  will  be  given  to  illustrate  its  siege, 
in  Chapt.  xlvi.  §  7. 

f  Phoenix  became  Tn  old  Loiin  Poernis.  The  adjective  hence  formed  wag 
Punicus,  as  munire  from  moenia^  punire  from  poena. 


262  ROME  AND  CARTHAGE.  Book  IV. 

insurrection,  a  fact  which  offers  a  remarkable  point  of  contrast 
between  the  dominion  of  Rome  in  Italy  and  that  of  Carthage  in 
Africa. 

§  6.  Of  the  internal  condition  of  Carthage  little  is  known.  It 
seems  probable  that  both  the  government  and  the  trade  were  a 
monopoly  in  the  hands  of  a  few  wealthy  families,  descendants 
of  those  merchant  princes  who  once  bore  rule  in  Tyre.  Power 
was  nominally  entrusted  to  two  elective  magistrates,  who  bore 
the  title  of  Suffets*  or  Protectors^  and  a  Senate  of  three  hun- 
dred. The  Suffets  were  elective,  but  only  held  their  office  for 
a  season.  On  certain  occasions  the  whole  body  of  citizens  were 
called  together  and  consulted.  But  all  real  power  seems  to  have 
been  absorbed  by  a  smaller  Council  of  One  Hundred,  self-elected, 
who  held  office  for  life.  Before  this  narrow  oligarchy  all  other 
powers  grew  dim.  The  Suffets  became  mere  lay -figures;  the 
Senate  and  the  Assembly  of  the  People  faded  into  venerable 
forms;  just  as  at  Venice,  after  the  thirteenth  century,  the  Doges 
and  the  Assembly  of  the  Nobles  dwindled  into  a  shadow  before 
the  secret  despotism  of  the  Council  of  Ten. 

§  7.  The  Carthaginians  had  little  need  of  a  strong  military 
force  in  Africa.  Their  own  citizens  seem  to  have  been  trained 
to  arms  for  home  purposes,  and  an  immense  magazine  of  military 
stores  was  kept  in  Byrsa  or  Bosra,f  the  citadel.  This  force  was 
probably  sufficient  to  overawe  the  native  Libyans,  and  to  repress 
the  incursions  of  the  Numidians  and  other  predatory  tribes  on 
their  western  side.  But  for  foreign  service  they  relied  almost 
solely  on  mercenary  troops.  These  they  hired  from  Libya  itself, 
Spain,  Italy,  Gaul,  and  Greece.  The  Balearic  Isles  supplied  them 
with  good  slingers.  Their  light  cavalry,  which  in  the  hands  of 
Hannibal  proved  a  formidable  force,  was  formed  of  wild  Nu- 
midians, light,  spare,  hardy  men,  who  had  their  horses  so  com- 
pletely under  command  as  to  ride  them  without  bit  or  rein. 
Organisation  seems  to  have  been  introduced  into  this  army  by 
Mago,  a  notable  man  who  flourished  about  500  B.C.,  and  is  the  re- 
puted founder  of  the  military  power  of  Carthage. 

The  officers  in  chief  command  of  these  motley  forces  were 
usually  native  Carthaginians.  But  here  the  jealous  and  confined 
nature  of  the  Government  was   hurtful   to   the    public    interest. 

*  The  Latin  Suffes^  plur.  Suffeies,  is  clearly  the  same  as  the  Hebrew 
Shophet,  plur.  Shof  Urn,  which  in  our  version  of  the  Bible  is  translated 
Judges.     But  the  root  is  shdfat,  to  protect. 

f  More  than  one  strongly  fortified  city  on  the  borders  of  Palestine  was 
called  Basra — the  Phoenician  name  for  the  citadel  of  Carthage.  The  Greeks 
called  it  Bvpaa.  No  doubt  the  meaning  of  this  word  gave  rise  to  the  legend 
that  Dido  bought  as  much  land  from  the  Libyans  "  as  a  hide  would  compass," 
ftad  then  cheated  them  by  cutting  the  hide  into  strips. 


Chap.  XXVIII.  CARTHAGE.  263 

Nothing  was  more  formidable  to  such  a  Government  than  an 
able  and  successful  general  at  the  head  of  a  force  that  owed  no 
allegiance  save  to  their  officers.  The  generals,  therefore,  seem 
mostly  to  have  been  men  chosen  rather  because  of  their  devo- 
tion to  the  oligarchical  families,  than  because  of  their  aptness  for 
command.  When  they  failed  their  merciless  masters  visited  the 
failure  by  fine,  imprisonment,  or  crucifixion. 

§  8.  If  the  army  was  not  a  national  institution,  it  might  have 
been  thought  that  a  people  whose  wealth  so  much  depended 
upon  their  shipping  would  at  least  have  been  absolute  masters 
of  the  sea.  And  we  find  immense  fleets  fitted  out,  and  great 
losses  speedily  repaired.  But  here  again  the  commanders  seem 
to  have  been  hampered  by  the  Government,  or  not  to  have  made 
fit  use  of  the  means  at  their  command.  It  must  have  been  as 
surprising  to  people  of  that  day  to  see  the  Carthaginians  beaten 
on  their  own  element  by  the  Romans,  as  it  would  be  to  the 
present  generation  to  see  the  fleets  of  England  defeated  by  those 
of  Russia. 

§  9.  It  was  by  means  of  the  fleets,  of  course,  that  Carthage  was 
brought  into  connexion  and  collision  with  other  countries.  In 
early  days  she  had  established  commercial  settlements  in  the 
South  of  Spain  and  in  Sicily.  It  was  in  the  latter  country  that 
she  came  in  contact  firsts  with  the  Greeks,  and  afterwards  with 
the  Romans. 

We  have  seen  that  in  the  first  year  of  the  Republic  a  treaty 
was  made  between  Carthage  and  Rome.  This  was  at  a  time 
when  the  Sicilian  Greeks,  by  their  growing  wealth  and  restless 
energy,  must  have  already  awakened  the  jealousy  of  the  mer- 
chant-rulers of  western  Sicily.  About  thirty  years  later,  the 
great  Persian  invasion  encouraged  Carthage  to  assail  them; 
but  the  Sicilian  Greeks  had  kept  aloof,  and  Gelon  of  Syracuse 
destroyed  the  fleets  of  Carthage  and  Etruria,  combined  under 
the  command  of  Mago,  as  has  been  already  noticed.  For  the 
next  seventy  years  the  Carthaginians  contented  themselves  with 
obtaining  possession  of  three  factories  or  trading-marts  on  the 
coast  of  Sicily — Panormus,  Motye,  and  Lilybseum,  which  they 
fortified  very  strongly.  But  after  the  great  overthrow  of  the 
Athenian  power  by  the  Syracusans  (413  b.c),  the  Carthaginian 
Government  formed  the  design  of  becoming  masters  of  this  fertile 
and  coveted  island.  Three  years  later  they  appeared  in  great  force 
before  Selinus,  which  fell  after  a  brave  resistance.  Other  cities 
shared  the  same  fate  ;  and  in  406  b.c.  the  city  of  Agrigentum, 
then  probably  the  largest  and  most  magnificent  in  the  Hellenic 
world,  was  sacked  and  destroyed.  The  person,  afterwards  so 
famous  as  Dionysius  the  Tyrant,  took  advantage  of  thisdisasteir 


264  ROME  AND  CARTHAGE.  Book  IV 

to  attack  the  existing  Government  of  Syracuse  for  permitting 
the  destruction  of  a  sister  city,  and  with  singular  craft  raised 
himself  to  absolute  power.  His  long  reign  of  thirty-eight  years 
(405 — 367  B.C.)  comprises  the  time  of  Rome's  great  depression 
by  the  Gallic  invasion,  while  the  year  of  his  death  is  coincident 
with  that  of  the  Licinian  Laws,  the  era  from  which  dates  the  con- 
stant advance  of  the  Italian  great  city.  He  engaged  in  two  great 
wars  with  Carthage.  In  the  first,  he  had  lost  all  Sicily,  and  was 
blockaded  by  Imilcon  in  Syracuse,  when  a  pestilence  destroyed 
the  Carthaginian  army,  and  so  reduced  that  people,  that  their 
Libyan  subjects  rose  in  insurrection,  and  for  a  time  the  existence 
of  Carthage  seemed  doubtful  (394  b.c.)  In  the  second,  he  was 
at  first  eminently  successful,  but  was  at  length  obliged  to  conclude 
a  peace  by  which  the  River  Halycus  was  settled  as  the  boundary 
between  Grecian  and  Carthaginian  Sicily,  and  the  territory  of 
Agrigentum  was  added  to  Syracusan  rule  (383  b.c.) 

This  treaty  was  followed  by  a  long  rest.  The  younger  Diony- 
sius  succeeded,  and  was  overthrown  by  Dion,  a  Platonic  philoso- 
pher, who  put  down  the  tyranny  of  Dionysius  II.  only  to  continue 
a  modified  tyranny  in  his  own  person.  Dion  was  put  to  death  by 
his  brother  Timoleon,  a  man  in  whom  stern  patriotism  overpow- 
ered the  sentiments  of  nature.  The  Carthaginians  took  advantage 
of  these  troubles  to  renew  hostilities,  but  were  compelled  by  Timo- 
leon to  remain  contented  with  the  same  boundaries  which  had 
been  fixed  by  the  treaty  of  Dionysius.  This  took  place  in  the 
year  of  the  great  Latin  War. 

Peace  was  now  maintained  for  nearly  thirty  years.  But  in 
317  B.C.  Agathocles  made  himself  King  of  Syracuse  by  means 
still  more  unscrupulous  than  had  been  used  by  Dionysius.  In  310 
B.C.  the  Carthaginians  declared  war  against  him.  At  Himera  he 
was  signally  defeated,  and  Syracuse  lay  open  to  the  enemy.  But 
Agathocles  took  the  bold  step  of  transporting  the  troops  which 
remained  for  the  defence  of  the  capital  into  Africa,  so  as  to 
avail  himself  of  the  known  disaftection  of  the  Libyan  subjects  of 
Carthage.  His  successes  were  marvellous.  One  of  the  Suff'ets 
fell  in  battle,  the  other  acted  as  a  traitor.  All  the  Libyan  sub- 
jects of  Carthage  supported  the  Sicilian  monarch,  and  he  en- 
camped almost  under  the  walls  of  the  city.  But  he  was  obliged 
to  return  to  Sicily  rapidly,  to  check  an  insurrection  there,  and 
a  hurried  peace  was  made  with  Carthage.  The  remainder  of 
his  life  was  spent  in  vain  attempts  in  Sicily,  in  Corcyra,  and  in 
Southern  Italy.  He  died  in  289  b.c,  less  then  ten  years  before 
the  appearance  of  Pyrrhus  in  Italy. 

After  the  death  of  Agathocles,  the  Carthaginians  and  Greeks 
of  Sicily  rested  quiet,  till  Pyrrhus  undertook  to  expel  the  former 


Chap.  XXYIII.  CARTHAGE.  265 

from  the  island.  We  have  already  mentioned  his  first  brilliant 
successes  and  his  subsequent  failure.*  By  this  assault  of  Pyr- 
rhus,  Carthage  was  led  to  conclude  a  treaty  with  Rome.  But 
the  appearance  of  Carthaginian  fleets  off  Ostia  and  in  the  Gulf 
of  Tarentum  had  roused  the  jealousy  of  the  Italian  Republic, 
and  an  opportunity  only  was  wanting  to  give  rise  to  open  war 
between  the  two  states.  In  the  year  264  b.c.  such  an  opportu- 
nity occurred. 

§  10.  It  has  been  recorded  above  that  a  body  of  Campanian 
Mercenaries,  calling  themselves  Mamertines,  being  discharged 
from  the  service  of  Agathocles,  had  made  themselves  masters  of 
Messana.f  From  this  place  they  became  dangerous  neighbours 
to  Syracuse.  A  young  man  of  good  birth,  named  Hiero,  who 
had  won  distinction  in  the  Sicilian  campaigns  of  Pyrrhus,  gained 
a  signal  victory  over  these  marauders  at  Centuripa,  and  was  by 
his  grateful  compatriots  proclaimed  king.  This  was  about  the 
year  270  b.c.  For  some  time  the  Mamertines  remained  quiet, 
and  Hiero  was  occupied  in  securing  his  power  at  Syracuse.  But 
in  264  B.C.  the  new  King  resolved  to  destroy  this  nest  of 
robbers,  and  advanced  against  Messana  with  a  force  superior 
to  any  they  could  bring  into  the  field  against  him.  The  Ma- 
mertines, in  this  peril,  were  divided  as  to  the  best  means  oi 
seeking  succour.  One  party  wished  to  call  in  the  Cartha- 
ginians, who  were  close  at  hand  :  another  preferred  alliance 
with  Rome.  The  latter  prevailed,  and  envoys  were  despatched 
to  demand  immediate  aid.  The  Senate  were  well  inclined  to 
grant  what  was  asked ;  for  they  knew  that,  if  they  did  not  inter- 
fere, Carthage  would ;  and  to  see  Messana,  a  town  with  a  good 
harbour,  and  separated  from  Italy  by  so  narrow  a  strait,  in  the 
hands  of  Carthage,  might  have  given  alarm  to  a  less  watchful 
government.  Yet  shame  restrained  them.  It  was  barely  six 
years  since  Hiero  had  assisted  them  in  punishing  the  Campanian 
legion  which  had  seized  Italian  Rhegium,  as  the  Mamertines 
had  seized  Sicilian  Messana.  In  this  perplexity,  the  Senate  de- 
clined to  entertain  the  question.  But  the  Consuls,  eager  for 
military  glory,  immediately  brought  the  matter  before  the  Centu- 
riate  Assembly,  v/hich  straightway  voted  that  support  should  be 
given  to  the  Mamertines,  or  in  other  words,  that  the  Carthaginians 
should  not  be  allowed  to  gain  possession  of  Messana.  The  Consul 
App.  Claudius,  son  of  the  old  Censor,  was  to  command  the  army; 
and  he  sent  his  kinsman,  C.  Claudius,  to  assure  the  Mamertines 
of  approaching  aid. 

§  11.  During  this  delay,  however,  the  Carthaginian  party  among 

*  Chapt.  xxvi  §  12.  f  Chapt.  xxv.  §  1. 

12 


266  ROME  AND  CARTHAGE.  Book  IV. 

the  Mamertines  had  prevailed,  and  Hanno,  with  a  party  of  Car- 
thaginian soldiers,  had  been  admitted  into  the  town.  But  the 
arrival  of  Appius  soon  changed  the  face  of  affairs.  After  being 
once  driven  back  by  the  fleet  of  Hanno,  he  succeeded  in  landing 
his  troops  to  the  south  of  the  town ;  and  immediately  attacking 
Hiero,  he  defeated  him  with  such  loss,  that  the  prudent  King 
gave  up  the  siege  and  retired  to  Syracuse.  Next  day  the  Romans 
fell  upon  Hanno,  and  also  defeated  him.  Messana  was  now  free. 
The  Consul  pursued  his  successes  by  plundering  the  Syracusan 
dominions  up  to  the  very  gates  of  the  city. 

§  12.  The  Romans,  having  now  set  foot  in  Sicily,  determined  to 
declare  war  against  Carthage,  so  as  to  anticipate  any  plan  which 
she  might  have  of  assailing  Italy.  It  is  probable  that  the  Senate, 
recollecting  the  rapid  success  of  Pyrrhus,  who  in  two  years 
almost  swept  the  Carthaginians  out  of  the  island,  reckoned  on  a 
speedy  conquest:  else,  after  their  late  exhausting  wars,  they 
would  hardly  have  engaged  in  this  new  and  terrible  conflict. 
But  they  were  much  deceived.  The  first  Punic  War,  which 
began  in  263  b.c,  did  not  end  till  241,  having  dragged  out  its 
tedious  length  for  three-and-twenty  yfears.  The  general  history 
of  it  is  most  uninteresting.  All  the  great  men  of  Rome,  who 
had  waged  her  Italian  wars  with  so  much  vigour  and  ability, 
were  in  their  graves ;  we  hear  no  more  of  Decius,  or  Curius,  or 
Fabricius ;  and  no  worthy  successors  had  arisen.  The  only  men 
of  note  who  appear  on  the  Roman  side  are  Duillius  and  Regulus. 
But  the  heroes  of  Carthage  are  no  less  obscure.  No  one  on  their 
side  is  worthy  of  mention,  except  the  great  Hamilcar ;  and  he 
appears  not  till  near  the  close  of  the  war,  and  is  to  oe  mentioned 
not  so  much  for  what  he  then  did  as  for  thfe  promise  of  what  he 
might  do  hereiifter. 


Coin  of  a  Livineius  with  head  of  Regulus.  ^ 

CHAPTER    XXIX. 

FIRST    PUNIC    WAR    (263 241    B.C.). 

§  1.  First  Punic  War  divided  into  Three  Periods.  §  2.  First  Period.  Suc- 
cess of  Romans :  sack  of  Agrigentum.  §  3.  Romans  build  a  fleet  of  Quin- 
queremes,  §  4.  Sail  to  the  North  of  Sicily.  §  5.  Grappling  engines,  called 
Corvi.  §  6.  Carthaginians  defeated  by  Duillius  of  Mylae.  §  7.  Cartha- 
ginians lose  greater  part  of  Sicily.  §  8.  Second  Period.  Regulus  and 
Manlius  set  sail  for  Africa :  great  victory  at  sea  off  Ecnomus.  §  9.  Army 
landed  at  Clupea.  §  10.  Romans  advance  to  Carthage.  Great  defeat  of 
Regulus  by  Xanthippus.  §  11.  Fleet  entirely  lost.  §  12.  Fresh  Fleet 
built.  Panormus  taken.  §  13.  Second  Fleet  lost.  Romans  give  up  the 
Sea.  §  14.  Victory  gained  by  Metellus  at  Panormus.  §  1  ">.  Embassy  and 
death  of  Regulus.  §  16.  Criticism  of  this  event.  §  17.  Third  Period. 
Third  Fleet  built.  Siege  of  Lilybseum.  §  18.  Headstrong  folly  of  Claudius: 
part  of  Fleet  destroyed  at  Drepanum,  the  rest  by  a  storm  off  Camarina. 
§  19.  HamUcar.  §  20.  Fourth  Fleet  built.  §  21.  Battle  of  the  ^gatian 
Isles.  §  22.  Terms  of  Peace. with  Carthage.  §  23.  Review  of  the  War. 
Prospects. 

§  1.  To  make  tlie  dreary  length  of  this  war  more  intelligible,  it 
may  conveniently  be  divided  into  three  periods.  The  first  com- 
prises its  first  seven  years  (263-257),  during  which  the  Romans 
were  uniformly  successful,  and  at  the  close  of  which  they  had 
driven  the  Carthaginians  to  the  south  and  west  coasts  of  Sicily. 
The  second  is  an  anxious  period  of  mingled  success  and  failure,  also 
lasting  for  seven  years  (256-250) :  it  begins  with  the  invasion  of 
Africa  by  Regulus,  and  ends  with  his  embassy  and  death.  The 
third  is  a  long  and  listless  period  of  nine  years  (249-241),  in 
which  the  Romans  slowly  retrieve  their  losses,  and  at  length  con- 
clude the  war  by  a  great  victory  at  sea. 

§  2.  First  Period  (263-257). — The  ill  success  of  Hanno  at 
Messana  so  displeased  the  Carthaginian  government  that  they 


268  ROME  AND  CARTHAGE.  Book  IV. 

ordered  the  unfortunate  general  to  be  crucified.  They  had  mani- 
festly not  calculated  on  the  aggressive  spirit  of  Rome,  and  had  no 
force  on  foot  sufficient  to  meet  her  armies  in  the  field.  The 
Romans  pursued  their  first  success  with  vigour.  In  the  year  263 
B.C.  both  the  Consuls  crossed  over  into  Sicily  with  an  army  of 
forty  or  fifty  thousand  men.  On  their  appearance,  a  vast  number 
of  the  Sicilian  towns,  weary  of  being  the  objects  of  contention  be- 
tween Carthaginians  and  Syracusans,  declared  in  favour  of  the  new 
power,  which  might  (they  hoped)  secure  their  independence 
against  both  ;  for  at  present  no  one  dreamed  of  a  permanent  occu- 
pation of  the  island  by  the  Romans.  No  less  than  sixty-seven 
towns  are  said  to  have  taken  this  course.  Hiero,  a  prudent  man, 
was  struck  by  the  energy  of  the  new  invaders.  "Tliey  had  con- 
<|uered  him,"  he  said,  "before  he  had  time  to  see  them."  He 
shrewdly  calculated  that  the  Carthaginians  would  prove  inferior 
in  the  struggle,  and  forthwith  concluded  a  treaty  of  alliance  with 
Rome,  by  which  he  was  left  in  undisturbed  possession  of  a  small 
but  fertile  region  lying  round  Syracuse :  some  more  remote  towns, 
as  Tauromenium,  being  also  subject  to  his  sceptre.  From  this 
time  forth  to  the  time  of  his  death,  a  period  of  forty-seven  years, 
he  remained  a  useful  ally  of  the  Roman  people.  In  262  b.c.  both 
Consuls  laid  siege  to  the  city  of  Agrigentum,  which,  though  far 
fallen  from  her  ancient  splendour,  was  still  the  second  of  the  Hel- 
lenic communities  in  Sicily.  Another  Hanno  was  sent  with  a 
force  from  Carthage  to  raise  the  siege,  and  for  some  time  fortune 
favoured  him.  He  drew  a  second  circle  of  entrenchments  round 
the  Roman  lines,  so  as  to  intercept  all  supplies ;  and  thus  the 
besiegers,  being  themselves  besieged,  were  reduced  to  the  greatest 
straits.  But  the  Consul  at  length  forced  Hanno  to  give  him  battle, 
and  gained  a  complete  victory.  Upon  this  the  commandant  of 
the  garrison,  finding  further  defence  useless,  slipped  out  of  Agri- 
gentum by  night,  and  deserted  the  hapless  city  after  a  siege  of 
seven  months.  The  Romans  repaid  themselves  for  the  miseries 
they  had  undergone  by  indulging  in  all  those  excesses  which 
soldiers  are  wont  to  commit  when  they  take  a  town  by  storm  after 
a  long  and  obstinate  defence.  It  is  said  that  25,000  men  were 
slain. 

§  3.  This  great  success  raised  the  spirits  of  the  Romans.  And 
now,  for  the  first  time,  the  Senate  conceived  the  hope  and  formed 
the  plan  of  expelling  the  Carthaginians  entirely  from  Sicily :  but 
after  a  short  experience,  that  sagacious  Council  became  aware 
that  a  fleet  was  indispensable  for  success.  The  coasts  of  Italy 
were  infested  by  Carthaginian  cruisers,  and  though  it  might 
always  be  possible  to  carry  men  and  stores  across  the  narrow 
strait  of  Messana,   the   want  of  roads  in  the  mountainous  dis- 


Chap.  XXIX.  FIRST  PUNIC  WAR.  269 

trict  about  ^tna  made  this  an  inconvenient  place  of  transit.  It 
was  important  for  Rome  to  send  her  armies  straight  to  Syracuse 
or  Panormus ;  and  since  the  Carthaginians  were  masters  of  the 
sea,  this  could  not  be  done  without  such  a  navy  as  might  be  able 
to  cope  with  the  fleets  of  the  enemy.  Nothing  shows  the  courage 
and  resolution  of  the  Romans  more  than  their  manner  of  acting  in 
this  matter.  It  is  no  light  matter .  for  landsmen  to  become  sea- 
men ;  but  for  unpractised  landsmen  to  think  of  encountering  tho 
most  skilful  seamen  then  known  might  have  been  deemed  a  piece 
of  romantic  absurdity,  if  the  men  of  Rome  had  not  undertaken 
and  accomplished  it. 

What  they  wanted  first  was  a  set  of  ships,  Vhich,  in  size  at 
least  and  weight,  should  be  a  match  for  those  of  the  enemy.  It  is 
a  mistake  to  suppose  that  the  Romans  had  no  fleet  before  this 
time.  The  treaties  with  Carthage  sufliciently  prove  the  contrary ; 
and  on  several  occasions  we  hear  of  ships  being  employed  by 
them.  But  these  ships  were  of  the  trireme  kind,  formerly  em 
ployed  by  the  Greeks.  The  Carthaginians,  like  the  Greeks  aftei 
Alexander,  used  quinqueremes ;  and  it  would  have  been  as  absurd 
for  the  small  Roman  ships  to  have  encountered  those  heavier  ves- 
sels, as  for  a  frigate  to  cope  with  a  three-decker.  The  Romans 
therefore  determined  to  build  quinqueremes.  A  Carthaginian  ship 
cast  ashore  on  the  coast  of  Bruttii  served  as  a  model ;  the  forest 
of  Sila,  in  that  district,  supplied  timber.  In  sixty  days  from  the 
time  the  trees  were  felled  they  had  completed,  probably  by  the 
help  of  Greek  artisans,  a  fleet  of  one  hundred  quinqueremes  and 
twenty  triremes ;  and  while  it  was  building,  they  trained  men  to 
row  in  a  manner  which  to  us  seems  laughable,  by  placing  them  on 
jcaff"olds  ranged  on  land  in  the  same  way  as  the  benches  in  the 
ships.*     (266  B.C.) 

§  4.  The  Consul  Cn.  Cornelius  put  to  sea  first  with  seventeen 
ships,  leaving  the  rest  of  the  fleet  to  follow ;  but  he  was  surprised 
near  Lipara  and  captured,  with  the  whole  of  his  little  squadron,  bj 
the  Carthaginian  admiral.  His  plebeian  colleague,  C.  Duillius, 
was  in  command  of  the  army  in  Sicily ;  but  as  soon  as  he  heard 
of  this  disaster,  he  hastened  to  take  charge  of  the  main  body  of 
the  fleet,  and  with  it  he  sailed  slowly  along  the  north  coast  of 
Sicily. 

§  5.  Meantime,  the  Roman  shipwrights  had  contrived  certain 
engines,  by  means  of  which  their  seamen  might  grapple  with  the 
enemy's  ships,  so  as  to  bring  them  to  close  quarters  and  deprive 
them  of  the   superiority  derived  from  their   better   construction 

*  All  this  rests  on  the  weighty  authority  of  Polybius  (i.  20  and  21),  except 
the  time  spent  in  building  the  fleet,  which  is  given  by  Pliny  (Nat.  Hist.  xvL 


270  ROME  AND  CARTHAGE.  Book  IV. 

and  tlie  greater  skill  of  their  crews.  These  engines  were  called 
crows  (corvi).  They  consisted  of  a  gangway  36  feet  long  and 
4  broad,  pierced  with  an  oblong  hole  towards  one  end,  so  as  to 
play  freely  round  a  strong  pole  24  feet  high,  which  was  fixed 
near  the  ship's  prow.  At  the  other  end  was  attached  a  strong 
rope,  which  passed  over  a  sheaf  at  the  head  of  the  pole.  By  this 
rope  the  gangway  was  kept  hauled  up  till  within  reach  of  the 
enemy's  ship  :  it  was  then  suddenly  let  go,  and  as  it  fell  with  all 
its  weight,  a  strong,  sharp  spike  on  its  under  side  (shaped  like 
a  crow's  beak)  was  driven  fast  into  the  enemy's  deck.  Then 
the  Roman  men-at-arms  poured  along  the  gangway,  and  a  mere 
stand-up  fight  followed,  in  which  the  best  soldiers  were  sure  to 
prevail. 

§  6.  Thus  prepared,  Duillius  encountered  the  enemy's  fleet. 
He  found  them  ravaging  the  coast  at  Mylae,  a  little  to  the  west 
of  Palermo.  The  admiral  was  the  same  person  who  had  com- 
manded the  garrison  of  Agrigentum,  and  was  carried  in  an  enor- 
mojs  septireme,  which  had  formerly  belonged  to  Pyrrhus. 
Nothing  daunted,  Duillius  attacked  without  delay.  By  his  rude 
assault  the  skilful  tactics  of  the  Carthaginian  seamen  were  con- 
founded. The  Roman  fighting-men  were  very  numerous,  and 
when  they  had  once  boarded  an  enemy's  ship,  easily  made  them- 
selves masters  of  her.  Duillius  took  thirty-one  Carthaginian  ships 
and  sunk  fourteen.  For  a  season,  no  Roman  name  stood  so  high 
as  that  of  Duillius.  Public  honours  were  awarded  him ;  he  was 
to  be  escorted  home  at  night  from  banquets  and  festivals  by  the 
light  of  torches  and  the  music  of  the  flute ;  a  pillar  was  set  up  in 
the  Forum,  ornamented  with  the  beaks  of  the  captured  ships,  and 
therefore  called  the  Columna  Rostrata,  to  commemorate  the  great 
event :  fragments  of  the  inscription  still  remain.*  And  no  doubt 
the  triumph  was  signal.  To  have  defeated  the  Mistress  of 
the  Sea  upon  her  own  element  in  the  first  trial  of  strength 
was  indeed  remarkable,  and  might  justify  almost  any  amount  of 
extravagant  exultation.  The  honours  conferred  upon  the  con- 
queror cannot  but  give  a  pleasing  impression  of  the  simple  life 
and  manners  then  prevailing  at  Rome,  especially  when  we  con- 
trast them  with  the  cruelty  of  the  Carthaginian  Government, 
who  crucified  their  unfortunate  admiral  for  this  and  other  mis- 
chances. 

§  7.  The  sea-fight  of  Duillius  was  fought  in  the  year  260  b.c. 
The  next  three  years  passed  with  no  very  remarkable  successes. 
In  259  we  learn  that  L.  Scipio,  Consul  of  the  year,  made  a  de- 

*  In  the  Capitoline  Museum  at  Rome — probably  a  copy  of  the  original, 
made  when  the  Columna  Rostrata  was  restored  by  the  Emperor  Augustus. 


Chap.  XXIX.  FIRST  PUNIC  WAR  271 

scent  upon  Sardinia  and  Corsica.  But  in  the  following  year  the 
Consul  L.  Atilius  Calatinus  had  nearly  suffered  a  great  reverse. 
He  advanced  incautiously  into  a  defile  in  the  western  part  of 
the  island,  and  was  entirely  hemmed  in,  when  he  was  delivered 
by  the  military  skill  and  bravery  of  M.  Calpurnius,  one  of  the 
legionary  tribunes  in  his  army,  and  the  imminent  disaster  was 
changed  into  a  victory,  which  the  Senate  deemed  worthy  of  a 
triumph. 

On  the  whole,  it  is  clear  that  the  Carthaginians  were  now  only 
able  to  act  upon  the  defensive.  Not  only  Agrigentum,  but  Cama- 
rina,  Gela,  Erina,  Egesta,  and  many  other  cities  had  surrendered 
to  the  Romans.  The  Carthaginians  were  confined  to  their  great 
trading  marts,  Drepana,  Lilybseum,  Eryx,  and  Panormus.  They 
did  not  dare  to  meet  the  Romans  in  the  field ;  yet  these  places 
were  very  strong,  especially  Lilybaeum.  Against  its  iron  fortifica- 
tions all  the  strength  of  Pyrrhus  had  been  broken.  It  was  not 
time  yet  for  Carthage  to  despair. 

But  in  the  eighth  year  of  the  war  the  Senate  determined  on 
more  decisive  measures.  They  knew  the  weakness  of  the  Cartha- 
ginians at  home ;  they  had  a  victorious  fleet,  and  they  determined 
not  to  let  their  fortune  slumber. 
— -^  8.  Second  Period  (256-250  b.c). — Duillius  appears  for  a 
brief  time  as  the  hero  of  the  first  part  of  the  war ;  but  its  second 
period  is  marked  by  the  name  of  a  man  who  has  become  famous 
in  the  whole  world  as  a  hero  and  a  patriot, — M.  Atilius  Regulus. 
His  claim  to  these  high  titles  has  of  late  years  been  questioned  and 
denied,  and  shall  be  shortly  examined  when  we  come  to  the  close 
of  his  career.  At  all  events,  he  fills  a  commanding  place  among 
the  men  of  the  first  Punic  War. 

It  was  in  the  year  256,  the  eighth  of  the  war,  that  the  Consuls, 
M.  Regulus  and  L.  Manlius,  sailed  from  Italy  and  doubled  Cape 
Pachynum  with  a  fleet  of  330  quinqueremes.  The  Carthaginian 
fleet,  even  larger  in  number,  had  been  stationed  at  Lilybseum  to 
meet  the  enemy,  whether  they  should  approach  from  the  north 
or  from  the  east.  They  now  put  to  sea,  and  sailed  westward 
along  the  southern  coast  of  Sicily.  They  met  the  Roman  fleet 
at  a  place  called  Ecnomus,  a  little  more  than  half  way  along 
that  coast.  The  battle  that  ensued  was  the  greatest  that,  up 
to  that  time,  had  ever  been  fought  at  sea  :  it  is  calculated  that 
not  fewer  than  300,000  men  were  engaged.  It  was  desperately 
contested  on  both  sides ;  but  at  Ecnomus,  again,  we  are  astonished 
to  find  the  Roman  fleet  victorious.  It  must  be  presumed  that 
they  still  employed  the  corvi  to  baffle  the  superior  skill  of  the 
enemy,  and  turn  a  sea-fight  into  the  similitude  of  a  battle  on 
laud. 


272  ROME  AND  CARTHAaE.  Book  IV. 

§  9.  The  way  was  now  open  to  Africa.  The  Consuls,  after  re^ 
fitting  and  provisioning  their  fleet,  sailed  straight  across  to  the 
Hermajan  Promontory,  which  is  distant  from  the  nearest  point  of 
Sicily  not  more  than  eighty  miles.  But  the  omens  were  not 
auspicious;  the  Roman  soldiery  went  on  board  with  gloomy  fore- 
bodings of  their  fate ;  nay,  one  of  the  tribunes  refused  to  lead  his 
legionaries  into  the  ships,  till  Reguhis  ordered  the  lictors  to  seize 
him.  The  passage,  however,  was  favoured  by  the  wind.  The 
Consuls  landed  their  men,  drew  up  the  fleet  on  shore,  and  fortified 
it  in  a  naval  camp ;  and  then,  marching  southward,  they  took  the 
city  of  Aspis  or  Clupea  by  assault. 

No  Carthaginian  army  met  them  :  every  place  they  came  near, 
except  Utica,  surrendered  at  discretion ;  for  they  were  unfortified 
and  defenceless.  Carthage,  being  of  old  mistress  of  the  sea,  feared 
no  invaders  :  like  England  since  the  Civil  Wars,  she  left  her  cities 
unwalled,  trusting  for  defence  rather  to  her  ships  than  to  stone 
walls.  Yet  she  had  not  been  unwarned.  Sixty  years  before,  the 
adventurous  Agathocles  had  landed  like  Regulus.  Then,  as  now, 
the  whole  country  lay  like  a  garden  before  him,  covered  with 
wealthy  towns  and  the  luxurious  villas  of  the  Carthaginian  mer- 
chants. Then  two  hundred  towns  or  more  had  surrendered  almost 
without  stroke  of  sword.  It  appeared  as  if  the  same  easy  success 
now  awaited  Regulus  and  the  Romans. 

§  10.  The  Consuls  were  advancing  along  the  coast  of  the  gulf 
towards  Carthage,  when,  at  a  critical  moment  and  for  reasons 
we  know  not  of,  Manlius  was  recalled  with  the  greater  part  of 
the  army,  and  Regulus  was  left  in  Africa  with  only  15,000  foot 
and  500  horse.  Yet  even  with  this  small  force  he  remained  mas- 
ter of  the  country.  The  Libyans  (as  has  been  said)  ofl'ered  no 
resistance  or  joined  the  invader ;  and  the  Carthaginian  generals, 
after  venturing  one  battle  in  which  they  were  worsted,  did 
not  again  meet  the  Consul  in  the  field.  He  had  gone  round 
the  whole  Gulf  of  Tunis  as  far  as  Utica,  and  now  he  turned 
upon  his  steps  with  the  intention  of  marching  upon  the  capital 
itself.  On  his  way  he  was  obliged  to  cross  the  river  Bagradas, 
and  here  (so  ran  the  legend)  the  army  was  stopped  by  a  huge 
serpent,  so  strong  and  tough  of  skin  that  they  were  unable  to 
destroy  it,  till  they  brought  up  their  artillery  of  catapults  and 
balists  :*  he  then  continued  his  route  southwards  to  the  Bay  of 
Carthage.     He   was  allowed  to  take  Tunis,  which   stood  within 

*  No  mention  of  this  is  made  by  Polybius,  the  most  ancient  and  most 
authentic  historian  of  the  war.  Its  subsequent  invention  shows  how  easily 
semi-mythical  legends  may  intrude  themselves  even  into  the  history  of  well- 
known  times,  and  certainly  is  one  of  the  circumstances  which  indicate  that  the 
fame  of  Regulus  is  partly  due  to  the  family  pride  of  the  Atilian  Gens. 


Chap.  XXIX.  FIRST  PUNIO  WAR.  2*73 

twenty  miles  of  Carthage.  The  great  city  was  now  reduced  to 
the  utmost  straits.  A  Roman  army  was  encamped  within  sight ; 
the  Numidians  took  advantage  of  the  enemy's  presence  to  overrun 
and  plunder  the  whole  country ;  famine  stared  the  townsmen  in 
the  face  ;  the  Government  trembled.  In  this  abject  condition  the 
Council  sent  an  embassy  to  ask  what  terms  of  peace  Regulus 
would  grant.  The  Consul  was  so  elated  by  success,  so  confident  in 
his  power,  that  he  demanded  the  most  extravagant  concessions. 
The  Carthaginians  were  to  give  up  their  fleet,  pay  all  the  expenses 
of  the  war,  and  cede  all  Sicily,  with  Sardinia,  Corsica,  and  the 
Balearic  Isles,  to  Rome.  When  these  terms  were  reported  the 
Government  took  care  to  publish  them,  and  public  indignation 
rose  against  the  arrogant  invaders.  The  civic  force  was,  as  we 
have  said,*  not  untrained  to  arms,  and  they  had  now  to  fight  for 
their  hearths  and  altars.  A  good  general  was  sought  for.  At 
that  time  there  happened  to  be  at  Carthage  a  soldier  of  fortune, 
by  name  Xanthippus,  a  Lacedaemonian.  This  man  had  been  heard 
to  censure  the  ordinary  tactics  of  the  native  generals,  and  to  de- 
clare that  the  victories  of  the  Romans  were  due,  not  to  their  own 
superior  skill  and  valour,  but  to  the  faults  committed  by  their 
opponents.  He  was  summoned  before  the  Council  and  desired 
to  give  reasons  for  his  remarks.  He  did  so  ;  and,  for  a  moment, 
the  Government,  dismissing  all  jealousy,  appointed  this  obscure 
foreigner  general  in  chief.  Xanthippus  immediately  drew  to- 
gether all  the  mercenaries  he  could  find,  and  united  them 
with  the  armed  citizens;  then,  supported  by  a  large  body  of 
elephants,  he  boldly  took  the  field.  The  Romans  were  aston- 
ished ;  but  they  were  too  much  accustomed  to  victory  to  hesi- 
tate about  accepting  battle.  But  they  were  both  outnumbered 
and  outgeneraled.  Xanthippus  gained  a  victory  as  easy  as 
it  was  complete.  Regulus  himself  was  taken  prisoner;  only 
2000  of  his  men  succeeded  in  making  good  their  retreat  to 
Clupea. 

Thus  was  Carthage  delivered  by  the  ability  of  one  man,  and 
that  man  a  foreigner.  The  Government  did  not  improve  in  wis- 
dom or  generosity ;  their  old  and  incapable  generals  resumed 
the  command;  Xanthippus,  loaded  with  honours  and  presents, 
prudently  withdrew  from  the  jealous  city,  and  is  heard  of  no 
more. 

§  11.  The  Roman  Senate,  on  the  other  hand,  did  their  best  to 
repair  this  great  calamity.  The  new  Consuls  were  ordered  to 
put  to  sea,  and  bring  oft"  the  garrison  and  fugitives  from  Clupea. 
Near  the   Hermaean  Promontory  they  encountered  the  enemy's 

*  Chapt.  xxviii.  §  7. 
12* 


274  ROME  AND  CARTHAGE.  Book  IY. 

fleet,  and  again  defeated  it ;  and  then,  having  taken  up  the  ships 
and  men  at  Clupea,  they  sailed  for  Syracuse.  But  now  a  still 
greater  disaster  was  in  store  for  Rome  than  the  destruction  of  her 
African  army.  This  was  the  loss  of  that  fleet  of  which  she  was 
justly  proud.  The  time  of  year  was  about  the  beginning  of  the 
dog-days,  when  the  Mediterranean  is  apt  to  be  visited  by  sudden 
storms.  The  Consuls,  upon  their  passage,  were  warned  that  such  a 
storm  was  at  hand ;  but  they  were  ignorant  and  rash,  and  con- 
tinued their  course.  Before  they  could  double  Cape  Pachynum 
they  were  caught  by  the  tempest;  almost  the  whole  fleet  was 
wrecked  or  foundered  ;  the  coast  of  Sicily  from  Camarina  to  Pa- 
chynum was  strewed  with  fragments  of  ships  and  bodies  of  men. 
Such  was  the  end  of  the  Roman  fleet. 

§  12.  These  successive  disasters  might  well  raise  the  hopes  of 
Carthage,  and  they  sent  a  considerable  force  into  Sicily  with  140 
elephants.  Agrigentam  is  said  to  have  been  recovered,  and  no 
doubt  it  was  expected  that  the  whole  island  would  once  more 
become  their  own.  But  the  Romans,  aptly  compared  by  Horace 
to  the  hydra  which  grows  stronger  from  successive  mutilations, 
showed  a  spirit  equal  to  the  need.  In  three  months'  time  (so  won- 
derful was  their  energy),  a  new  fleet  of  220  sail  was  ready  for 
sea.*  The  Consuls  of  the  year  254  e.g.,  having  touched  at  Mes- 
sana  to  take  up  the  remnants  of  the  old  fleet,  passed  onward  to 
Drepanum.  They  could  not  take  this  strong  place,  but  they  were 
more  successful  at  Panormus,  the  modern  Palermo,  which  yielded 
after  a  short  siege  to  the  Roman  arms.  This  was  an  important 
conquest. 

§  13.  Next  year  the  fleet  touched  at  several  places  on  the  Afri- 
can coast,  but  without  making  any  impression  on  the  country. 
Among  the  shoals  and  currents  of  the  Lesser  Syrtis  it  ran  great 
danger  of  being  lost ;  but  having  escaped  this  peril,  the  Consuls  re- 
turned to  Panormus  and  thence  stood  straight  across  for  the  mouth 
of  the  Tiber.  On  the  passage  they  were  overtaken  by  another  of  those 
terrible  storms,  and  again  nearly  the  whole  fleet  was  lost.  Thus, 
within  three  years,  the  Romans  lost  two  great  fleets.  This  was 
enough  to  damp  even  their  courage  ;  and  the  Senate  determined 
to  try  whether  it  were  not  possible  to  keep  their  ground  in  Sicily 
without  a  navy.  For  the  present  they  gave  up  all  claim  to  the 
command  of  the  sea,  and  limited  themselves  to  a  small  fleet  of 
sixty  ships. 

§  14.  Matters  continued  in  this  state  for  two  years.  Neither 
party  seemed  willing  to  hazard  a  battle  by  land  ;  but  in  250  b.c. 
Hasdrubal,   the   Carthaginian    general,   was    induced   to    march 

*  The  grave  Polybius  is  voucher  for  this  fact. 


Chap.  XXIX.  FIRST  PUNIC  WAR  2Y5 

secretly  from  Lilybaeum  to  Panormus,  in  the  hope  of  surprising  and 
recovering  that  important  town.  The  Roman  commandant  was 
the  Proconsul  L.  Caecilius  Metellus.  He  allowed  the  enemy  to 
approach  the  walls,  and  then  suddenly  sallied  forth,  covering  his 
attack  by  a  cloud  of  light  troops,  slingers,  and  javelin-men.  Some 
of  the  elephants  being  wounded,  carried  confusion  into  their  own 
ranks,  and  Metellus,  seizing  the  occasion,  charged  the  enemy  and 
defeated  them  utterly.  Besides  13  Carthaginian  generals,  120 
3lephants  were  taken  and  carried  across  the  sea  on  strong  rafts  to 
adorn  the  triumph  of  the  Proconsul.  The  battle  of  Panormus  was 
the  greatest  battle  that  was  foughf  on  land  in  the  course  of  the  war, 
and  it  was  the  last.  In  memory  of  this  victory  we  find  the  elephant 
as  a  frequent  device  on  the  coins  of  the  great  family  of  the 
Metelli.* 

§  15.  After  the  battle  of  Panormus,  the  hopes  of  the  Romans 
rose  again,  and  the  Senate  gave  orders  to  build  a  third  fleet  of  200 
sail.  But  the  Carthaginians,  weary  of  the  expenses  of  the  war,  and 
suffering  greatly  in  their  commerce,  thought  that  a  fair  opportunity 
for  making  peace  was  now  offered.  The  Romans  had  recovered  in 
some  measure  from  their  late  disasters,  but  not  so  entirely  but  that 
they  miglit  be  glad  to  listen  to  fair  terms.  Accordingly  an 
embassy  was  dispatched  to  offer  an  exchange  of  prisoners  and  to 
propose  terms  on  which  a  peace  might  be  concluded.  Regulus 
(according  to  the  well-known  story)  accompanied  this  embassy, 
under  promise  to  return  to  Carthage  if  the  purposes  of  the  embassy 
should  fail.  When  he  arrived  at  Rome  he  refused  to  enter  the 
walls  and  take  his  place  in  the  Senate,  as  being  no  longer  a  citizen 
or  a  senator.  Then  the  Senate  sent  certain  of  their  own  number 
to  confer  with  him  in  the  presence  of  the  ambassadors,  and  the 
counsel  which  he  gave  confirmed  the  wavering  minds  of  the 
fathers.  "  Useless  it  was,"  he  said,  "  to  ransom  prisoners  who  had 
ignobly  yielded  with  arms  in  their  hands  :  let  them  be  left  to  perish 
unheeded ;  let  war  go  on  till  Carthage  be  subdued."  His  coun- 
sel prevailed,  and  the  embassy  returned  without  effect.  Regulus 
also  returned  to  suffer  the  vengeance  of  the  Carthaginians.  Every 
one  knows  the  horrid  tortures  by  which  it  is  said  that  life 
was  taken  from  him ;  how  his  eyelids  were  cut  off;  how 
he  was  placed  in  a  barrel  stuck  full  of  nails,  with  one  end 
knocked  out ;  and  how  he  was  exposed  to  the  unmitigated  glare 
of  an  African  sun,  to  die  by  the  slow  agonies  of  pain,  and  thirst, 
and  fever. 

§  16.  Regulus  was  a  man  of  the  old  Roman  kind,  like  Curius 
a.nd  Fabricius,  devoted   to  his  country,  eager   for  glory,  frugal, 

*  **<^«  a  coin  of  Metellus  Scipio  figured  at  the  eud  of  this  chapter 


276  ROME  AND  CARTHAGE.  Book  IV. 

bold,  resolute  or  (call  it)  stubborn.  He  has  been  censured  for  ex- 
cessive presuniptuousness  in  his  African  campaign,  and  for  the 
extravagance  by  which  he  lost  all  the  advantages  which  he  might 
have  secured.  But  it  must  be  allowed  that  he  had  some  grounds 
even  for  overweening  confidence.  Ever  since  the  two  nations 
had  met  in  arms,  the  star  of  Carthage  had  grown  dim  before  that 
of  Rome.  Even  on  the  sea,  where  her  navies  had  long  ridden 
triumphant,  the  Queen  of  the  Mediterranean  had  twice  been 
beaten  by  her  unskilled  rival.  There  was  enough  to  make  more 
sagacious  men  than  Regulus  believe  that  Carthage  was  well  nigh 
powerless  against  Rome.  The  Romans  had  yet  to  learn  that 
when  the  jealous  government  of  Carthage  allowed  great  generals 
to  command  their  armies,  such  as  Xanthippus,  and  Hamilcar,  and 
Hannibal,  then  the  well-trained  mercenaries  might  gain  easy 
victories  over  their  own  brave  but  less  practised  citizens.  The 
whole  story  of  the  embassy  and  death  of  Regulus  has  been 
doubted,  chiefly  because  of  the  silence  of  Polybius,  the  most 
authentic  historian  of  the  time ;  and  from  the  certainty  that  at 
least  one  mythical  marvel  has  been  introduced  into  the  narrative.* 
But  if  allowance  be  made  for  some  patriotic  exaggeration,  there 
is  nothing  improbable  in  the  story.  Those  who  crucified  their 
own  unlucky  generals  would  not  be  slow  to  wreak  any  measure 
of  vengeance  on  a  recusant  prisoner.  We  read  also  that  the 
Romans  retaliated  by  torturing  some  Carthaginian  prisoners,!  and 
this  fact  can  hardly  be  an  invention.  At  all  events,  the  personal 
qualities  of  Regulus  rest  too  firmly  on  old  tradition  to  be 
questioned.  While  we  read  the  beautiful  passage  in  which  Cicero 
describes  his  disinterested  patriotism ;];  while  we  repeat  the  noble 
Ode,  in  which  Horace  paints  him  as  putting  aside  all  who  would 
have  persuaded  him  to  stay — people,  friends,  and  family,  going 
forth  to  torture  and  death  with  the  same  serene  indiff'erence  as  if 
he  were  leaving  the  busy  life  of  Rome  for  the  calm  retirement 
of  his  country  house ;  §  —  so  long  will  the  blood  flow  more 
quickly  and  the  heart  beat  higher  at  mention  of  the  name  of 
Regulus. 

With  the  failure  of  this  attempt  at  peace  closes  the  second 
period  of  the  war. 

§  17.  Third  Period  (249-241).— It  has  been  said  that  the 
Senate,  encouraged  by  the  victory  of  Panormus,  resolved  once 
more  to  attempt  the  sea.  In  the  year  249  b.c,  the  third  fleet 
was  ready,  and  its  purpose  soon  became  evident.     The  Consuls 

*  Above,  §  10. 

f  Niebuhr  supposes  that  these  tortures  are  a  fact,  and  that  the  story  of  th* 
tortures  of  Regulus  arose  out  of  them, — a  somewhat  gratuitous  supposition, 
t  De  Officiis,  iii.  27.  §  Carm-  ji'  '^ 


Chap.  XXIX.  FIRST  PUNIC  WAR.  277 

were  ordered  to  invest  Lilybseum,  the  queen  of  Carthaginian  fort- 
resses, both  by  sea  and  land.  If  this  strong  place  fell,  the  Cartha- 
ginians would  have  no  firm  hold  on  Sicily ;  but  it  could  not  be 
taken  unless  it  were  blockaded  by  sea,  for  by  sea  supplies  could  be 
poured  into  it  from  Carthage.  The  blockade  of  Lilybaeum  was  the 
thing  that  made  a  fleet  necessary  at  this  time. 

The  Romans  began  the  siege  with  great  activity  ;  they  con- 
structed enormous  works,  they  endeavoured  to  throw  a  dam  across 
the  harbour,  but  in  vain.  The  skilful  seamen  of  Carthage  con- 
trived to  carry  prpv^ion-ships  into  the  harbour  through  the  midst 
of  the  Roman  fleeft^  Their  own  navy  lay  near  at  hand  in  the  Bay 
of  Drepanum,  reaay  to  take  advantage  of  any  remissness  on  the 
part  of  the  Romans. 

§  18.  Yet  the  invincible  perseverance  of  the  Romans  would 
have  prevailed,  but  for  the  headstrong  folly  of  the  Patrician  Consul 
for  the  year  249  b.c.  This  was  P.  Claudius,  a  younger  son  of 
the  old  Censor,  brother  of  him  who  had  relieved  Messana.  As  he 
lay  before  Lilybaeum,  he  formed  a  plan  for  surprising  the  enemy's 
fleet  at  Drepanum,  and  left  his  station  for  this  purpose.  In  vain 
he  was  Avarned  by  the  Pullarii,  that  the  sacred  chickens  would  not 
feed.  "Then  let  them  drink,"  said  the  irreverent  commander, 
and  threw  them  into  the  sea.  But  the  men  were  much  dispirited 
by  the  omen  and  by  the  contempt  of  the  omen.  And  the  Consul 
had  managed  matters  with  so  little  secresy  and  skill,  that  the 
enemy  were  informed  of  his  intended  attack.  As  the  Romans 
sailed  in  column  into  the  harbour,  the  Carthaginian  fleet  was  seen 
sailing  outward.  But  on  a  sudden  they  tacked  and  bore  down 
upon  the  side  of  the  Roman  column.  Of  Claudius'  two  hundred 
and  twenty  ships,  only  thirty  escaped.  The  reckless  Consul  was 
recalled  to  Rome  by  the  Senate,  and  ordered  to  supersede  him- 
self by  naming  a  Dictator.  With  the  old  insolence  of  his 
family  he  named  the  son  of  one  of  his  own  freedmen,  by  name 
Claudius  Glycias.  But  the  Senate  set  aside  the  nomination,  and 
themselves  appointed  A.  Atilius  Calatinus,  who  was  also  called 
Serranus.*  What  became  of  Claudius  we  know  not.  But  he 
was  dead  three  years  after  ;  for  a  story  is  preserved,  that  at 
that  time  his  sister  insolently  expressed  a  wish  that  he  were 
still  alive,  that  he  might  lose  more  men,  and  make  the  streets 
less  crowded.  She  was  heavily  fined  for  this  speech  ;  and  if 
words  deserve  punishment,  none  ever  more  deserved  it  than 
hers. 

The   loss  of  the  fleet  of  Claudius  was  not  the  only  disaster 

*  "  Yel  te  sulco,  Serrane,  serentem." — Aen.  vi.  844  The  story  told  of 
Cincinnatus  is  here  transferred  to  Calatinus :  see  Chapt.  ix.  §  4. 


278  ROME  AND  CARTHAGE.  book  IV. 

of  the  year.  L.  Junius,  his  Plebeian  colleague,  was  less  guilty, 
but  even  more  unfortunate.  He  was  convoying  a  large  fleet 
of  ships,  freighted  with  supplies  for  the  forces  at  Lilybaeum, 
when,  near  Caniarina,  he  was  overtaken  by  a  tremendous 
hurricane,  and  both  the  convoy  and  the  convoying  squadron 
perished.  The  destruction  was  so  complete,  that  every  single 
ship  was  broken  up,  and  not  a  plank  (says  Polybius)  was  fit 
to  be  used  again. 

Thus,  by  the  folly  of  one  Consul  and  the  misfortune  of  the  other, 
did  the  Romans  lose  their  entire  fleet  for  the  third  time.  It 
seemed  to  them  as  if  the  god  of  the  sea  was  jealous  of  these  new 
pretenders  to  his  favour. 

§  19.  These  disasters  left  the  Carthaginians  once  more  masters 
of  the  Sea.  And  at  the  same  time  a  really  great  man  was 
appointed  to  a  command  in  Sicily.  This  was  Hamilcar,  the 
father  of  Hannibal,  of  whom  we  shall  have  a  better  opportunity  to 
speak  hereafter.  He  does  not  seem  to  have  had  many  ships  or 
troops  at  his  command;  but  the  skill  with  which  he  used  his 
means  abundantly  shows  what  might  have  been  done  if  the 
government  had  trusted  him  more  completely.  He  made  continual 
descents  on  the  coasts  of  Italy,  plundering  and  alarming.  Before 
long  he  landed  suddenly  near  Panormus,  and  in  the  face  of  the 
Roman  commandant  seized  a  hill  called  Hercte,  which  overhung 
the  town  (the  same  with  the  modern  Monte  Pellegrino). 
Here  he  fortified  himself;  and  hence  he  carried  on  a  con- 
tinual predator)^  warfare  against  the  Romans  for  the  space  of  three 
years.  After  this,  by  an  equally  sudden  movement,  he  made  a 
descent  on  Eryx,  which  had  been  taken  by  the  Romans  not  long 
before,  and  surprised  it.  To  this  place  he  now  shifted  his  quarters, 
and  continued  the  same  harassing  attacks  for  the  remaining  years 
of  the  war. 

Except  for  this,  matters  were  at  a  stand-still.  Neither  party 
made  any  advance.  The  whole  strength  of  the  Romans  was  con- 
centrated in  the  lines  of  Lilybaeum ;  but  they  had  no  fleet  now, 
and  therefore  the  place  was  fully  supplied  from  the  sea.  On  the 
other  hand,  Hamilcar.  acted  like  a  perpetual  blister,  and  kept 
the  enemy  always  in  alarm  ;  but  either  his  forces  were  too 
small,  or  the  Romans  were  too  watchful  to  allow  him  to 
make  any  great  impression.  Slight  actions  constantly  took 
place ;  and  an  anecdote  is  told  by  Diodorus,  which  sets  the 
character  of  Hamilcar  in  a  pleasing  light.  In  a  skirmish  with  the 
Roman  Consul,  C.  Fundanius,  he  had  sufi^ered  some  loss,  and 
sent  (according  to  custom)  to  demand  a  truce,  that  he  might 
bury  his  dead.  But  the  Consul  insolently  replied  that  he  ought 
to   concern   himself   about    the    living    rather   than    the    dead, 


Chap.  XXIX.  FIRST  PUNIC  WAR.  2Y9 

and  save  further  bloodshed  by  surrendering  at  once.  Soon  after  it 
was  Hamilcar's  turn  to  defeat  the  Romans,  and  when  their  com- 
mander sent  for  leave  to  bury  their  dead,  the  Carthaginian  General 
at  once  granted  it,  saying  that  he  "  warred  not  with  the  dead,  but 
with  the  living."* 

§  20.  These  interminable  hostilities  convinced  the  Senate  that 
they  must  once  more  build  a  fleet,  or  give  up  all  hopes  of  driving 
the  Carthaginians  out  of  Sicily.  Lilybseum  would  foil  all  their 
eff"orts,  as  it  had  done  those  of  Pyrrhus.  The  siege  had  now 
lasted  eight  years,  from  250  to  241,  and  it  appeared  no  nearer  its 
conclusion  than  at  first.  All  sacrifices  must  be  made.  A  fleet 
must  be  built.  And  it  was  built.  At  the  beginning  of  the  year 
241  B.C.,  the  Patrician  Consul,  Q.  Lutatius  Catulus,  put  to  sea  with 
more  than  two  hundred  sail.f 

This  was  the  fourth  navy  which  the  Romans  had  created. 
Three  times  had  they'  lost  the  whole  by  storms  or  by  mismanage^ 
ment.  It  is  impossible  not  to  admire  this  iron  determination ;  im- 
possible  not  to  feel  satisfaction  at  seeing  it  rewarded. 

§  21.  The  Consul,  with  his  new  fleet,  sailed  very  early  in  the 
year.  He  immediately  blockaded  Drepanum  by  sea  and  land,  hop- 
ing to  take  it  at  once,  and  so  deprive  the  Carthaginians  of  the  harbour 
in  which  their  fleet  commonly  lay  to  watch  the  Romans  at  Lily- 
baeum.  He  also  took  great  pains  to  train  his  seamen  in  naval 
tactics.  In  an  action  which  took  place  at  Drepanum  he  was 
severely  wounded. 

On  the  other  hand,  the  Carthaginians  had  of  late  neglected 
their  navy;  and  it  was  not  till  early  in  the  following  year  (241) 
that  a  fleet  was  dispatched  to  the  relief  of  Drepanum.  It  was 
heavily  freighted  with  provisions  and  stores.  Hanno,  its  com- 
mander, touched  at  Hiera,  a  small  island,  about  twenty  or  twenty- 
five  miles  from  the  port  of  Drepanum.  Of  this  (it  appears)  Catu- 
lus was  informed.  He  was  still  suff'ering  from  his  wound,  but  he 
at  once  embarked  and  put  to  sea,  hoping  to  intercept  the  enemy 
before  they  unloaded  their  ships.  On  the  evening  of  the  9th  of 
March  he  lay  to  at  ^Egusa,  another  small  island,  not  above  ten 
miles  distant  from  Hiera.  Next  morning  the  Carthaginians  put  to 
sea  and  endeavoured  to  run  into  Drepanum.  But  they  were  in- 
tercepted by  the  Roman  fleet,  and  obliged  to  give  battle.  They 
fought  under  great  disadvantages,  and  the  Romans  gained  an  easy 
victory.  Fifty  of  the  enemy's  ships  were  sunk,  seventy  taken ;  the 
rest  escaped  to  Hiera. 

§  22.  This  battle,  called  the  battle  of  the  ^gatian  islands  (for 
this  was  the  general  name  of  the  group),  decided  the  war.     It  was 

*  "  Nullum  cum  victis  certamen  et  sethere  cassia." — Virg,,  Aen.  xl  105. 
f  Polybius  says  200  ;  Justin  and  others  say  300. 


280  ROME  AND  CARTHAGE.  Book  IV. 

plain  that  Lilybseum  must  now  surrender ;  and  that  though  Harail- 
car  might  yet  stand  at  bay,  he  could  not  recover  Sicily  for  the 
present.  The  merchants  of  Carthage  were  eager  for  the  conclu- 
sion  of  the  war ;  and  the  government  sent  orders  to  Hamilcar  to 
make  a  peace  on  the  best  terms  he  could  obtain.  Catulus  at  first 
required,  as  a  preliminary  to  all  negociations,  that  Hamilcar  should 
lay  down  his  arms,  and  give  up  all  Roman  deserters  in  his  service. 
But  when  the  Carthaginian  disdainfully  refused  this  condition,  the 
Consul  prudently  waived  it,  and  a  treaty  was  finally  agreed  on  by 
the  two  commanders  to  the  following  eff'ect : — that  the  Carthagi- 
nians should  evacuate  Sicily ;  should  give  up  all  Roman  prisoners 
without  ransom ;  and  should  pay  2,200  talents,  in  twenty  years, 
towards  the  expenses  of  the  war.  This  treaty^  however,  was  sub- 
ject to  the  approval  of  the  Roman  people,  and  the  tribes  refused 
to  ratify  it  without  inquiry.  Accordingly  the  Senate  sent  over 
ten  envoys,  who  confirmed  the  treaty  of  Catulus,  except  that 
they  raised  the  sum  to  3,200  talents,  and  required  this  larger 
sum  to  be  paid  in  ten  years,  instead  of  twenty.  They  also  in- 
sisted on  the  cession  of  all  the  small  islands  between  Italy  and 
Sicily. 

The  treaty  was  immediately  executed.  Lilybaeum,  Dre- 
panum,  Eryx,  and  the  other  places  still  held  by  the  Carthagi- 
nians, were  surrendered,  and  Hamilcar  embarked  his  troops  for 
Carthage. 

§  23.  Thus  ended  the  first  Punic  War.  The  issue  of  this  long 
struggle  was  altogether  in  favour  of  Rome.  She  had  performed 
few  brilliant  exploits ;  she  had  sent  few  eminent  men  to  conduct 
the  war ;  but  she  had  done  great  things  on  the  whole.  She  had 
beaten  the  Mistress  of  the  Sea  upon  her  own  element.  She  had 
gained  possession  of  a  large  and  fertile  island ;  an  island  nearly 
twice  as  large  as  Yorkshire,  and  fertile  beyond  the  example  of 
other  lands.*  Her  losses  indeed  had  been  enormous ;  for  she  had 
lost  seven  hundred  ships,  a  vast  number  of  men,  and  large  sums 
of  money.  But  Carthage  had  suffered  still  more.  For  though 
she  had  lost  not  more  than  five  hundred  ships,  yet  the  interruption 
to  her  trade,  and  the  loss  of  her  great  commercial  emporiums  of 
Lilybaeum  and  Drepanum,  not  only  crippled  the  resources  of  the 
State,  but  largely  diminished  the  fortunes  of  every  individual  citi- 
zen. The  Romans  and  Italians,  who  fought  in  this  war,  were  mostly 
agricultural ;  and  the  losses  of  such  a  people  are  small,  and  soon 
repaired,  while  those  suffered  by  a  great  commercial  state  are  often 
irreparable. 

*  Sicily  became  the  first  province.  But  as  it  was  lost  again  a  few  years 
after,  and  all  the  known  rules  of  government  date  from  the  second  conquest, 
all  notice  of  the  provincial  system  of  Rome  shall  be  deferred.  See  Chapt.  xxxvi. 


Chap.  XXIX.  FIEST  PUNIC  WAR.  281 

This  war  was  only  the  prelude  to  a  more  fierce  and  deadly 
contest.  Carthage  had  withdrawn  discomfited  fi'om  Sicily,  and 
her  empty  treasury  and  ruined  trade  forbade  her  to  continue  the 
conflict  at  that  time.  But  it  was  not  yet  decided  whether  Rome 
or  Carthage  was  to  rule  the  coasts  of  the  Mediterranean.  The 
great  Hamilcar  left  Eryx  without  despair.  He  foresaw  that  by 
patience  and  prudence  he  might  shake  off"  the  control  of  his 
jealous  Government,  and  train  up  an  army  in  his  own  interest, 
with  which  he  might  deiy  the  Roman  legions.*  Unfortunate 
circumstances  prevented  him  from  the  execution  of  this  project 
for  the  next  four  years.  After  that  (as  we  shall  see)  he  began  that 
policy  which  was  so  successfully  carried  out  by  his  celebrated 
son. 

*  See  Polyb.,  i.  60. 


Coin  of  Metellus  Sdpio,  referring  to  Battle  of  Panormua. 


Temple  of  Janus  closed,  on  a  Coin  of  Nero. 


CHAPTER    XXX. 


EVENTS    BETWEEN    THE    FIRST    AND    SECOND    PUNIC    WARS. 


§  1.  Origin  and  progress  of  the  Mercenary  "War  at  Carthage :  Spendius 
and  Matho.  §  2.  Hamilcar  commissioned  to  check  it :  thwarted  by  Hanno. 
§  3.  Hamilcar  made  sole  commander:  he  compels  Spendius  to  surrender. 
§  4.  Obstinate  resistance  of  Matho :  he  murders  Gisgo  and  other  prisoners : 
end  of  War.  §  5.  Ungenerous  conduct  of  Rome.  §  6.  Hamilcar  goes  to 
Spain-  §  7.  Affairs  of  Rome :  Temple  of  Janus  closed.  §  8.  Illyrian 
War  :  Piratical  tribes  of  Illyrian  coast :  Queen  Teuta  murders  a  Roman 
Envoy.  §  9.  Demetrius  of  Pharos,  Teuta's  governor  of  Corcyra,  treacher- 
ously joins  Rome:  Teuta  obliged  to  consent  to  hard  terras.  §  10.  Honour 
paid  to  Romans  in  Greece.  §  11.  Gallic  War:  Gauls  provoked  to  war 
by  proposal  of  Flaminius  to  plant  settlements  in  Picenum  and  Umbria. 
§  12.  Enormous  forces  at  disposal  of  Rome:  plan  of  campaign.  §  13. 
Great  defeat  of  Gauls  at  Telamon  in  Etruria.  §  14.  Invasion  of  Transpa- 
dane  Gaul.  §  15.  Marcellus  wins  spolia  opima.  §  16.  Colonies  planted  at 
Placentia  and  Cremona.  §  1*7.  Revolt  of  Demetrius  of  Pharos,  easily  sub- 
dued by  ^milius  Paulus.  §  18.  Hamilcar's  operations  in  Spain:  Hanni- 
bal's oath. 

§  1.  The  first  Punic  War  lasted  three-and-twenty-years ;  and  the 
interval  between  the  end  of  this  war  and  the  beginning  of  the  next 
was  of  nearly  the  same  duration.  In  the  course  of  this  period 
'(from  240  to  218  b.c.)  both  Rome  and  Carthage,  notwithstanding 
their  exhausted  condition,  were  involved  in  perilous  wars.  In  the 
next  three  years  Carthage  was  brought  to  the  very  brink  of  de- 
struction by  a  general  mutiny  of  her  mercenary  troops.  This  Mer- 
cenary War  arose  in  the  following  manner. 

As  soon  as  peace  was  concluded,  it  was  necessary  for  Carthage 


Chap.  XTX.  THE  MERCENARY  WAR.  283 

to  withdraw  all  her  troops  from  Sicily,  and  pay  them  their 
arrears.  The  general  who  was  entrusted  with  the  charge  of 
shipping  off  these  troops,  Gisgo,  executed  his  trust  with  judg- 
ment and  dexterity.  He  foresaw  the  danger  that  might  arise,  if 
the  whole  army,  consisting  of  adventurers  without  country  or 
law,  were  landed  all  at  once  on  the  shores  of  Africa.  They  might 
make  war  on  their  own  account,  like  the  Campanians  of  Rhe- 
gium,  or  the  Mamertines  of  Messana.  Gisgo  therefore  sent 
home  the  troops  in  small  detachments,  so  that  each  might  be 
paid  off  and  disbanded  before  the  next  arrival.  But  he  was  ill 
seconded  by  the  Government  at  home.  The  treasury  was  ex- 
hausted. No  doubt  money  was  to  be  raised  on  loans  at  high 
interest ;  and  perhaps  the  Council  imagined  that,  by  delaying 
payment,  they  might  induce  the  soldiers  to  be  content  with  a 
smaller  sum  than  was  their  due.  They  therefore  allowed  the 
whole  army  to  collect  at  Sicca,  in  the  neighbourhood  of  the 
capital,  before  any  measures  were  taken  for  payment  of  their 
arrears.  The  consequence  was  the  reverse  of  what  was  expected. 
The  reckless  adventurers  who  commanded  these  mercenaries 
saw  the  weakness  of  the  Government,  and  coveted  the  wealth 
and  luxury  of  the  great  city,  which  seemed  now  within  their 
grasp.  They  at  once  declared  that  they  must  have  their  full 
arrears  of  pay ;  and  presently  added  that  now  they  would  not  be 
content  even  with  this.  To  enforce  these  demands  they  en- 
camped at  Tunis,  almost  within  sight  of  Carthage.  The  Govern- 
ment became  frightened,  and  offered  to  concede  all  demands. 
But  with  the  fears  of  the  Government  rose  the  demands  of  the 
soldiers;  it  soon  became  clear  that  the  whole  army  was  in  open 
revolt,  and  their  leaders  bent  on  nothing  less  than  conquering 
their  masters.  Their  Carthaginian  officers  and  commanders 
were  discarded :  two  desperate  and  abandoned  men  gained 
supreme  power  over  the  whole  army.  These  were  Spendius,  a 
runaway  Campanian  slave,  who  feared  to  be  given  up  to  the 
Romans;  and  Matho,  a  Libyan,  who  had  been  too  forward  in 
urging  the  demands  of  the  army  to  hope  for  forgiveness  from 
the  Carthaginian  Government.  Led  on  by  these  desperadoes, 
the  soldiers  gave  a  full  loose  to  their  ferocity ;  they  seized  Gisgo, 
who  had  been  sent  to  treat  with  them,  as  a  hostage ;  plundered 
the  country  round  about ;  raised  the  subject  Africans  in  rebellion; 
besieged  the  fortified  towns  of  Utica  and  Hippo ;  and  cut  off  all 
communication  by  land  with  the  promontory  on  which  Carthage 
stands. 

§  2.  In  this  desperate  crisis,  the  Government  turned  their 
eyes  on  Hamilcar,  and  charged  him  with  the  office  of  saving  his 
country.      He  promptly  obeyed.      The  civic  force  of  Carthage 


284  ROME  AND  CARTHAGE.  Book  IT. 

itself  must  have  formed  his  chief  force.  By  skilful  persuasion 
he  induced  the  Numidian  cavalry  to  desert  and  join  his  standard. 
Thus  strengthened,  he  gave  battle  to  the  mutineers  twice,  and 
twice  defeated  them.  He  showed  his  policy  by  sparing  all 
prisoners,  and  offering  free  pardon  to  all  that  would  at  once  sub- 
mit. Everything  promised  a  speedy  termination  of  this  mutiny, 
when  the  Government  again  spoiled  all.  Hanno,  who  headed  the 
most  influential  party  in  the  Council,  was  jealous  of  Hamilcar,  and 
procured  his  own  appointment  to  a  share  in  the  command.  The 
two  generals  were  now  continually  at  variance ;  all  the  plans  of 
Hamilcar  were  thwarted  ;  and  the  rebels  again  resumed  the  upper 
hand ;  so  much  so  indeed,  that  at  the  end  of  the  second  year  they 
got  possession  of  Utica  and  Hippo,  and  proceeded  to  besiege  Car- 
thage herself. 

§  3.  Immediate  danger  once  more  made  the  Government  wise, 
and  Hamilcar  was  again  appointed  to  the  sole  command.  He 
was  enabled  to  take  the  field  with  a  better  appointed  force  than 
before;  for  Hiero  of  Syracuse,  and  the  Senate  of  Rome,  both 
sent  supplies  to  the  exhausted  Carthaginians,  and  interdicted  all 
communication  with  the  insurgents.  Hamilcar  soon  succeeded 
in  raising  the  siege  of  Carthage,  and  forced  the  rebel  army  to 
separate  into  two  bodies,  respectively  commanded  by  Spendius 
and  Matho.  He  first  pursued  Spendius,  and  reduced  him  to  such 
extremities,  that  he  surrendered  at  discretion,  with  Autaritus,  the 
leader  of  the  Gallic  Mercenaries :  he  then  turned  his  arms  against 
Matho,  and  compelled  this  rebel  chief  to  shut  himself  up  in 
Tunis. 

§  4.  The  spirit  of  the  insurgents  was  now  quite  broken,  and 
they  would  fain  have  given  in.  But  Matho  and  his  ofiicers  were 
fighting  with  halters  round  their  necks,  and  whenever  any  one 
attempted  to  persuade  peaceful  measures,  a  knot  of  the  more 
violent  cried  him  down ;  and  thus,  as  usually  happens  in  popular 
commotions,  the  real  wishes  of  the  greater  part  were  drowned  in 
the  loud  vociferations  of  a  few  bold  and  resolute  desperadoes. 
What  made  the  task  of  these  men  easier,  was  that  the  army  was 
composed  of  a  great  many  dift'erent  nations;  and  the  soldiers 
not  being  able  to  understand  one  another,  could  not  so  readily 
combine  against  their  leaders.  Almost  the  only  word  which 
was  understood  by  all,  was  the  terrible  cry  of  "  Stone  him,  stone 
him  !"*  which  was  raised  by  the  leading  insurgents,  whenever 
any  one  rose  to  advocate  peace,  and  was  re-echoed  by  the 
mass  in  ignorance  or  fear.  But  Matho  still  feared  the  influence 
of  Hamilcar  over  the  troops,  and  he  resolved  to  commit  acts 
which  would  compromise  himself  and  his  followers  still  more 
*  j3aAe  /3aXe.— Polyb.,  i.  69  and  80. 


OriAP.  XXX.  THE  MERCENARY  WAR.  285 

irrevocably.  He  took  Gisgo,  who  had  hitherto  been  kept  as  a 
hostage,  with  seven  hundred  other  prisoners,  cut  off  their  hands 
and  ears,  broke  their  legs,  threw  them,  yet  living,  into  a  pit, 
and  declared  that  he  would  treat  all  other  prisoners  in  the  same 
barbarous  fashion.  Hamilcar,  who  had  hitherto  used  all  gentle- 
ness, was  by  this  brutal  conduct  driven  to  retaliation  :  he  crucified 
Spendius,  and  threw  his  other  prisoners  to  wild  beasts. 

But  this  frightful  state  of  things  did  not  last  much  longer. 
The  insurgents  in  Tunis  were  now  reduced  to  the  last  extremi- 
ties of  famine,  and  at  length  Matho  was  obliged  to  lead  out  his 
men  to  battle.  He  was  utterly  defeated,  taken  prisoner  and  put 
to  death. 

The  death  of  Matho  terminated  this  terrible  war,  which  had 
lasted  more  than  three  years  and  four  months,  and  at  one  time 
threatened  the  very  existence  of  Carthage.  It  was  known  by 
the  name  of  the  War  Without  Truce,  or  the  Inexpiable  War.* 

§  5.  The  forbearance  shown  by  the  Romans  to  Carthage 
during  this  fearful  war  makes  their  conduct  at  its  close  very 
surprising.  For  now  they  were  guilty  of  an  act  which  was 
not  only  unjust,  but  dishonourable.  The  mercenary  troops 
in  Sardinia  had  mutinied  after  the  example  of  their  brethren, 
had  slain  Bostar,  their  Carthaginian  commandant,  and  had  taken 
possession  of  the  island.  After  the  close  of  the  war  in  Africa 
these  insurgents,  fearing  that  their  turn  was  come,  put  them- 
selves under  Roman  protection ;  and  their  prayer  for  aid,  like 
that  of  the  Mamertines,  was  granted.  The  Senate  had  the 
effrontery  not  only  to  demand  the  cession  of  Sardinia  and  Cor- 
sica, but  also  the  payment  of  a  further  sum  of  1,200  talents. 
The  Carthaginians  were  too  weak  to  refuse ;  not  even  Hamilcar 
could  have  counselled  them  to  do  so.  But  this  ungenerous 
conduct  sank  deep  into  many  hearts,  and  strengthened  Hamil- 
car's  grim  resolve,  to  take  full  vengeance  on  the  grasping  Italian 
Republic. 

§  6.  In  order  to  execute  this  resolve,  it  was  necessary  for  him 
to  obtain  an  independent  authority,  so  as  to  form  armies  and 
carry  on  campaigns,  without  being  fettered  by  the  orders  of  the 
narrow-minded  government.  And  now  seemed  the  time  to 
obtain  this  authority.  Hanno  and  the  leading  members  of  the 
council  had  long  been  jealous  of  the  family  of  Barca,t  of  which 
Hamilcar  was  the  chief.  Hamilcar's  fame  and  popularity  was 
now  so  high,  that  it  was  possible  he  might  form  a  party  and 
overthrow  the  usurped  power  of  the  council.     It  was  therefore 

*  TToXe/j-og  uaTTOvSnc. — Polyb.  i.  65. 

f  Barca,  or  Barka,  is  the  same  word  as  the  Hebrew  Barak,  which  meani 
lightning. 


286  ROME  AND  CARTHAGE.  Book  IV, 

with  pleasure  that  they  received  his  proposal  to  go  to  Spain  and 
reduce  that  country  under  the  Carthaginian  power.  Carthage 
already  had  settlements  in  the  south  of  Spain,  and  the  old  trad- 
ing city  of  Gades  was  in  alliance  with  her.  But  the  rest  of  the 
country  was  peopled  by  wild  and  savage  tribes,  who  could  not 
be  conquered  in  a  day.  No  doubt  the  government  of  Carthage 
saw  the  departure  of  Hamilcar  for  Spain  with  as  much  inward 
satisfaction  as  the  French  Directory  in  179Y  witnessed  the 
departure  of  Napoleon  for  Egypt.  If  he  succeeded,  he  would  at 
least  be  far  distant,  and  long  absent;  if  he  failed,  they  would 
be  rid  of  one  whom  they  feared  and  hated.  Before  we  trace  the 
consequences  of  this  extension  of  Carthaginian  power  in  Spain, 
the  affairs  of  Rome  and  Italy  claim  our  attention. 

§  7.  During  the  Mercenary  War  in  Africa,  the  Romans  had 
remained  at  peace,  except  to  quell  an  insignificant  revolt  of  the 
Faliscans,  which  was  put  down  in  less  than  a  week.  The  northern 
frontier  of  Roman  Italy  was  slightly  troubled  by  incursions  on 
the  part  of  Gauls  and  Ligurians ;  and  in  more  than  one  year  a 
triumph  is  recorded  over  Sardinians  and  Corsicans,  the  new 
provinces  so  iniquitously  wrung  from  Carthage.  But  so  pro- 
found was  the  general  tranquillity  in  the  year  235  b.c,  that  the 
temple  of  Jarius  was  closed  by  the  Consul  Manlius  Torquatus, 
for  the  first  time  (say  the  annals)  since  the  time  of  Numa. 
The  people  of  Italy  seem  to  have  been  little  disturbed  during 
the  late  war.  Several  Colonies  had  been  founded  in  its  course, 
of  which  one  was  Brundusium.  In  the  last  year  of  the  war,  the 
lower  Sabine  country  was  formed  into  two  Tribes,  the  Veline  and 
the  Quirine.  Thus  the  number  of  thirty-five  was  completed, 
and  no  addition  was  hereafter  made  to  the  Roman  territory. 

§  8.  This  tranquillity  was  of  no  long  duration.  The  success 
of  their  arms  in  Sicily,  and  their  newly  acquired  maritime 
power,  encouraged  the  Romans  to  cross  the  Adriatic  not  so  much 
for  the  purpose  of  advancing  their  own  dominion  as  to  render 
a  service  to  all  who  frequented  these  seas  for  the  purposes  of 
traflSc. 

The  far  side  of  the  Adriatic  consists  of  a  narrow  ledge  of 
coast-land  flanked  by  parallel  mountain-chains.  Many  islands 
appear  off  the  shore,  and  several  large  creeks  or  bays  afford 
safe  anchorage  for  ships.  These  natural  advantages  made  the 
Illyrians  of  the  coast  skilful  seamen.     Their  light  barks  (lembi)* 

*  The  lUyrian  seamen  long  continued  the  use  of  these  light  vessels.  The 
Liburnian  galleys  used  by  Augustus  at  Actium  were  from  these  coaeta. 
Therefore  Horace  (Epod.  i.  1)  says  to  Maecenas, 

"  Ibis  Liburnis  inter  alta  navium, 
Amice,  propugnacula," 


Chap.  XXX.  ILLYRIAN  PIRATES.  28Y 

issued  from  behind  the  islands  or  out  of  the  creeks,  and  practised 
piracy  on  their  neighbours.  The  lower  part  of  this  Illyrian 
district  had  been  reduced  by  Philip  of  Macedon,  but  on  the 
confusion  which  followed  the  death  of  Alexander,  the  people 
had  become  independent.  The  main  stronghold  of  this  lower 
Illyria  seems  to  have  been  Scodra  (Scutari),  and  a  chief  named 
Agron  had  established  a  supremacy  for  his  tribe  over  all  his 
neighbours  as  far  as  the  Ceraunian  mountains.  He  died  in  231 
B.C.,  and  his  wife  Teuta,  a  woman  of  bold  and  masculine  spirit, 
became  chief  of  this  piratical  race  during  the  infancy  of  Agron's 
son  Pinnes.  She  pursued  her  husband's  designs,  and  in  230  b.c. 
had  made  herself  supreme  over  all  the  islands  except  Issa,  which 
she  blockaded  in  person  in  that  year. 

The  Senate  had  not  hitherto  found  leisure  to  attend  to  the 
many  complaints  which  reached  them  of  the  assaults  committed 
by  these  pirates.  But  in  the  year  just  named,  they  resolved  to 
take  measures  for  checking  their  marauding  expeditions,  and 
sent  C.  and  L.  Coruncanius  as  Envoys  to  remonstrate  with  Teuta. 
They  found  her,  it  seems,  at  Issa.  But  Teuta  was  little  disposed 
to  listen  to  them.  "  It  was  not,"  she  said,  "  customary  for  the 
Chiefs  of  Illyria  to  prevent  their  subjects  from  making  use  of  the 
sea."  The  younger  Coruncanius,  indignant  at  this  avowal  of 
national  piracy,  replied  that  "if  such  were  the  institutions  of 
the  Illyrians,  the  Romans  would  lose  no  time  in  helping  her  to 
mend  them."  Exasperated  by  the  sarcasm,  Teuta  ordered  the 
Envoys  to  be  pursued  and  the  younger  one  to  be  put  to  death. 
Upon  receiving  news  of  this  violent  act,  the  Romans  at  once 
declared  war  against  the  Illyrians. 

§  9.  After  the  surrender  of  Issa,  the  Illyrian  Queen  had  pur- 
sued her  success  by  the  capture  not  only  of  Dyrrhachium,  but 
also  of  Corcyra ;  and  Demetrius,  a  clever  and  unscrupulous  Greek 
of  Pharos  (a  place  on  the  coast  of  Upper  Illyria),  who  had  been 
the  chief  counsellor  of  Teuta  in  her  late  enterprises,  was  made 
Governor  of  this  famous  island. 

Upon  this,  the  Epirotes  sent  Ambassadors  to  crave  protection 
from  Rome ;  and  the  Senate,  already  preparing  for  war,  gladly 
took  advantage  of  this  opening.  Early  in  the  next  spring  both 
Consuls  appeared  at  Corcyra  with  a  powerful  fleet  and  army. 
Demetrius  quickly  discerned  to  which  side  fortune  would  incline, 
and  without  hesitation  took  his  course.  He  surrendered  Corcyra 
to  the  Romans  without  a  blow.  This  treachery  seems  to  have 
paralysed  Teuta's  spirit ;  and  the  information  given  by  Demetrius 
enabled  the  Roman  commanders  to  overpower  her  forces  with 
little  trouble.  Teuta  was  obliged  to  surrender  the  greater  part 
of  her   dominions   to  the   traitor  Demetrius,  who  now  became 


288  ROME  AND  CARTHAGE.  Book  IT 

Chief  of  Corcyra  and  southern  Illyria,  under  the  protection  of 
Rome.  The  Illyrians  were  not  to  appear  south  of  Lissus  with 
more  than  two  barks  at  a  time. 

§  10.  The  suppression  of  Illyrian  piracy  was  even  more  advan- 
tageous to  the  commerce  of  Greece  than  that  of  Rome.  The 
leading  men  of  the  Senate  began,  even  at  this  time,  to  show  a 
strong  disposition  to  win  the  good  opinion  of  the  Greeks,  who, 
degenerate  as  they  were,  were  still  held  to  be  the  centre  of  civili- 
sation and  the  dispensers  of  fame.  Postumius  the  Consul, 
therefore,  sent  envoys  to  various  Greek  states  to  explain  the 
appearance  of  a  Roman  force  in  those  quarters.  They  were 
received  with  high  distinction.  The  Athenians  and  Corinthians, 
especially,  paid  honour  to  Rome ;  and  the  latter  people  recog- 
nised her  Greek  descent  by  voting  that  her  citizens  should  be 
admitted  to  the  Isthmian  games  (228  b.c). 

§  11.  This  short  but  decisive  war  was  scarcely  ended,  when 
Rome  saw  a  conflict  impending,  which  filled  them  with  more 
alarm  than  was  warranted  by  the  event. 

It  will  be  remembered  that  just  before  the  war  with  Pyrrhus, 
the  Senonian  Gauls  had  been  extirpated,  and  the  Boians  defeated 
with  great  slaughter  in  two  battles  near  the  lake  Vadimo  in 
Etruria  (283  b.c.)*  From  that  time,  some  sixty  years  before, 
the  Gauls  had  remained  quiet  within  their  own  boundaries. 
But  in  292  e.g.,  the  Tribune  C.  Flaminius,  a  man  who  will 
hereafter  claim  more  special  notice,  proposed  to  distribute  all 
the  public  lands  held  by  Rome  on  the  Picenian  and  Umbrian 
coasts  to  a  number  of  poor  citizens ;  a  law  which  was  put 
into  effect  four  years  afterwards.  When  the  Colonies  of  Sena 
Gallica  and  Ariminum  had  been  planted  on  that  same  coast,  the 
Boians  were  too  much  weakened  by  their  late  defeats  to  offer 
any  opposition.  But  in  two  generations  their  strength  was  re- 
cruited, and  they  were  encouraged  to  rise  against  Rome  by  the 
promised  support  of  the  Insubrians,  a  powerful  tribe  who  occupied 
the  Transpadane  district  about  Milan.  The  arrival  of  large  bodies 
of  Gauls  from  beyond  the  Alps  f  completed  their  determination, 
and  increased  the  terror  which  the  recollections  of  the  Alia  still 
wrought  upon  the  Roman  mind. 

*  See  Chapt.  xxv.  §§  13  and  14. 

f  They  were  called  Gaesatae,  which  Polybius  (ii.  22,  1)  explains  as  mei'ce- 
naries.  But  it  is  hardly  possible  to  avoid  connecting  the  name  with  gaesa, 
the  Gallic  javehns  mentioned  by  Yirgil  and  others : 


-"  duo  quisque  Alpina  coruscant 


Gaesa  manu." — Aen.  viii.  661. 
They  are  represented  as  very  lightly  clad,  wearing  tartan  plaids  (sagula 
virgata)  and  trews  (braccae).  Hence  Transalpine  Gaul  was  called  Gallia 
Braccaia,  while  the  Romanised  Cisalpine  province  was  Gallia  Togata. 


OiiAi*.  XXX.  GREAT  GALLIC  WAR.  289 

§  12.  Reports  exaggerated  these  movements,  and  the  Romans 
made  larger  preparation  for  this  Gallic  war  than  they  had  made 
against  Pyrrhus  or  the  Carthaginians.  It  is  said  that  in  the 
year  225  b.c.  the  men  returned  fit  for  active  service  in  the 
Roman  Tribes  and  among  the  various  Italian  Allies  amounted  to 
nearly  800,000  ;  but  the  forces  called  out  for  service  were  only  a 
small  portion  of  this  vast  national  militia.  A  consular  army 
amounting  to  about  25,000  foot  and  1500  horse  was  sent  under 
^milius  to  Arminium,  while  a  Praetor  with  an  army  of  similar 
amount  pushed  forward  to  Faesulse  on  the  Arno.  The  other 
Consul,  Atilius,  who  had  been  despatched  early  in  the  year  to 
Sardinia,  was  ordered  to  join  the  Praetor  in  Northern  Etruria 
without  delay.  A  reserve  force  of  large  amount  was  ready  near 
Rome. 

These  active  preparations  were  seconded  by  superstitious  rites. 
The  Sybilline  books  were  consulted,  and  in  them  it  was  found 
written  that  the  soil  of  Rome  must  be  twice  occupied  by  a 
foreign  foe.  To  fulfil  this  prediction,  the  Government  ordered 
a  Gaulish  man  and  woman,  together  with  a  Greek  woman,  to 
be  buried  alive  in  the  Forum.  By  this  barbarous  folly  it  waf 
hoped  the  alarm  of  the  people  might  be  calmed,  and  the  omen 
averted. 

§  13.  The  campaign  opened  in  Northern  Etruria.  The  Gauls 
crossed  the  Apennines  into  the  vale  of  the  Arno  and  fell 
suddenly  upon  the  Praetor  stationed  at  Faesulae.  Him  they 
overpowered,  and  defeated  with  great  slaughter.  The  Consul 
^milius  now,  with  great  promptitude,  crossed  the  Umbrian 
hills  into  Etruria ;  and  on  his  approach  the  Gauls  retired  north- 
wards along  the  coast,  wishing  to  secure  their  booty ;  while 
^milius  hung  upon  their  rear,  without  venturing  to  engage  in 
a  general  action.  But  when  the  Gauls  came  near  Pisa,  they 
found  that  the  Consul  Atilius  had  landed  there  from  Sardinia; 
and  thus  hemmed  in  by  two  consular  armies,  they  were  obliged 
to  give  battle  at  a  place  called  Telamon.  The  conflict  was 
desperate  ;  but  the  Romans  were  better  armed  and  better  disci- 
plined than  of  old,  while  th6  Gauls  had  remained  stationary. 
Their  large  heavy  broad-swords,  forged  of  ill-tempered  iron,  bent 
at  the  first  blow,  and  while  they  stooped  to  straighten  them 
with  the  foot,  they  were  fully  exposed  to  the  thrust  of  the  short 
Roman  sword.  The  victory  of  Telamon  was  as  signal  as  that  of 
Sentinum  or  that  of  the  Lake  Vadimo.  ^milius  pursued  the 
flying  host  across  the  mountains,  and  brought  hbme  a  large  booty 
from  the  Boian  lands  to  grace  the  triumph. 

§  14.  The  Consuls  of  the  next  year  (224  b.c.)  again  invaded 
tho  Boian  country,  and  received  the  complete  submission  of  all 

13 


290  ROME  AND  CARTHAGe:.  Book  lY. 

the  tribes  on  the  left  bank  of  the  Po.  They  were  prevented 
from  pursuing  their  successes  by  a  pestilence  in  their  army.  But 
in  the  following  year  C.  Flaminius,  who  was  the  reputed  cause 
of  the  war,  was  Consul  with  P.  Furius,  and  these  Consuls  pushed 
across  the  Po,  with  the  resolution  of  punishing  the  Insubrians 
(Milanese)  for  the  part  they  had  taken  in  the  invasion  ot 
Etruria.  The  place  at  which  they  crossed  the  great  river  was 
somewhere  above  Mantua ;  and  here  they  formed  a  league  with 
the  Cenomanni,  who  were  at  deadly  feud  with  the  Insubrians. 
Assisted  by  these  auxiliaries,  they  moved  westward  across  the 
Adda,  which  was  the  boundary  of  the  Insubrian  district.  Fla- 
minius now  appears  to  have  had  the  chief  command.  Despatches 
arriveJ  from  the  Senate  addressed  to  him,  forbidding  him  to 
invade  the  Insubrian  country.  But  suspecting  their  contents, 
he  laid  them  aside  unopened,  and  at  once  gave  battle  to  the 
enemy,  who  had  advanced  to  drive  him  into  the  Adda.  The 
Romans,  however,  beat  them  back  triumphantly ;  and  then 
Flaminius,  opening  the  despatches,  laughed  at  the  caution  of  the 
Senate.* 

§  15.  The  war  was  brought  to  an  end  in  the  fourth  campaign. 
During  the  winter  the  Insubrians  sued  for  peace ;  but  the  new 
Consuls,  Cn.  Cornelius  Scipio  and  M.  Claudius  Marcellus — after- 
wards so  celebrated — persuaded  the  Senate  to  reject  the  appli- 
cation. The  Consuls  both  marched  north,  and  entered  the  Insu- 
brian territory.  But  Marcellus  hearing  that  Viridomarus,  the 
Insubrian  chief,  had  crossed  the  Po  to  ravage  the  country  lately 
occupied  by  the  Romans,  left  his  colleague  to  reduce  the  prin- 
cipal towns  of  the  Insubrians,  while  he  pursued  the  chief  with 
his  army.  He  came  up  with  him  near .  Clastidium,  and  attacked 
him  with  his  cavalry  alone.  A  smart  action  ensued,  in  which 
Marcellus  encountered  Viridomarus,  and  slew  hifti  with  his  own 
hand  ;  and  the  Gauls  fled  in  disorder.  Thus  were  won  the  third 
and  last  Spolia  Opima.  Meanwhile  Scipio  had  taken  Mediolanum 
(Milan),  the  chief  city  of  the  Insubrian  Gauls,  and  the  war  was 
concluded  (b.c.  221). 

§  16.  Soon  after  this,  it  was  resolved,  probably  at  the  instance 
of  Flaminius,  to  plant  two  colonies,  Cremona  and  Placentia,  on 
opposite  sides  of  the  Po,  so  as  to  secure  the  territory  lately  won 
in  the  Boian  and  Insubrian  territories.  But  the  execution  of  this 
project  did  not  take  place  till  three  years  later,  when  Hannibal  was 
on  his  march.  Probably  the  same  interruption  prevented  the 
large  tract  of   country  which    had   been   conquered  on  the  Po 

*  If  we  believe  Polybius  (ii.  23),  the  victory  was  due  to  the  military  skiD 
of  the  legionary  tribunes.  Flaminius  is  strongly  censured  for  the  reckless  way 
in  which  he  aceepted  battle,  without  providing  for  retreat  in  case  of  defeat. 


Chap.  XXX.  HAMILCAR  IN  SPAIN.  291 

from  being  at  once  formed  into  a  Province.  A  few  years  after- 
wards we  hear  it  spoken  of  under  the  name  of  the  province  of 
Ariminum  ;*  but  when  this  Province  was  constituted  we  are 
not  informed.  Communication  was  secured  between  Rome  and 
Ariminum  by  a  road  constructed  in  the  Censorship  of  Flaminius, 
which  bore  his  name  (220  B.C.). 

§  17.  During  this  great  disturbance  in  Italy,  Demetrius  of 
Pharos  proved  as  false  to  his  new  patrons  as  he  had  been 
to  Teuta.  Relying  on  the  promised  support  of  the  king  of 
Macedon,  he  assumed  the  air  of  an  independent  chief,  and 
encouraged  his  subjects  in  the  piratical  practices,  which  he  had 
been  placed  at  Corcyra  to  prevent.  In  219  B.C.  L.  ^milius 
Paullus,  the  Patrician  Consul,  received  orders  from  the  Senate  to 
put  a  stop  to  these  proceedings.  In  one  short  campaign  he 
reduced  Corcyra,  took  Pharos,  and  forced  Demetrius  to  take 
refuge  at  the  court  of  his  new  patron,  Philip  king  of  Macedon, 
where  we  shall  find  him  at  a  later  time  active  in  promoting  hos- 
tilities against  Rome.  Perhaps  Illyria,  as  well  as  Gaul,  might  then 
have  been  occupied  as  a  Province,  but  for  the  sudden  events  that 
checked  the  progress  of  the  Roman  arms.  Left  to  itself,  it  again 
fell  into  the  hands  of  native  chiefs.  The  Romans,  however,  kept 
possession  of  the  island  of  Corcyra,  together  with  the  strong 
towns  of  Oricum  and  Apollonia,  with  a  small  surrounding  district, 
— positions  which  were  of  great  service  to  them  afterwards  in  the 
Macedonian  wars. 

§  18.  Thus  triumphant  on  all  sides  and  on  all  sides  apparently 
secure,  the  Roman  government  had  no  presentiment  of  the  storm 
that  had  long  been  gathering  in  the  West.  We  must  now  return 
to  the  time  at  which  Hamilcar,  as  has  been  related,f  was  preparing 
to  cross  over  into  Spain. 

He  crossed  the  straits  of  Gibraltar  in  235  b.c.  With  him 
went  his  son-in-law  Hasdrubal,  and  his  son  Hannibal,  then  a  boy 
of  nine  years  old,  but  even  then  giving  promise  of  those  qualities 
which  afterwards  made  him  the  terror  of  Rome.  Hamilcar  had 
not  intended  to  take  him  to  Spain  ;  but  the  boy  pleaded  so 
earnestly,  that  the  father  yielded  on  condition  that  he  should 
«wear  eternal  enmity  to  Rome  and  the  Romans.  Hannibal  him- 
self, in  his  old  age,  told  the  tale  to  Antiochus,  king  of  Syria,  how 
that  he  was  led  to  the  altar  of  his  country's  gods,  and  took  this 
direful  oath.J;  How  well  he  kept  it  the  sequel  will  prove. 
Nothing  can  more  strongly  show  the  feelings  with  which  Hamil- 
car left  his  country.     He  went  not  as  the  servant  of  Carthage, 

*  In  the  year  205  B.c.  See  Liv.  xxviii.  38  :  ''  Ariminum, — ita  Galliam 
appeUabant." 

t  Above,  §  6.  X  I'olyb.,  iu.  12. 


ROME  AND  CARTHAGE.  Book  IV. 

but  as  the  enemy  of  Rome,  with  feelings  of  personal  hostility,  not 
to  be  appeased  save  by  the  degradation  of  his  antagonist. 

His  first  object  was  to  conquer  Spain,  and  thus  put  Carthage 
in  possession  of  a  province  which  might  itself  become  a  great 
kingdom,  and  was  worth  many  Sicilies  and  Sardinias.  One  of 
the  chief  advantages  he  proposed  to  himself  in  this  conquest 
was  the  unlimited  supply  of  hardy  soldiers,  which  would  be 
given  by  the  possession  of  Spain.  But  he  was  well  aware  that 
for  this  purpose  conquest  was  not  sufficient ;  he  must  enlist  the 
feelings  of  the  Spaniards  in  his  cause ;  he  must  teach  them  to 
look  up  to  himself  and  his  family  as  their  friends  and  bene- 
factors. Accordingly  he  married  a  Spanish  lady  of  Castulo  ;  he 
lived  among  the  natives  like  one  of  themselves  ;  he  taught  them 
to  work  their  rich  silver  mines ;  and  in  all  ways  opened  out  the 
resources  of  the  country  under  his  sway.  Meanwhile  he  col- 
lected and  disciplined  an  excellent  army,  with  which  he  reduced 
many  of  the  ruder  tribes  to  the  northward  of  the  modern  Anda- 
lusia and  Murcia.  Thus  he  reigned  (this  is  the  best  word  to 
express  his  power)  with  vigour  and  wisdom  for  eight  years  ;  and 
in  the  ninth  he  fell  in  battle,  admired  and  regretted  by  rll 
southern  Spain.  His  forecast  and  sagacity,  combined  with  grcai 
activity,  resolution,  and  knowledge  of  men,  gave  him  all  the 
qualities  of  a  great  general  and  a  great  sovereign.  It  is  a  remark 
of  Aristotle's  that  men  of  brilliant  abilities  seldom  leave  those 
abilities  as  an  inheritance.  In  the  times  of  which  we  write, 
Hamilcar  and  Hannibal,  as  Philip  of  Macedon  and  Alexander 
before  them,  afford  remarkable  exceptions  to  this  rule. 

§  19.  Hannibal  was  yet  only  in  his  eighteenth  year,  too  young 
to  take  up  the  work  which  Hamilcar  had  left  unfinished.  But 
Hasdrubal,  the  son-in-law  of  the  great  commander,  proved  his 
worthy  successor.  He  at  once  assumed  supreme  authority.  By 
the  gentler  arts  of  conciliation  he  won  over  a  great  number  of 
tribes ;  and  in  order  to  give  a  capital  to  this  new  realm,  he 
founded  the  city  of  New  Carthage,  now  Carthagena,  on  the  coast 
of  Murcia.  The  successes  of  Hamilcar  had  at  length  attracted 
the  notice  of  the  Roman  Senate ;  and  in  the  year  22*7  b.c,  the 
first  of  Hasdrubal's  command,  they  concluded  a  league  with  the 
latter  general,  whereby  the  river  Ebro  was  fixed  as  the  northern 
boundary  of  the  Carthaginian  empire  in  Spain.  Hasdrubal  fell 
by  the  knife  of  an  assassin  in  the  year  221  b.c,  the  seventh  of  his 
command. 

§  20.  Hannibal  was  now  in  his  twenty-fourth  year.  He  was 
at  once  elected  by  the  acclamations  of  the  army  to  stand  in  his 
great  father's  place.  Nor  did  the  government  venture  to  brave 
the  anger  of  a  young  general  at  the  head  of  an  army  devoted  to 


Chap.  XXX.  HANNIBAL  IN  SPAIN.  293 

his  cause.  Hannibal  remained  as  ruler  of  Carthaginian  Spain. 
The  office  was  becoming  hereditary  in  his  family.  He  set  himself 
to  realise  his  father's  designs. 

Hamilcar  had  enlarged  the  Carthaginian  rule  in  Spain  from  a 
few  trading  settlements  to  a  great  province.  Hasdrubal  had  car- 
ried the  limits  of  this  province  as  far  as  the  Sierra  of  Toledo. 
Hannibal  immediately  crossed  this  >  range  into  the  valley  of  the 
Tagas,  and  reduced  the  Celtiberian  tribes  which  then  occupied 
Castille.  He  even  passed  the  Castilian  mountains  which  form  the 
upper  edge  of  the  basin  of  the  Tagus,  and  made  the  name  of  Car- 
thage feared  among  the  Vaccseans  in  the  valley  of  the  Douro,  by 
taking  their  chief  town  Helmantice  (Salamanca).  At  the  close  of 
the  year  220  b.c,  all  Spain  south  of  the  Ebro  and  Douro  was  in 
subjection  to  Carthage,  or  in  alliance  with  her.  The  great  quali- 
ties of  the  three  men  through  whom  they  knew  her  made  them 
not  unwilling  vassals. 

§  21.  But  there  was  one  city  south  of  the  Ebro  which  still 
maintained  independence.  This  was  Saguntum,  an  ancient  colony 
from  the  Greek  island  of  Zacynthos.  Its  site  on  the  coast  of 
modern  Valencia  is  marked  by  the  present  town  of  Murviedro 
(Mari  Veteres),  rather  more  than  half-way  between  New  Car- 
thage and  the  mouth  of  the  Ebro.  Saguntum,  like  Massilia,  had 
been  for  some  time  in  alliance  with  Rome ;  and  therefore,  though 
it  was  on  the  Carthaginian  side  of  the  Ebro,  was  by  Roman  cus- 
tom entitled  to  support.  In  the  year  219  b.c.  this  city  was  at 
war  with  a  neighbouring  tribe,  and  Hannibal  eagerly  accepted 
an  invitation  to  destroy  the  ally  of  his  enemy.  He  surrounded 
Saguntum  with  a  large  army.  The  siege  began ;  but  the  people 
held  out  for  eight  months  against  all  his  assaults  with  that  heroic 
obstinacy  which  seems  to  distinguish  all  dwellers  on  Spanish 
ground,  when  engaged  in  defensive  warfare.  In  many  respects, 
the  siege  of  Saguntum  brings  that  of  Saragossa  to  mind.  The 
booty  obtained  by  the  conqueror  was  of  great  use  in  fitting  out 
his  army  for  the  next  year's  campaign. 

§  22.  While  the  siege  yet  lasted,  the  Roman  Senate  had  sent 
envoys  to  Hannibal,  requiring  him  to  desist  from  attacking  their 
ally.  He  replied  coldly,  that  "he  could  not  answer  for  their 
safety  in  his  camp ;  they  had  better  seek  redress  at  Carthage." 
They  went  on  their  way :  but  meantime  the  news  of  the  fall 
of  Saguntum  reached  Rome,  and  an  embassy  was  sent  to  Carthage 
to  demand  that  Hannibal,  the  author  of  the  mischief,  should  be 
given  up.  There  was  a  large  party,  that  of  Hanno  and  the 
government,  which  would  probably  have  complied  with  their  de- 
mand. But  the  memory  of  Rome's  dishonourable  conduct  at 
the  close  of  the  Mercenary  War  dwelt  in  many  hearts ;  and  the 


294  ROME  AND  CARTHAGE.  Book  IY. 

government  did  not  dare  to  oppose  the  general  feeling.  Nor  in- 
deed were  they  themselves  altogether  averse  from  such  a  war  as 
Hannibal  proposed  to  wage  against  Rome ;  they  might  expect 
the  brunt  of  it  to  be  borne  by  him  and  his  Spaniards :  at  all 
events  it  would  remove  the  young  ambition  of  the  general  far 
from  home,  and  might  end  by  ruining  him  altogether.  They 
replied  that  "Saguntum  was  not  mentioned  in  the  treaty  of 
Hasdrubal ;  but  even  if  it  were,  that  treaty  had  never  been  rati- 
fied by  the  government,  and  therefore  was  of  no  authority."  Then 
Q.  Fabius  Buteo,  the  chief  of  the  Roman  Envoys,  doubling  his  toga 
in  his  hand,  held  it  up  and  said  :  "  In  this  fold  I  carry  peace  and 
war  :  choose  ye  which  ye  will  have."  "  Give  us  which  you  will," 
replied  the  SuflPet.  "  Then  take  war,"  said  the  Roman,  letting  his 
toga  fall  loose.  "  We  accept  the  gift,"  cried  the  Senators  of  Car- 
thage, "  and  welcome." 

Thus  was  war  formally  declared  against  Rome.  But  before  we 
pass  on  to  the  narrative  of  this  war,  it  will  be  well  to  form  some 
idea  of  the  extraordinary  man  who,  by  his  sole  genius,  undertook 
and  supported  it  with  success  for  so  many  years. 

§  23.  Hannibal  was  now  in  his  twenty-eighth  year,  nearly  of 
the  same  age  at  which  Napoleon  Bonaparte  led  the  army  of  the 
French  Republic  into  Italy.  And  when  we  have  named  Napo- 
leon, we  have  named,  perhaps,  the  only  man,  ancient  or  modern, 
who  can  claim  to  be  superior,  or  even  equal,  to  Hannibal  as  a 
general.  Bred  in  the  camp,  he  possessed  every  quality  necessary 
to  gain  the  confidence  of  his  men.  His  personal  strength  and 
activity  were  such,  that  he  could  handle  their  arms  and  perform 
their  exercises,  on  foot  or  on  horsebeck,  more  skilfully  than 
themselves.  His  endurance  of  heat  and  cold,  of  fatigue  and 
hunger,  excelled  that  of  the  hardiest  soldier  in  the  camp.  He 
never  required  others  to  do  what  he  could  not  and  would  not  do 
himself.  To  these  bodily  powers  he  added  an  address  as  winning 
as  that  of  Hasdrubal  his  brother-in-law,  talents  for  command 
fully  as  great  as  those  of  his  father  Hamilcar.  His  frank  manners 
and  genial  temper  endeared  him  to  the  soldiery.  His  strong  will 
swayed  them  like  one  man.  The  difterent  nations  who  made 
up  his  motley  arms — Africans  and  Spaniards,  Gauls  and  Ital- 
ians— looked  upon  him  each  as  their  own  chief.  Polybius 
twice  remarks,  that  amid  the  hardships  which  his  mixed  army 
underwent  for  sixteen  years  in  a  foreign  land,  there  never  was  a 
mutiny  in  his  camp.*  The  admirable  versatility  of  the  man 
was  seconded  by  qualities  required  to  make  the  general.  His 
quick  perception  and   great  sagacity    led   him   to   marvellously 

*  xi.  19:  xxiv.  9. 


Chap.  XXX.  HANNIBAL.  295 

correct  judgment  of  future  events  and  distant  countries, — which  in 
those  days,,  when  travellers  were  few  and  countries  unknown,  must 
have  been  a  task  of  extraordinary  difficulty.  He  formed  his  plans 
after  patient  inquiry,  and  kept  them  profoundly  secret  till  it  was 
necessary  to  make  them  known.  But  with  this  caution  in  design- 
ing was  united  marvellous  promptness  in  execution.  "He  was 
never  deceived  himself,"  says  Poly  bins,  "  but  never  failed  to  take 
advantage  of  the  errors  of  his  opponent."*  Nor  was  he  a  mere 
soldier.  In  leisure  hours  he  delighted  to  converse  with  Greeks  on 
topics  of  intellectual  cultivation.  And  we  shall  see  hereafter  that, 
as  a  statesman,  he  displayed  ability  hardly  inferior  to  that  which 
he  had  displayed  as  a  general. 

Against  these  great  qualities,  he  was  traditionally  reported  to 
have  been  cruel  even  to  ferocity,  and  treacherous  beyond  the 
common  measure  of  his  country .f  But  even  if  we  believe  the 
bad  faith  of  Carthage  to  have  been  greater  than  that  which 
Rome  showed  towards  foreigners,  yet  we  hear  of  no  single  occa- 
sion on  which  Hannibal  broke  faith  with  Rome.  With  regard 
to  his  cruelty,  there  can  be  no  doubt  that  he  was  indifferent 
to  human  life  when  success  could  be  gained  by  its  sacrifice; 
and  on  several  occasions  we  shall  find  him,  under  the  influence 
of  passion,  treating  his  prisoners  with  great  barbarity.  But 
though  he  had  been  trained  to  consider  the  Romans  as  his 
natural  enemies,  to  be  hunted  down  like  wolves,  we  shall  find 
that  he  forgot  not  to  treat  worthy  foemen,  such  as  Marcellus, 
with  the  magnanimity  of  a  noble  nature.  And  after  all,  it  is 
somewhat  out  of  place  to  expect  refined  humanity  from  a  leader 
of  mercenaries,  who  had  lived  from  his  earliest  boyhood  in  the 
midst  of  war. 

But  whatever  might  be  the  ability,  whatever  the  hardihood  of 
the  young  general,  he  required  it  all  for  the  enterprise  he  had  now 
in  hand.  To  penetrate  from  the  Ebro  to  the  Po,  with  chains  of 
giant  mountains  to  bar  his  progress,  through  countries  partly  bar- 
barous and  for  the  most  part  hostile,  without  roads,  or  inaps,  or 
accurate  knowledge  of  his  route,  without  certain  provision  for  the 
food  and  clothing  of  his  army,  without  the  hearty  concurrence  of 
his  own  Government, — was  an  undertaking  from  which  the  boldest 
might  shrink ;  and  to  have  accomplished  this  march  with  tri- 
umphant success  would  alone  justify  the  homage  which  is  still 
paid  to  the  genius  of  Hannibal. 

*  X.  33,  2. 

f  "  Has  tantas  viri  virtutes  ingentia  vitia  aequabant :  inhumana  crudelitas, 
perfidia  plusquam  Punica." — Li  v.  xxi.  4. 


Lake  Trasimene. 


CHAPTER   XXXI 


SECOND  PUNIC  war:    FIRST  PERIOD  (218 216  B.C.). 


§  1.  The  "War  divided  into  Four  Periods.  §  2.  Hannibal's  preparations  and 
forces.  §  3.  His  march  to  the  Rhone.  §  4.  Preparations  of  the  Romans : 
Sempronius  sent  to  Sicily,  Scipio  touches  at  Massilia.  §  5.  Passage  of  the 
Rhone.  §  6.  Scipio  sends  his  brother  into  Spain,  and  himself  returns  to 
Italy.  §  1.  Hannibal  marches  up  the  Rhone  to  the  Isere.  §  8.  Begins 
the  passage  of  the  Alps.  §  9.  Surmounts  the  Pass  and  reaches  Italy. 
§  10.  His  great  losses:  takes  Turin.  §  11.  Cavalry  skirmish  of  the 
Ticinus.  §  12.  Retreat  of  Scipio:  position  of  the  two  armies  on  the 
Trebia.  §  13.  Battle  of  the  Trebia.  §  14.  Preparations  for  second  cam- 
paign :  position  of  Flaminius.  §  1 5.  Hannibal's  march  through  Etruria. 
§  16.  Battle  of  Lake  Trasimene.  §  17.  Dismay  at  Rome:  measures  taken 
by  the  Senate.  §  18.  Course  taken  by  Hannibal.  §  19.  Policy  of  Fabius: 
escape  of  Hannibal  from  Campania.  §20.  Discontent  at  Rome :  Minucius. 
§  21.  Review:  Yarro  and  PauUus  Consuls  for  next  year.  §  22.  Position 
of  the  two  armies  near  Canusium.  §  23.  Varro  resolves  to  give  battle. 
§  24.  Preparations  for  the  battle  of  Cannae.  §  25.  Battle  of  Cannae. 
§  26.  Feelings  at  Rome.  %  21.  Reasons  for  Hannibal  not  advancing  to 
Rome:   Embassy,     §  28.  Firmness  of  the  Senate.     §  29.  Hannibal  enters 


Chap.  XXXI.        SECOND  PUNIC  WAR:  PERIOD  I.  297 

Capua.  §  30.  Revolt  of  all  Southern  Italy,  except  Colonies  and  Free. 
Towns.  §  31,  Embassy  of  Hannibal  to  Carthage.  §  32.  The  Scipios  in 
Spain.  §  33.  Prospects  of  Hannibal.  §  34.  Senate  filled  up :  economical 
measures.     §  35.  Philip  of  Macedon :  Oppian  Law. 

§  1.  The  war  which  began  with  the  invasion  of  Italy  by  Han- 
nibal lasted  for  seventeen  years.  Its  changing  scenes  and  for- 
'tunes  will  be  made  more  clear  by  separating  it  into  Periods,  as 
was  done  with  the  First  Punic  War.  These  Periods  shall  be 
Four. 

The  First  comprehends  the  victorious  career  of  Hannibal,  from 
the  Passage  of  the  Alps  in  218  e.g.,  to  his  winter-quarters  at  Capua 
in  216-15.  Each  year  is  marked  by  a  great  battle — Trebia,  Tra- 
.  :mene,  Cannge. 

The  Second  is  of  Five  Years,  in  which  the  Romans,  by  caution 
and  wariness,  avoid  signal  defeats,  and  succeed  in  recovering  Capua 
while  they  lose  Tarentum  (215-211  e.g.). 

The  Third,  of  Four  Years,  in  which  Hannibal,  left  without  sup- 
port from  home,  is  obliged  more  and  more  to  confine  himself  to 
the  mountain  regions  of  Calabria,  relying  on  the  succours  to  be 
brought  him  from  Spain  by  his  brother  Hasdrubal.  It  ends  with 
the  disastrous  Battle  of  the  Metaurus,  which  destroyed  his  hopes 
(211-207  B.C.). 

The  Fourth,  of  Four  Years,  in  which  Hannibal  stands  at  bay  in 
the  extremity  of  Italy,  while  the  main  scene  of  the  war  shifts  to 
Spain,  Sicily,  and  Africa.  It  terminates  with  the  great  battle  of 
Zama,  and  the  peace  which  followed  (206-202  e.g.). 

But  during  the  former  periods  of  the  great  war,  the  Roman 
arms  were  also  engaged  in  Spain,  in  Sicily,  and  in  Epirus.  From 
the  very  beginning  of  the  war  they  maintained  the  conflict  in 
Spain.  After  215  e.g.  they  were  obliged  to  besiege  Syracuse  and 
reconquer  Sicily,  as  well  as  Sardinia.  In  212  e.g.  they  declared 
war  against  Philip  of  Macedon,  in  order  to  prevent  him  from  send- 
ing aid  to  Hannibal  in  Italy.  Fitting  opportunities  will  occur  to 
■^peak  of  the  first  two  wars  ;  but  the  Macedonian  War  will  be  con- 
veniently deferred  to  the  next  Book. 

§  2.  The  winter  of  219  was  passed  by  Hannibal  in  active 
preparations  for  his  great  enterprise.  His  soldiers  received  leave 
of  absence,  with  orders  to  be  present  at  New  Carthage  at  the 
very  beginning  of  next  spring.  He  sent  envoys  into  the  south 
of  Gaul  and  north  of  Italy,  along  his  intended  line  of  march, 
with  instructions  to  inform  the  Celts  on  both  sides  of  the  Alps 
of  his  expedition, — to  win  the  Transalpine  Gauls  with  hopes  of 
the  plunder  of  Italy,  to  rouse  the  Cisalpines  by  promises  of  de- 
livery from  the  Roman  yoke.     These  envoys  returned  early  in 

13* 


298       ■  ROME  AND  CARTHAGE.  Book  IV. 

the  year  218  with  favourable  accounts  of  the  disposition  of  the 
Gallic  tribes :  the  Passage  of  the  Alps  they  reported  to  be  diffi- 
cult and  dangerous,  but  not  impracticable. 

Thus  assured,  Hannibal  reviewed  his  troops  at  New  Carthage. 
The  army  of  invasion  amounted  to  90,000  foot  and  12,000  horse, 
with  some  fifty  elephants.*  The  infantry  were  mostly  Spanish, 
the  veteran  soldiers  of  Hamilcar  and  Hasdrubal,  recruited  by  new 
levies  of  his  own.  The  Spaniards,  however,  were  kept  in  balance 
by  a  large  body  of  Libyan  mercenaries,  drawn  over  from  Africa  in 
exchange  for  about  15,000  Spaniards,  whom  he  placed  at  the  dis- 
posal of  the  Home  Government.  The  light  infantry,  slingers  and 
archers,  were  from  the  Balearic  Isles.  Of  the  cavalry,  the  heavy 
troopers  were  Spanish,  while  the  light  horse  were  furnished  by 
Numidia ;  and  the  whole  of  this  arm  was  placed  under  the  com- 
mand of  the  fiery  Maharbal. 

Hasdrubal,  the  brother  of  Hannibal,  was  left  at  New  Carthage, 
to  rule  the  lately-conquered  province  of  Spain,  and  to  raise  an 
army  of  reserve  for  the  Italian  war.  Mago,  his  youngest  brother, 
accompanied  the  general. 

§  3.  Having  left  New  Carthage  about  the  end  of  May,  he 
marched  with  no  interruption  to  the  Ebro ;  but  as  soon  as  he  had 
crossed  that  river,  the  whole  country  up  to  the  Pyrenees  was  hos- 
tile. By  great  rapidity  of  movement,  though  with  the  loss  of 
many  men,  he  reduced  all  the  tribes  to  submission  in  a  few  weeks ; 
and  leaving  an  officer  in  charge  of  this  newly-acquired  district, 
with  11,000  men,  he  pushed  forward  to  the  Pyrenees.  Here  his 
Spanish  soldiers  first  discovered  that  they  were  to  leave  their  own 
country  for  strange  and  unknown  lands ;  discontent  appeared  in 
the  camp ;  3,000  Carpetanians,  a  tribe  which  had  not  been  long 
conquered,  seized  their  arms  and  set  ofi"  homewards.  Upon  this, 
Hannibal,  with  prudent  frankness,  called  the  troops  together,  told 
them  his  whole  design,  and  gave  all  who  were  unwilling  to  go  on 
free  leave  to  return.  Nearly  8,000  more  availed  themselves  of 
this  permission. 

He  passed  round  the  eastern  end  of  the  Pyrenees,  where  the 
mountains  sink  gently  towards  the  sea,  and  halted  his  army  for  a 
few  days  at  Ruscino  (Roussillon).  On  a  review,  it  appeared  that 
the  losses  he  had  sustained,  together  with  the  22,000  men  whom 
he  ha(i  either  left  in  Catalonia  or  dismissed,  had  reduced  his  foot 
to  50,000,  and  his  horse  to  9,000.  With  this  force  he  advanced 
almost  unopposed  to  the  banks  of  the  Rhone. 

§  4.  It  is  now  time  to  inquire  what  the  Romans  were  doing  to 
meet  the  coming  danger. 

*  Polybius  saw  at  Lacinium  in  Southern  Italy  a  bronze  table  left  there  bj 
Hannibal  on  which  these  numbers  were  inscribed  (iii.  34,  18). 


Chap.  XXXI.        SECOND  PUNIC  WAR:  PERIOD  I.  2D9 

The  Senate  had  not  been  idle  in  preparation.  But  they  had 
acted  on  the  supposition  that  the  Second  Punic  War  would,  like 
the  First,  be  fought  on  foreign  soil.  It  is  almost  amusing  to  con- 
trast their  expectations  with  the  actual  result  of  the  year's  cam- 
paign. The  Plebeian  Consul,  Tib.  Sempronius  Longus,  was  sent 
to  Lilybseum  with  a  large  fleet,  and  instructed  to  invade  Africa. 
The  other  Consul,  P.  Cornelius  Scipio,  was  ordered  to  land  in 
Spain  and  take  the  field  against  Hannibal.  And  it  is  plain  that 
the  Senate  thought  this  service  was  the  least  important  of  the  two, 
because  they  detained  Scipio's  army  rather  than  that  of  Sempro- 
nius, to  quell  a  rebellion  which  broke  out  this  summer  in  Cis- 
alpine Gaul.  This  rebellion  was  caused  by  the  proceeding  of  the 
Triumviri,  who  had  been  sent  to  distribute  the  confiscated  lands 
of  the  Boians  and  Insubrians  among  the  settlers  in  the  new  colo- 
nies of  Placentia  and  Cremona.*  Just  at  this  time  the  envoys  of 
Hannibal  arrived,  and  the  Gauls  rushed  to  arms.  The  Triumviri 
were  taken  prisoners ;  the  colonists  fled  to  Mutina  (Modena) ;  and 
L.  Manlius  the  Praetor  was  obliged  to  retire.  It  was  to  repress 
this  outbreak  that  one  of  Scipio's  legions  was  sent  oft'  in  all 
haste :  the  Consul  could  not  set  sail  for  Spain  till  he  had  raised  a 
new  legion. 

It  is  plain,  however,  that  his  movements  must  still  have  been 
very  measured.  For  he  was  only  just  leaving  Pisa  for  Spain  when 
he  heard  that  Hannibal  had  already  crossed  the  Pyrenees. 

On  receiving  this  news  he  put  in  at  the  allied  city  of  Massilia 
(Marseilles),  and  disembarked  there,  intending  to  meet  Hannibal 
upon  the  Rhone.  He  did  not  expect  him  there  for  some  time  yet, 
and  therefore  he  gave  his  army  some  days'  rest,  while  he  de- 
spatched a  reconnoitring  party  of  300  picked  horse,  to  move  from 
Marseilles  up  the  left  bank  of  the  Rhone,  under  the  trusty  guidance 
of  some  Massaliots. 

§  5.  But  Hannibal  had  crossed  the  Rhone  while  these  horsemen 
were  on  their  way  up  the  river.  The  point  at  which  he  reached 
it  was  not  far  above  x\vignon,  about  fifty  miles  from  the  coast.f 
The  river  itself  is  large,  and  the  rapidity  of  its  stream  pro- 
verbial. But,  besides  these  natural  difficulties,  he  found  the  left 
bank  occupied  by  a  large  host  of  Gauls.  Upon  this,  he  imme- 
diately made  preparations  for  forcing  the  passage,  by  seizing  all 
the  boats  he  could,  and  constructing  rafts.  After  two  days  spent 
in  this  way,  he  sent  Hanno,  son  of  Bomilcar,  with  a  strong  detach- 
ment of  cavalry,  to  cross  the  river  about  twenty  miles  higher  up, 
so  that,  returning  down  the  other  bank,  he  might  come  upon  the 

*  Above,  Chapt.  xxx.  §  16. 

f  Four  days'  march.  Roquemaure  is  the  place  fixed  upon  by  the  conjec- 
ture of  several  geographical  critics. 


800  ROME  AND  CARTHAOE.  Book  IT. 

rear  of  tlie  Gauls.  On  the  morning  of  the  third  day  after  his 
departure,  Hanno  signalled  his  arrival  to  Hannibal  by  a  column 
of  smoke  ;  and  the  Carthaginians,  who  were  ready  to  put  off 
their  boats  and  rafts,  immediately  pushed  into  the  stream.  The 
Gauls  flocked  down  to  the  water's  edge,  brandishing  their  arms 
and  uttering  wild  yells  of  defiance.  But  while  the  boats  were  in 
mid  stream,  a  cry  arose  from  the  rear ;  and,  looking  round,  the 
Barbarians  beheld  their  tents  in  flames.  They  hastened  back, 
and  were  charged  by  Hanno  with  his  cavalry.  Meanwhile,  the 
first  divisions  of  the  army  landed,  and  forming  under  the  General's 
eye,  attacked  the  Gauls  in  rear ;  and  for  the  remainder  of  the 
day  the  Carthaginians  lay  encamped  in  the  enemy's  late  quarters. 
All  the  army,  except  the  elephants,  had  eff"ected  the  passage. 
It  was  on  this  very  day  that  Scipio  sent  off"  his  300  horse  from 
Marseilles. 

On  the  next  morning  (the  sixth  after  his  arrival  on  the  Rhone) 
news  reached  Hannibal  that  the  Romans  had  landed.  Upon  this 
he  instantly  despatched  a  body  of  400  Numidian  horse  to  recon- 
noitre, while  he  himself  spent  the  day  in  preparation  for  bringing 
over  the  elephants.  At  this  moment,  some  Boian  and  Insubrian 
chieftains  arrived  from  Italy  to  inform  him  of  what  their  people 
were  doing  and  had  done  against  the  Romans,  and  to  describe 
in  glowing  colours  the  richness  and  beauty  of  the  land  which 
would  welcome  him  after  the  toils  of  the  Alpine  Passage.  This 
news  had  a  great  efi'ect  upon  the  army,  which  was  somewhat  dis- 
pirited by  the  opposition  off"ered  by  the  Gauls  upon  the  Rhone. 
These  barbarians,  repented,  it  seemed,  of  encouraging  the  march 
of  the  Carthaginians,  when  they  found  the  strangers  really  among 
them.  The  unknown  language  of  all,  the  swarthy  skins  and  un- 
couth forms  of  the  Africans,  the  wild  Numidian  horse,  the  mon- 
strous elephants  appalled  them  ;  and  the  Carthaginians  found 
enemies  where  they  expected  friends.  The  encouraging  news 
from  Italy  came  most  opportunely. 

In  the  evening  the  Numidian  horse  galloped  into  camp  in  great 
disorder,  having  lost  half  their  number.  At  some  distance  a 
body  of  cavalry  appeared  in  pursuit,  who  reined  in  their  horses  on 
coming  in  view  of  the  Carthaginian  camp,  and  then  turned  about 
and  rode  off"  down  the  river.  This  was  Scipio's  reconnoiter- 
ing  party,  who  had  encountered  the  Numidians  and  defeated 
them. 

§  6.  Hannibal,  finding  the  enemy  so  near  at  hand,  and  having 
no  intention  to  fight  them  till  he  reached  Italy,  sent  ofi"  the 
whole  of  his  infantry  next  morning  to  march  up  the  left  baiik  of 
the  Rhone.  He  himself  only  stayed  till  he  saw  his  elephants,  now 
about  thirty  in  number,  safely  across  the  stream ;  and  then,  with 


Chap.  XXXI.         SECOND  PUXIC  WAR:  PERIOD  I.  301 

the  elephants  and    cavalry,  he  followed  the  main  body   of  his 
army. 

Scipio,  on  his  part,  so  soon  as  he  heard  that  the  Carthaginians 
had  already  crossed  the  Rhone,  proceeded  by  forced  marches  up 
the  river.  But  it  was  three  or  four  days  after  Hannibal's  de- 
parture that  he  arrived  at  the  point  where  the  Carthaginians 
had  crossed.  It  was  in  vain  to  pursue  the  enemy  into  unknown 
regions,  peopled  by  barbarous  tribes ;  and  Scipio  had  the  morti- 
fication to  reflect  that,  if  he  had  marched  at  once  from  Mar- 
seilles, he  might  have  come  in  time  to  assist  the  Gauls  in  barring 
Hannibal's  passage.  Not  able  to  undo  the  past,  he  provided 
wisely  for  the  future.  He  despatched  his  brother  Cneius  to 
Spain  with  the  fleet  and  the  consular  army,  deeming  it  of  high 
importance  to  cut  off  communication  between  Hannibal  and  that 
country ;  and  himself  returned  to  Pisa,  to  take  command  of  the 
army  of  Manlius,  which  had  suppressed  the  Gallic  insurrection. 
He  expected  to  be  in  time  to  meet  Hannibal's  army  shattered 
and  broken  by  the  passage  of  the  Alps,  and  to  gain  an  easy 
victory. 

§  7.  Meanwhile,  Hannibal  continued  his  march  up  the  Rhone, 
and  crossing  the  Isere,  found  himself  in  the  plains  of  Dauphine, 
then  inhabited  by  the  Allobrogian  Gaull.  He  marched  thus  far 
north,  about  one  hundred  miles  beyond  the  place  where  he  had 
crossed  the  river,  at  the  invitation  of  a  chieftain  who  was  con- 
tending for  the  dominion  of  the  tribe  with  his  younger  brother. 
Hannibal's  veterans  soon  put  the  elder  brother  in  possession;  and 
the  grateful  chief  furnished  the  army  with  a  quantity  of  arms  and 
clothing,  and  entertained  them  hospitably  for  some  days.  He 
then  guided  them  to  the  verge  of  his  own  dominions,  and  took  his 
leave.  This  must  have  brought  them  to  the  point  at  which  the 
Isere  issues  from  the  lower  range  of  the  Alps  into  the  plain,  some- 
where near  the  present  fortress  of  Grenoble. 

§  8.  Up  to  this  point  there  is  little  doubt  as  to  the  route  taken 
by  Hannibal ;  but  after  this  all  is  doubtful.  It  appears  that  he 
first  hai  to  force  his  way  through  a  pass  of  the  lower  mountains 
just  behind  Grenoble,  from  which  he  emerged  into  a  compara- 
tively open  valley;  and  here  he  assaulted  a  town  belonging  to 
the  Allobrogian  Gauls,  who  had  attempted  to  bar  his  way  through 
the  above-named  pass.  Two  or  three  days'  march  through  this 
valley  brought  him  to  the  foot  of  the  main  Alpine  chain.  Here 
he  was  met  by  the  mountaineers  with  branches  in  their  hands, 
in  token  of  peace  and  friendship,  offering  to  guide  him  over  the 
pass.  Hannibal  accepted  their  offers,  only  because  he  thought 
it  dangerous  to  refuse,  and  took  the  precaution  to  secure  his  rear 
by  a  strong  guard.     On  the  third  day^  the  faithless  barbarians 


302  ROME  AND  CARTHAGE.  Book  IV. 

fell  upon  his  rear,  and  were  only  repulsed  with  great  loss  both  in 
men  and  horses.  They  continued  to  annoy  his  line  of  march  by 
rolling  huge  stones  down  the  steep  sides  of  the  mountain  which 
overhung  the  path,  till  Hannibal  prevented  them  from  following, 
by  seizing  a  strong  white  rock  which  entirely  commands  the  pass. 
Here  he  kept  the  barbarians  at  bay  till  his  baggage  and  cavalry 
were  a  day's  march  in  advance ;  and  then  followed,  with  the  ele- 
phants in  rear,  for  the  mountaineers  dared  not  come  near  these 
strange  and  unknown  monsters. 

§  9.  In  seven  days*  after  he  began  the  ascent  did  he  reach  the 
summit.  Hannibal  now  endeavoured  to  cheer  the  fainting  hearts 
of  his  weary  soldiers,  by  pointing  out  the  descending  pathway 
which  led  to  the  plains  of  Italy.  And  here  he  halted  two  days  to 
rest  them  and  collect  the  stragglers.  It  was  now  near  the  end  of 
October.f  The  last  year's  snow,  frozen  into  ice,  lay  thick  at  the 
top  of  the  pass,  and  fresh  snow  now  began  to  fall,  which  covered 
the  traces  of  the  path.  The  ascent  had  been  bad,  but  the  descent 
threatened  to  be  worse. 

Those  who  have  walked  over  the  main  Alps,  where  they  are 
traversed  only  by  a  mule-track,  may  in  some  degree  imagine  the 
difficulty  of  conveying  an  army  with  its  stores  and  baggage  over 
such  a  pass,  especially  at*  a  season  when  the  days  are  shortening 
and  the  snow  constantly  falling.  Multitudes  of  men  and  cattle 
sank  daily,  worn  out  by  hunger  and  fatigue.  Their  progress  was 
further  impeded  by  finding  that  in  one  place  the  pathway  had 
slipped  down  or  been  carried  away  by  an  avalanche  for  a  distance 
of  a  furlong  and  a  half.J  Before  this  place  could  be  passed  it  was 
necessary  to  make  the  road  good,  and  in  miserable  plight  the 
army  was  compelled  to  halt  for  nearly  three  days.§  In  three  days 
more  they  reached  the  bottom  of  the  pass,  having  spent  fifteen 
in  the  whole  passage. 

§  10.  The  extent  of  suff'ering  which  the  army  had  gone  through 
may  be  best  estimated  by  considering  the  losses  which  it  had 
sustained  since  the  review  at  Roussillon.  Out  of  50,000  foot 
and  9000  horse  Hannibal  had  now  remaining  only  20,000  of  the 

*  Polybius  says  nine  (iii.  53,  9).  But  this  must  include  the  two  days'  halt 
at  the  top  of  the  pass.  For  the  descent  occupied  at  least  six  days  (compare 
id.,  iii.  55,  8,  with  56,  1);  and  the  whole  passage  took  fifteen  days  (56,  3). 

f  About  the  setting  of  the  Pleiades  (Polyb.,  iii.  54,  1).  This  took  place  on 
the  29th  October,  according  to  Pliny  (xviii.  31);  on  the  27  th,  according  to 
Columella  (xi.  2,  77). 

X  Livy's  blunder  of  "mille  pedum  in  altitudinem,^^  where  he  should  have 
said  "in  longitudinem,"  is  well  known. 

§  The  stories  of  his  softening  the  rocks  by  fire  and  vinegar  are  omitted 
Polybius  says  not  a  word  of  such  matters ;  and  there  is  little  doubt  that  they 
are  a  romantic  addition  of  the  Latin  writers. 


Chap.  XXXI.  SECOND  PUNIC  WAR :  PERIOD  I.  303 

former  and  6000  of  the  latter.*  A  large  number  of  his  elephants 
had  perished ;  it  is  only  wonderful  that  so  many  horse  had 
survived. 

Hannibal  descended  among  the  mountains  of  the  Salassians, 
and  pushed  on  into  the  friendly  country  of  the  Insubrians 
(Milanese),  vi^here  he  rested  his  troops  for  some  time,  and  pro- 
cured fresh  horses  for  many  of  his  cavalry.  He  then  rewarded 
the  good  services  of  the  Insubrians  by  lending  them  his  aid 
against  the  hostile  tribe  of  the  Taurini,  whose  capital  city  (Turin) 
he  took  by  assault.f 

§  11.  It  was  now  December.  He  was  moving  down  the  left 
bank  of  the  Po,  above  its  junction  with  the  Ticinus,  and  on  the 
Piedmontese  side  of  that  river,  when  his  cavalry  came  accident- 
ally in  conflict  with  the  Roman  horse,  commanded  by  the  Consul 
Scipio  himself. 

Scipio  had  returned  to  Pisa.  Taking  command  of  the  army 
of  the  Praetor,  he  moved  slowly  through  the  Gallic  country,  in 
order  to  be  ready  to  encounter  Hannibal  on  his  descent  from 
the  Alps.  He  crossed  the  Po  near  Pavia,  and  made  a  bridge 
over  the  Ticinus  to  secure  his  retreat ;  then  crossing  the  latter 
river,  he  began  to  march  up  the  left  bank  of  the  Po,  just  as 
Hannibal  was  coming  down  it.  Both  generals  were  in  advance 
with  their  cavalry,  and  came  unexpectedly  in  sight  of  each  other. 
A  smart  action  followed,  in  which  the  Romans  had  the  worst, 
and  the  Consul  was  severely  wounded,  his  life  being  saved  by 
the  devotion  of  a  Ligurian  slave,  or,  as  others  said,  by  his  son 
Publius,  afterwards  the  great  Africanus,  then  a  youth  only  seven- 
teen years  old.  He  fell  back  upon  his  main  body  and  recrossed 
the  Ticinus  so  rapidly  that,  in  breaking  up  the  bridge,  he  left 
600  men  behind,  who  fell  into  the  hands  of  Hannibal.  This  was 
the  skirmish  of  the  Ticinus,  which  proved  Hannibal's  superiority 
in  cavalry.     It  had  the  effect  of  making  the  Boian  Gauls  on  the 

*  This  also  is  taken  from  Hannibal's  bronze  plate  at  Lacinium. 

f  From  Grenoble  on  the  Isere  to  Turin,  geographers  dispute  about  the 
route  ascribed  by  Polybius  to  Hannibal.  At  one  time,  General  Melville's 
route  was  adopted,  which  carried  him  over  the  low  range  between  Grenoble 
and  Montmeillan  into  the  valley  of  Chambery,  up  the  Isere  over  the  Little  St. 
Bernard,  down  through  the  valley  of  Aosta  into  the  Insubrian  country,  and 
so  back  to  Turin. 

This  is  confessedly  a  long  round.  And  li.ter  writers  prefer  carrying  him 
from  Montmeillan  up  the  Arc  over  the  Mont  Cenis,  and  straight  down  by 
Susa  to  Turin. 

Others  again  follow  Livy  in  taking  him  from  Grenoble  up  the  Romanche 
into  the  valley  of  Bo\irg  d'Oisans,  and  so  over  the  Mont  Genevre  (Cottian  Alp) 
down  to  Turin. 

The  controversy  will  probably  last  for  ever.  The  data  seem  insufficient  to 
enable  us  to  form  a  positive  judgment. 


304  ROME  AND  CARTHAGE.  Book  IV. 

south  of  the  Po  declare  in  his  favour.  Those  who  were  serving 
as  auxiliaries  in  the  Roman  camp  deserted ;  and  the  Roman 
Triumviri,  who  had  been  seized  early  in  the  spring,  were  given 
up  to  the  Carthaginians. 

§  12.  Hannibal,  after  spending  two  or  three  days  on  the  north 
gide  of  the  Po,  crossed  somewhere  below  Placentia ;  and  Scipio. 
not  finding  his  position  near  that  town  secure,  fell  back  so  as 
to  place  the  Trebia  between  himself  and  Hannibal.  On  the 
left  bank  of  this  river,  he  fortified  a  strong  camp,  with  the  purpose 
of  awaiting  the  arrival  of  his  colleague  Sempronius,  whom  the 
Senate  had  ordered  to  hasten  from  Sicily  into  the  north  of  Italy. 
Hannibal  followed  the  Romans  and  encamped  in  view  of  them 
on  the  right  bank  of  the  Trebia.  Here  he  received  off'ers  from  a 
Brundusian,  who  was  in  charge  of  the  Roman  magazine  at  Clas- 
tidiura,  a  town  in  Scipio's  rear,  to  betray  the  place  ;  and  it  must 
have  been  while  he  was  absent  in  this  quarter  that  Sempronius 
joined  Scipio.  Sempronius,  not  daring  to  sail  across  from  Sicily 
to  Pisa  at  that  time  of  year,  had  sent  his  army  over  the  Straits 
of  Messana,  with  orders  to  rendezvous  at  Ariminum ;  and  so 
expeditious  were  they  that  they  performed  the  whole  march 
from  Lilybseum  to  Scipio's  camp  in  forty  days.  After  some 
days'  rest,  a  foraging  party  of  Hannibal's  was  attacked  with  some 
advantage  by  the  Roman  horse,  and  this  slight  success  made 
Sempronius  eager  for  a  general  action.  Scipio  endeavoured  to 
dissuade  him,  but  in  vain  ;  and  being  still  confined  by  the 
consequences  of  his  wound,  he  was  obliged  to  leave  the  whole 
army  under  the  direction  of  his  colleague.  Hannibal,  for  his 
part,  was  equally  anxious  for  a  battle.  The  Gauls  began  to  com- 
plain of  the  burthen  of  two  armies  in  their  country,  and  victory 
was  necessary  to  secure  them  in  his  interest. 

§  13.  The  Trebia  is  a  mountain  stream,  which  in  summer  runs 
babbling  over  a  broad  gravelly  bed,  so  shallow  that  the  foot- 
traveller  walks  over  it  unheeding;  but  in  winter,  or  after  heavy 
rains,  it  rises  to  a  deep  and  rapid  torrent.  It  was  now  nearly 
the  end  of  December,*  and  Hannibal  resolved  that  he  would  not 
cross  the  water  to  attack  the  Romans,  but  would  make  them 
cross  it  to  attack  him.  He  executed  his  purpose  with  great 
skill.  On  his  left  there  was  a  sort  of  gully,  thickly  grown 
with  reeds  and  brushwood,  in  which  he  concealed  his  brother 
Mago  with  1000  foot  and  as  many  horse.  Then,  early  in  the 
morning,  he  sent  his  Numidian  riders  across  the  river,  and 
ordered  the  whole  army  to  prepare  for  the  cold  of  the  day  by 
rubbing  tt'^.mselves  with  oil  and  making  a  hearty  meal.     As  soon 

♦  TTspl  Tzeifiepiva^  Tpona^,  Polyb.  iii.  Y2,  3, 


Chap.  XXXI.        SECOND  PUNIC  WAR:  PERIOD  i.  305 

as  Sempronius  saw  the  Numidians  cross  the  water,  he  sent  out 
his  cavalry,  about  4000  strong,  to  meet  them,  and  then  drew  out 
his  whole  army,  amounting  to  about  36,000  men,  to  support  the 
attack.  The  Numidians  feigned  to  be  beaten  and  fell  back  across 
the  river.  The  Romans  pursued,  but  the  water  was  running 
breast-high  and  was  deadly  cold ;  sleet  *was  falling,  which  was 
driven  in  their  faces  by  the  east  wind ;  and  when  they  reached 
the  other  side,  they  were  half  frozen  with  cold  and  wet,  as  well 
as  faint  with  hunger.  Their  treacherous  foes  now  opened  on 
both  sides  and  displayed  Hannibal's  infantry  in  battle-order 
with  the  rest  of  the  cavalry  and  the  elephants  on  either  wing. 
The  Roman  cavalry,  which  was  also  on  the  wings,  was  greatly 
outnumbered  and  soon  put  to  flight ;  but  the  Legions  and  Allies 
kept  their  ground  bravely  under  all  disadvantages  till  Mago  rose 
from  ambush  and  attacked  them  in  rear.  Then  the  rout  became 
general.  A  body  of  10,000  men,  however,  cut  their  way  through 
the  Carthaginian  lines  to  Placentia;  the  rest  were  driven  back 
with  great  slaughter  to  the  Trebia,  in  which  many  were  drowned, 
but  a  large  number,  with  the  Consul  Sempronius  himself,  recrossed 
in  safet}^ 

The  battle  of  the  Trebia  ended  Hannibal's  first  campaign. 
The  two  Consuls,  with  the  relics  of  their  armies,  soon  after  con- 
trived to  throw  themselves  into  Placentia  and  Cremona,  and 
afterwards  made  good  their  retreat  to  Ariminum.  Sempronius 
had  sent  home  a  varnished  account  of  the  battle,  but  the  fatal 
truth  soon  betrayed  itself.  Two  consular  armies  had  been  de- 
feated. Cisalpine  Gaul  was  abandoned  to  the  Carthaginians. 

§  14.  B.C.  217.  The  Senate  made  great  preparations  for  the 
next  campaign.  Sicily,  Sardinia,  and  Tarentum  were  garrisoned 
against  the  Carthaginian  fleets ;  the  new  Consuls  were  to  keep 
Hannibal  out  of  Roman  Italy.  The  Patrician  Consul  for  the  year 
was  Cn.  Servilius ;  C.  Flaminius  was  the  Plebeian.  Flaminius, 
it  will  be  remembered,  had  held  this  high  office  in  223  b.c,  and 
had  won  a  great  battle  over  the  Insubrian  Gauls,  in  contempt 
of  the  orders  of  the  Senate.  As  Censor,  he  still  dwells  in  memory 
for  having  made  the  Flaminian  Way,  the  great  high  road  from 
Rome  through  the  Sabine  country  to  Ariminum.  He  had 
won  extraordinary  popularity  by  a  sweeping  agrarian  law  to 
divide  the  coast  lands  of  Umbria  and  Picenum  among  a  number 
of  poor  citizens.  He  had  incurred  the  bitterest  enmity  of  the 
Senate  by  the  warm  support  he  gave  to  a  law  of  the  Tribune 
Claudius,  which  prohibited  senators  from  engaging  in  trade. 
This  was  the  man  elected  by  popular  favour  to  oppose  Han- 
nibal, brave,  as  it  appears,  and  generous,  but  adventurous  and 
reckless.     Fearing  that  the  Senate  might  even  yet  bar  his  Con- 


306  ROME  AND  CARTHAGE.  Book  IT. 

sulship  by  an  appeal  to  the  omens,  he  left  the  city  before  the 
Ides  of  March,*  which  was  at  that  time  the  day  for  the  Consuls 
to  enter  upon  office.  But  no  such  attempt  was  made.  Servi- 
lius  was  sent  to  Ariminura  in  case  Hannibal  should  come  down 
by  the  Flaminian  Road ;  and  Flaminius  himself  took  post  at 
Arretium  to  watch  the  passes  of  the  Apennines. 

§  15.  As  the  spring  approached,  Hannibal  was  anxious  to  leave 
Cisalpine  Gaul.  His  friends  the  Insubrians  and  Boians,  how- 
ever much  they  wished  to  be  relieved  from  the  Roman  yoke,  did 
not  relish  entertaining  a  large  army  in  winter-quarters.  They 
were  proverbially  fickle,  and  so  much  did  Hannibal  mistrust 
them,  that,  to  prevent  attempts  upon  his  life,  he  continually  wore 
disguises,  and  assumed  false  hair.  Leaving  the  Roman  colonies 
of  Placentia  and  Cremona  unassailed,  he  passed  the  Apennines 
early  in  the  year  by  an  unfrequented  route,  which  brought  him 
down  into  the  neighbourhood  of  Pistoja  and  Lucca.  From  this 
point  eastward  he  had  to  march  through  the  Yal  d'Arno,  which 
was  at  that  time  an  unwholesome  swamp.f  Here  his  men  and 
horses  suffered  much ;  he  himself,  being  attacked  by  ophthalmia, 
lost  the  sight  of  one  eye,  and  was  obliged  to  have  recourse  to  the 
single  elephant  which  survived  the  cold  of  the  Alps  and  a  winter 
in  the  North  of  Italy.  In  the  neighbourhood  of  Faesulae  he 
rested  his  army,  now  much  increased  by  Gallic  recruits,  and  re- 
warded his  men  for  their  late  toils  by  the  plunder  of  Etruria. 
Flaminius  now  found  that  his  dexterous  enemy  had  stolen  a 
march  upon  him,  and  Hannibal,  on  his  part,  heard  with  delight 
the  rash  and  adventurous  character  of  the  new  Consul.  Trust- 
ing to  this,  he  led  his  army  past  Arretium,  where  Flaminius  still 
^  lay  encamped,   and  leav- 

ing Cortona  on  the  left, 
passed  on  towards  Pe- 
rusia  along  the  northern 
side  of  Lake  Trasimene. 
As  soon  as  Flaminius 
found  that  the  Cartha- 
ginian had  passed  him 
in  this  disdainful  way, 
he  immediately  marched 
in  pursuit. 
§  16.  As  the  traveller 
comes  upon  the  north-western  corner  of  Lake  Trasimene,  the 
road   ascends   a  low  ridge,  now  called  Monte   Gualandro,  along 

*  From  the  year  223  to  153  B.C.,  the  Consuls  entered  ofiBc©  on  the  Ides 
of  March ;  after  the  latter  date,  on  the  Calends  of  January. 
■j-  See  introduction,  Sect.  1.  §  18. 


Chap.  XXXI.         SECOND  PUNIC  WAR :  PERIOD  L  307 

which  runs  the  boundary  line  of  the  Estates  of  the  Church  and 
Tuscany.  The  broad  lake  lies  to  his  right  and  the  road  descends 
ii.to  a  crescent-shaped  plain,  skirted  on  the  left  by  hills  of  some 
height,  while  between  the  road  and  the  lake  the  ground  undulates 
considerably.  After  traversing  this  open  space  the  road  passes 
through  the  modern  village  of  Passignano,  and  ascends  a  hill. 
This  was  the  ground  Hannibal  chose  for  awaiting  Flaminius.  He 
placed  his  Balearians  and  light  troops  in  ambush  round  the  hills 
on  the  left  of  the  narrow  plain ;  he  himself,  with  his  infantry, 
lay  in  front  somewhere  near  the  village  of  Passignano,  while  his 
cavalry  were  ensconced  in  the  uneven  ground  next  the  lake, 
ready  to  close  upon  the  rear  of  the  Romans  so  soon  as  they  were 
fairly  in  the  plain.  While  the  Carthaginians  were  thus  disposed, 
Flaminius  was  encamping  for  the  night  on  the  Tuscan  side  of 
Monte  Gualandro.  In  the  morning  a  thick  mist  hung  over  the 
lake  and  low  lands,  so  that  when  the  Consul  advanced  into 
the  plain  above  described  he  could  see  nothing.  Hannibal 
suffered  the  Roman  van-guard,  consisting  of  6000  men,  to 
advance  beyond  Passignano  before  he  gave  the  signal  for  attack. 
Hearing  the  cries  of  battle  behind  them,  they  halted  anxiously 
on  the  hill  which  they  were  then  ascending,  but  could  see 
nothing  for  the  mist.  Meantime  the  Consul,  with  the  main 
army,  was  assailed  on  all  sides.  Charged  in  front  by  the  Spanish 
and  African  infantry,  on  his  right  and  rear  by  the  Gauls  and 
cavalry,  exposed  on  his  left  flank  to  the  ceaseless  fire  of  the 
slingers  and  javelin-men,  Flaminius  and  his  soldiers  did  all  that 
brave  men  could.  They  fought  valiantly  and  died  fighting.  Not 
less  than  15,000  Italians  fell  on  that  fatal  field.  Such  was  the 
scene  disclosed  to  the  soldiers  of  the  van-guard  when  the  mist 
cleared  off.  Hannibal  now  sent  Maharbal  to  pursue  this  division, 
which  surrendered  at  discretion.  Such  of  them  as  were  Romans 
or  Latins  were  all  thrown  into  chains ;  the  Italian  Allies  were 
dismissed  without  ransom.  Thus  did  Hannibal's  plan  for  the 
conquest  of  Rome  begin  to  show  itself;  he  had  no  hope  of  sub- 
duing Rome  and  Italy  with  a  handful  of  Spanish  and  African 
veterans.  These  were  to  be  the  core  of  a  great  army,  to  be  made 
up  of  Italians,  who  (as  he  hoped)  would  join  his  victorious  stan- 
dard, as  the  Gauls  had  already  done.  "  He  had  come,"  he  said, 
*'into  Italy,  not  to  fight  against  the  Italians,  but  to  fight  for  the 
liberty  of  the  Italians  against  Rome." 

Such  was  the  battle  of  Lake  Trasimene.  So  hot  was  the  conflict 
that  the  combatants  did  not  feel  the  shock  of  an  earthquake,  which 
overthrew  many  cities  of  Italy. 

§  IV.  Stragglers  escaping  from  the  slaughter  soon  carried  the 
evil  tidings  to  Rome,  and  the  Praetor,  unable  to  extenuate  the 


808  HOME  AND  CARTHAGE.  Book  IY. 

loss,  came  into  the  Forum,  where  the  people  were  assembled, 
and  ascending  the  Rostra  uttered  the  brief  but  significant 
words :  "  We  have  been  defeated  in  a  great  battle."  Dreadful 
was  the  terror,  so  soon  as  it  was  known  that  the  Consul  was 
dead,  his  army  destroyed.  The  gates  were  thronged  with 
mothers  and  children,  eagerly  questioning  the  fugitives  about 
the  fate  of  their  sons,  and  fathers,  and  kinsfolk.  Every  hour 
Hannibal  was  expected  at  the  gates.  Three  days  passed  and  he 
came  not ;  but  the  news  of  a  fresh  disaster  came.  Cn.  Servilius, 
the  other  Consul,  as  soon  as  he  heard  of  Hannibal's  presence  in 
Etruria,  resolved  to  join  his  colleague  immediately,  and  sent  on 
his  horse,  4000  strong,  as  an  earnest  of  his  own  arrival.  Hannibal, 
informed  of  their  approach,  detached  Maharbal  with  a  division  of 
cavalry  and  some  light-armed  troops  to  intercept  them.  Half  of 
the  Romans  were  cut  in  pieces,  the  rest  returned  in  disorder  to  tell 
the  Consul  that  he  was  too  late. 

Amid  the  terror  which  prevailed  at  Rome  the  Senate  alone 
maintained  their  calmness.  They  sate,  without  adjournment, 
to  receive  intelligence  and  deliberate  on  measures  of  safety. 
It  was  resolved  (an  extraordinary  measure)  to  call  upon  the 
people  to  elect  a  Dictator,  the  person  recommended  being  Q. 
Fabius  Maximus,  a  man  of  known  discretion  and  reputed  skill ; 
M.  Minucius  Rufus  was  also  elected  as  his  Master  of  the  Horse.* 
Fabius  first  called  upon  the  gods  to  sanction  the  defence  of  Rome, 
consulted  the  Sibylline  books,  and  advised  the  Senate  to  decree  a 
"  sacred  spring,"  according  to  the  ancient  custom  of  the  Sabines.f 
A.nd  then,  collecting  the  troops  that  had  escaped  from  the  slaugh- 
ter, and  filling  up  their  ranks  by  a  new  levy,  he  sent  for  the  army 
of  Servilius,  and  thus  with  four  legions  and  their  auxiliary  troops 
he  prepared  to  take  the  field. 

§  18.  Meanwhile  the  movements  of  Hannibal  had  relieved  the 
Romans  of  all  immediate  fear  of  seeing  him  at  the  gates.  It 
seems  that  he  had  little  hopes  of  the  Etruscans,  for  he  straightway 
left  their  country  and  passed  northwards  by  the  Flaminian  Road. 
He  presented  himself  before  the  colony  of  Spoletum,  but  the 
colonists  closed  their  gates,  and  he  passed  upon  his  way  into 
Picenum,  collecting  plunder  from  all  the  Roman  settlements  as 
he  went.  Here  he  lay  quiet  during  the  heat  of  summer.  As 
the  weather  became  cooler,  he  advanced  along  the  coast  of  the 
Adriatic  into  Apulia,  still  plundering  as  he  went.  The  soldiers 
of  the  Alps  revelled  in  the  abundance  of  Italy :  it  is  said  they 
bathed  their  horses  in  wine.     But  the  colonies  of  Luceria  and 

*  Commonly,  it  will  be  remembered,  the  Consul  nominated  the  Dictator  at 
the  order  of  the  Senate,  and  the  Dictator  chose  bis  own  Master  of  Horse. 
f  See  Chapt  xix.  §  1. 


Chap.  XtCXL  i^ECOND  PUNIC  WAR :  PERIOD  L  309 

Venusia,  as  of  old,  refused  entrance  to  the  invader,  and  Hannibal 
passed  the  Apennines  again  into  Lower  Samnium,  where  Bene- 
ventum,  now  become  a  colony,  defied  him  like  the  rest. 

§  19.  By  this  time  Fabius  had  taken  the  field.  He  had  made 
up  his  mind  not  to  risk  another  battle.  His  plan  for  conducting 
the  campaign  was  to  move  along  the  heights,  so  as  to  keep  Han- 
nibal in  view,  cutting  oft*  his  supplies,  intercepting  his  commu- 
nications, and  harassing  him  in  all  ways  without  a  general  action. 
This  was  not  for  Hannibal's  interest.  He  wished  to  fight  another 
great  battle  and  win  another  great  victory  (the  things  were 
synonymous  with  him),  in  order  that  the  Samnites  and  other 
Italians,  lately  conquered,  might  venture  to  rise  and  join  him.  It 
was  no  doubt  with  the  purpose  of  provoking  Fabius  to  a  battle, 
or  of  showing  the  Italians  that  the  Romans  dared  not  fight  him, 
that  Hannibal  descended  from  Beneventum  down  the  Vulturnus 
into  the  rich  Falernian  Plain.*  Here  dwelt  Roman  citizens  ;  this 
was  the  garden  of  Italy  :  would  not  the  Dictator  fight  to  defend 
them  and  their  country  from  the  spoiler  ?  No  :  Fabius  persisted 
in  his  cautious  policy.  He  closed  all  the  passes  leading  from  the 
plain,  where  Hannibal's  soldiers  were  now  luxuriating,  and  waited 
his  time  patiently,  thinking  he  had  caught  the  invader  in  a 
trap.  But  the  wily  Carthaginian  eluded  him  by  a  simple  stra- 
tagem. Collecting  all  the  oxen  he  had  seized  in  this  favoured 
region,  he  ordered  fagots  to  be  tied  to  their  horns ;  and  as  soon 
as  it  was  night,  these  fagots  being  lighted,  the  animals  were 
driven,»tossing  their  heads  with  fright  and  waving  the  flames,  up 
the  pass  which  leads  from  Teanum  to  AUifse.  The  troops  who 
guarded  this  pass  fled  panic-stricken  to  the  heights  of  Mount 
Callicula,  and  left  free  passage  for  the  Carthaginian  army.  When 
morning  broke  Hannibal  was  gone  ;  he  was  lying  safely  encamped 
near  AUifae.  From  thence  he  pursued  his  devastating  course 
through  the  Pelignian  and  Frentanian  lands,  till  he  again  reached 
Apulia,  and  there  fixed  on  a  strong  position  near  Geronium  for  his 
winter-quarters.  The  place  was  warm  and  sunny  ;  corn  and  pro- 
visions were  abundant. 

Fabius,  however  discomfited  by  Hannibal's  escape  from  Cam- 
pania, persisted  in  earning  his  name  of  The  Lingerer,]  and  follow- 

*  This  is  the  simple  statement  of  Polybius  (iii.  91).  The  well-known  story 
in  Livy  (xxii.  13),  that  Hannibal  told  the  guides  to  lead  to  Casinum  on  the 
Latin  road,  and  that  they  by  a  mistake  took  him  to  Casilinum  in  Campania,  is 
not  noticed  by  the  graver  historian. 

f  Cunctator.     Every  one  knows  Ennius'  line,  borrowed  by  Yirgil — 
"  Unus  homo  nobis  cunctando  restituit  rem." 
Bat  every  one  does  not  know  those  which  follow — 

*'  Non  ponebat  enim  rumores  ante  salutem ; 
Erp^^  magisque  magisque  viri  nunc  gloria  claret" 


310  ROME  AND  CARTHAGE,  Book  IV. 

ing  Hannibal  as  before,  took  post  at  Larinum,  within  five  or  six 
railes  of  the  enemy's  camp. 

§  20.  He  was  now  called  to  Rome,  ostensibly  to  preside  over 
certain  sacred  offices,  but  really  to  give  an  account  of  his 
conduct.  He  found  the  people  much  discontented.  He  had 
been  in  command  of  two  Consular  armies  for  several  months, 
and  had  done  worse  than  nothing  :  he  had  allowed  the  lands  of 
the  Roman  colonists  in  Apulia  and  Samnium,  the  lands  of  Romaa 
citizens  in  Campania,  to  be  wasted  and  spoiled  before  his  eyes. 
These  discontents  were  fomented  by  Minucius,  the  Master  of  the 
Horse,  who  openly  dissented  from  the  tactics  of  his  commander, 
and  declared  that  were  he  General-in-Chief  he  would  try  the  for- 
tune of  another  battle.  Minucius  had  been  left  in  command  at 
Larinum,  and  though  charged  by  the  Dictator  not  to  risk  an 
action,  he  pushed  his  camp  forward  within  two  miles  of  Han- 
nibal, and  gained  some  advantages  in  skirmishing  with  the  Car- 
thaginian foraging-parties.  This  raised  his  self-opinion  still 
higher,  and  he  sent  home  highly  coloured  despatches  describing 
his  successes.  Popular  feeling  rose  to  its  height,  and  Terentius 
Varro  became  its  mouthpiece.  This  man  was  a  petty  merchant 
by  trade,  the  son  of  a  butcher ;  but  he  had  been  Praetor  the  year 
before,  and  was  now  candidate  for  the  Consulship.  His  elo- 
quence was  great ;  and  the  Senate  were  obliged  to  consent  to  a 
law  which  gave  Minucius  an  equal  command  with  the  Dictator. 
Fabius  returned  to  the  camp,  and  quietly  gave  up  half  the  army 
to  his  late  subordinate.  But  he  was  soon  repaid  for  his  modera- 
tion. Hannibal  discovered  the  rash  character  of  the  new  com- 
mander, and  drew  him  out  to  battle,  having  previously  (according 
to  his  wont)  concealed  a  squadron  of  cavalry  in  the  flank  of  the 
field  of  battle.  Minucius  fell  into  the  snare,  and  would  have 
been  defeated  as  utterly  as  Flaminius  at  Lake  Trasimene,  had  not 
the  watchful  Fabius  come  up  upon  his  rear,  so  as  to  baffle  the  flank 
attack  of  the  cavalry.  Hannibal  drew  off  his  men  ;  and  Minucius, 
acknowledging  Fabius  as  his  deliverer,  craved  his  pardon  and  re- 
sumed his  post  of  Master  of  the  Horse.  The  whole  army  returned 
to  its  old  quarters  at  Larinum. 

§  21.  Thus  ended  the  second  campaign,  not  greatly  to  the 
satisfaction  of  either  party.  Hannibal  had  hoped  that  ere  this 
all  Southern  Italy  would  have  risen  like  one  man  against  Rome. 
He  had  shown  himself  her  master  in  the  field  ;  wherever  her 
soldiers  had  dared  to  meet  his,  they  had  been  grievously  defeated. 
He  had  shown  all  indulgence  for  Italian  prisoners,  though  he  had 
put  to  the  sword  all  Roman  and  Latin  citizens.  But  not  one 
city  had  yet  opened  its  gates  to  receive  him.  The  Gauls  of  the 
J^orth  were  the  only  people  who  had  joined  him  since  he  crossed 


Chap.  XXXI.        SECOND  PUNIC  WAR:  PERIOD  L  311 

the  Alps.  The  Romans,  indeed,  continued  to  suffer  cruelly,  and 
their  ordinary  revenues  were  grievously  curtailed.  It  seems  to 
have  baen  agreed  that  a  great  effort  must  be  made  in  the 
ensuino-  campaign  ;  an  overpowering  force  was  to  be  brought 
ao-ainst  Hannibal ;  he  was  to  be  crushed,  if  not  by  skill,  by 
nuinbars.  It  was  so  far  encouraging  that  the  Allies  had  as  yet 
remained  faithful  ;  but  how  long  this  might  last  no  one  could 
tell.  Everything  concurred  in  showing  that  another  battle  must 
be  ventured. 

When  the  day  of  electing  the  Consuls  came,  out  of  six  candi- 
dates C.  Terentius  Varro  alone  obtained  a  sufficient  number  of 
votes  in  any  tribe  to  be  returned.  It  is  difficult  to  ascertain  the 
true  character  of  this  man.  His  vigorous  eloquence  had  won  the 
confidence  of*  the  people  :  but  so  much  is  plain,  that  he  was  no 
general,  and  his  election  was  esteemed  a  public  misfortune  by  the 
Senate.  Varro  himself  presided  at  the  election  of  his  colleague, 
when  the  Senate,  anxious  to  provide  an  able  general,  induced 
L.  ^milius  PauUus  to  offer  himself  as  candidate.  Paullus  had 
shown  his  ability  as  a  general  in  his  former  Consulship,  when 
(219  B.C.)  he  concluded  the  Illyrian  War  in  a  single  campaign. 
But  his  character  for  integrity  was  not  spotless,  and  his  manners 
were  cold  and  haughty.  Yet  so  earnestly  did  the  Senate  represent 
the  necessity  of  the  case,  that  he  was  returned  without  opposi- 
tion. 

These  were  the  Consuls  elected  to  fight  Hannibal.  Their  four 
legions  were  to  be  added  to  the  four  which  Fabius  had  com- 
manded just  before,  and  which  were  still  in  the  field.  These 
eight  legions  were  raised  to  more  than  their  usual  complement,* 
so  that  the  whole  army  to  be  commanded  by  the  Consuls  must, 
with  the  allied  force,  have  amounted  to  at  least  80,000  foot  and 
more  than  6000  horse. 

§  22.  B.C.  216.  The  late  Consuls  (Atilius  had  succeeded  Fla- 
minius),  now  serving  as  Proconsuls,  had  moved  from  Larinum 
southwards  towards  Venusia,  and  had  busied  themselves  with 
forniing  magazines  at  Canusium  and  Cannae  ;  and  on  the  plain 
near  the  latter  place  the  camp  was  formed.  Hannibal,  as  the 
spring  advanced,  suffered  much  from  want  of  corn,  for  he  had 
exhausted  his  supplies  at  Geronium  ;  and  having  by  this  time 
received  recruits  from  Cisalpine  Gaul,  he  made  a  rapid  move- 
ment and  seized  the  Roman  magazine  at  Cannse,  encamping  not 
far  from  that  place,  on  the  left  bank  of  the  Aufidus.     The  Pro- 

*  The  usual  complement  of  a  legion  at  this  time  was  4000  foot  and  200 
horse.  At  need,  this  was  raised  to  5000  foot  and  300  horse.  It  must  be 
always  remembered  that  the  legions  of  every  Consular  army  were  rather  moro 
tiian  doubled  by  the  addition  of  the  Italian  Auxiliaries. 


312  ROME  AND  CARTHAGE.  Book  IV. 

consuls  sent  home  word  of  this  disaster,  but  received  strict  ordei*s 
to  continue  on  the  defensive  till  the  Consuls  arrived  to  take  the 
command.  Yet  it  was  some  time  before  this  took  place,  certainly 
not  till  near  the  end  of  July,  for  the  great  battle,  which  is  now  to 
be  described,  was  fought  on  the  2nd  of  August,*  and  it  was  fought 
soon  after  the  arrival  of  the  Consuls. 

§  23.  The  Consuls  found  the  army  about  two  days'  marcli 
from  Hannibal ;  they  immediately  moved  to  his  neighbourhood, 
with  the  intention  of  offering  battle.  But  when  Paullus  observed 
the  open  plain  on  which  Hannibal  lay,  he  was  desirous  to  put  of! 
an  engagement,  and  manoeuvre  so  as  to  draw  the  enemy  into 
ground  less  favourable  for  the  action  of  cavalry.  Varro,  however, 
knowing  the  anxiety  of  the  people  to  have  the  matter  brought  to  a 
speedy  issue,  thought  otherwise,  and  now  appeared  the  evil  of  both 
Consuls  being  joined  in  command  of  the  same  army.  It  was  a 
repetition  of  the  arrangement  which  had  answered  so  ill  in  the 
last  years  with  Fabius  and  Minucius,  with  this  additional  evil,  that 
the  Consuls,  instead  of  dividing  the  army  between  them,  took  the 
command  of  the  whole  on  alternate  days.  A  plan  more  expressly 
calculated  to  prevent  unity  of  action  could  not  have  been  devised. 
But  the  Consuls  were,  by  the  constitution,  equal,  and  Varro  was 
far  too  confident  of  success  to  give  way  to  his  more  experienced 
colleague,  ^milius  felt  bitterly  the  truth  of  Fabius'  parting  in- 
junction :  "  Remember  that  you  will  have  to  oppose  not  only  Han- 
nibal, but  also  Varro." 

On  the  first  day  of  his  sole  command,  Varro  moved  the  whole 
army  to  the  right  bank  of  the  Aufidus,  between  Cannae  and  the 
sea,  so  that  the  river  only  separated  the  Roman  camp  from  that 
of  the  Carthaginians.  Next  day  ^milius  fortified  a  smaller  camp 
on  the  left  side  of  the  river,  fronting  Hannibal,  so  as  to  secure 
the  passage  of  the  river,  but  resolutely  declined  battle.  On  the 
third  day,  however,  when  morning  broke,  the  red  standard,  which 
was  the  Roman  signal  for  battle,  was  seen  flying  from  Varro's  tent. 
The  men  rejoiced  at  this ;  they  were  sick  of  their  long  inactivity  ; 
they  were  confident  in  their  numbers,  and  the  resolution  of  their 
favourite  Varro  was  highly  applauded. 

§  24.  When  JEmilius  found  that  a  battle  must  be  fought  on 
the  plain  of  Cannae,  he  did  his  best  to  support  his  colleague. 
The  whole  army  was  drawn  up  nearly  facing  south,  with  the  right 
resting,  on  the  river  Aufidus.  The  Roman  cavalry,  only  2400 
strong,  were  on  this  right  flank ;  the  left  was  covered  in  like 
manner  by  the  cavalry  of  the  Allies.    JEmilius  commanded  on  the 

*  It  is  probable,  however,  that  the  Roman  Calendar  was  in  error,  and  that 
the  battle  was  really  fought  earlier  in  the  year.  See  Clinton,  F.  H,  iil 
anno  216. 


Chap.  XXXI.        SECOND  PUNIC  WAR:  PERIOD  I.  313 

right,  Varro  on  the  left ;  the  centre  was  under  the  orders  of  Ser- 
vilius  and  Atilius,  the  Proconsuls.  It  must  be  especially  observed 
that  the  Legionaries  and  Allied  Infantry  were  not  drawn  up,  as 
usual,  in  an  open  and  far-extended  line,  leaving  considerable  gaps 
between  each  manipulus;  but  the  ranks  were  made  very  deep 
and  closed  up  almost  like  the  Phalanx.  It  has  been  above  ob- 
served how  serviceable  the  Phalanx  was  on  plain  ground ;  and 
probably  the  Consuls  imagined  that  by  this  order  they  might 
OxTer  a  more  complete  resistance  to  the  formidable  cavalry  of 
Hannibal,  which  might  be  expected  to  break  itself  against  these 
compact  masses  of  infantry. 

But  Hannibal  skilfully  availed  himself  of  this  close  array,  and 
formed  his  line  accordingly.  He  had  crossed  the  river  early,  as 
soon  as  he  saw  the  Romans  in  motion.  The  Spanish  and  Gallic 
Infantry,  which  were  much  inferior  in  number  to  the  Romans, 
he  drew  out  in  an  extended  line,  equal  in  length  to  that  of  the 
enemy,  but  much  less  deep  and  massive.  This  line  advanced  in 
a  convex  form,  and  at  each  end  he  placed  his  Africans,  armed 
with  the  spoils  of  former  battles,  so  as  to  form  two  flanking 
columns  of  narrow  front  but  great  depth.  He  himself,  with  his 
brother  Mago,  commanded  the  infantry.  On  his  left  flank,  next 
the  river,  were  the  heavy  cavalry  of  Spain  and  Gaul,  commanded 
by  an  officer  named  Hasdrubal,  not  the  brother  of  the  General. 
On  the  right  were  the  Numidian  light  horse,  under  the  orders  o* 
Maharbal. 

Hannibal  was  in  high  spirits  at  the  prospect  of  the  battle. 
He  had  ascended  an  eminence  to  gain  a  better  view  of  the 
Roman  lines :  and  as  he  stood  surveying  them,  surrounded  by 
his  oflBcers,  one  of  them,  named  Gisgo,  remarked  on  "the  won- 
derful numbers"  of  the  enemy.  "Ah,"  said  Hannibal,  "there  is 
one  thing  about  them  more  wonderful  than  their  numbers." 
Gisgo  asked  what  he  meant.  "  Why,"  replied  the  General,  "  in 
all  that  vast  number  there  is  not  one  man  called  Gisgo."  This 
sally  raised  a  laugh ;  the  gaiety  of  the  General  was  an  earnest  of 
victory. 

§  25.  After  some  indecisive  skirmishing  betwen  the  light  troops, 
the  real  battle  began  with  a  conflict  on  the  river-side  between  the 
Roman  cavalry  and  the  horse  of  Hasdrubal.  The  latter  were 
greatly  superior  in  force,  and  charged  with  such  effect  as  to  drive 
the  Roman  horse  across  the  river. 

Meantime  the  Roman  legions,  and  their  allied  infantry,  ad- 
vanced steadily  against  Hannibal's  centre.  The  long  crescent- 
shaped  line  above  described  was  quite  unable  to  withstand  the 
shock.  Nor  had  the  General  expected  it.  On  the  contrary,  he 
bad  instructed  the  centre  so  to  fall  back,  as  to  form  a  coucavo 

14 


314  ROME  AND  CARTHAGE.  Book  IV. 

figure,  and  then  the  whole  line  to  retire  slowly,  in  order  to  draw  the 
Roman  masses  on  between  the  African  flanking  columns.  This 
order  was  obeyed  with  great  precision.  The  Romans  pressed 
eagerly  on  the  retiring  foe ;  but  as  they  advanced,  the  Africans, 
on  either  hand,  wheeled  half-round  opposite  ways,  and  attacked 
the  Romans  on  both  flanks.  The  latter,  jammed  together,  and 
assailed  on  both  sides,  fell  into  great  disorder,  very  few  of  their 
vast  army  being  able  to  use  their  weapons.  But  the  Consul 
^milius,  who  had  been  wounded  by  a  sling,  in  an  early  part  of 
the  action,  and  hr/l  vainly  endeavoured  to  make  the  Roman  ca- 
valry keep  their  ground,  contrived  to  restore  some  sort  of  order; 
and  it  seemed  as  if  the  battle  was  not  lost ;  when  Hasdrubal  fell 
upon  the  rear  of  the  legions,  and  the  rout  became  complete. 

This  able  officer,  after  destroying  the  Roman  cavalry,  had  led 
his  heavy  horse  round  to  the  other  wing,  where  he  found  the 
Numidians,  engaged  with  the  allied  cavalry.  The  latter  being 
borne  down  by  the  whole  force  of  Hannibal's  cavalry,  speedily 
turned  their  backs ;  and  Hasdrubal,  leaving  Maharbal  to  pursue 
them,  made  that  decisive  charge  upon  the  rear  of  the  legions, 
which  completed  the  defeat  of  the  Roman  army. 

Then  the  battle  became  a  mere  massacre.  The  Romans  and 
Allies,  mingled  in  a  disorderly  mass,  were  cut  down  on  all  sides. 
The  Consul  ^milius  fell.  Varro,  with  but  seventy  horsemen, 
escaped  to  Venusia.  Other  parties  of  fugitives  made  good  their 
retreat  to  Canusium ;  some  thousands  took  refuge  in  the  camps. 
But  on  the  bloody  field  that  evening,  there  lay  dead,  at  the 
lowest  computation,  more  than  40,000  Roman  foot  and  3,000  horse. 
The  loss  in  the  cavalry  involved  the  death  of  some  of  the 
wealthiest  and  most  distinguished  men  at  Rome.  With  them 
had  fallen  one  Consul,  both  the  Proconsuls,  both  the  Quaestors, 
one-and-twenty  out  of  eight-and-forty  Tribunes,  and  not  less  than 
eighty  Senators.  And  to  add  to  this,  all  who  had  taken  refuge  in 
the  camp  surrendered  at  discretion  next  day.  Hannibal's  loss  is 
variously  stated  at  from  six  to  eight  thousand.* 

§  26.  This  then  was  the  battle  of  Cannae.  History  does  not 
record  any  defeat  more  complete,  and  very  few  more  murderous. 
The  great  army  levied  to  conquer  Hannibal  had  been  annihilated. 

*  The  slaughter  in  ancient  battles  was  much  greater  than  in  modem. 
At  "Waterloo  the  English  loss  in  killed  and  wounded  was  about  15,000,  the 
French  more  than  double.  The  killed  are  generally  about  one-fifth  of  the 
whola  But  in  ancient  battles  we  never  hear  of  wounded;  for  in  ancient 
battles  the  conflict  was  hand  to  hand,  and  few  were  left  wounded  on  the  field. 
In  these  also  the  lines  were  generally  much  closer  and  deeper,  and  the 
attack  took  place  along  the  whole  line  instead  of  on  single  points  ;  so  that, 
in  case  of  a  defeat,  the  conquered  army  was  wholly  at  the  mercy  of  the  con- 
queror. 


Chap.  XXXI.        SECOND  PUNIC  WAR:  PERIOD  I.  315 

The  feverish  anxiety  with  which  all  men  at  Rome  followed  the 
Consuls  to  the  field  may  be  imagined ;  those  who  stayed  behind 
in  horrible  suspense,  flocked  to  the  temples,  otfered  vows,  con- 
sulted the  auguries,  raked  up  omens  and  prophecies,  left  no  means 
untried  to  divine  the  issue  of  the  coming  battle.  What  must 
have  been  the  dismay,  what  the  amazement,  with  which  they  re- 
ceived the  first  uncertain  tidings  of  defeat !  what  the  despair,  what 
tli3  stupor,  which  the  dreadful  reality  produced ! 

Among  the  fugitives  who  came  in  with  the  tidings,  was  a 
Tribune  of  the  Legions,  Cn.  Lentulus  by  name.  As  he  rode  off 
the  field,  he  had  seen  ^milius  the  Consul  sitting  on  a  stone, 
mortally  wounded.  He  had  dismounted  and  offered  him  his 
horse.  But  the  Consul  replied,  "  No,  my  hours  are  numbered  : 
go  thou  to  Rome,  seek  out  Q.  Fabius,  and  bid  him  prepare  to 
defend  the  city :  tell  him  that  vEmilius  dies,  as  he  lived,  mindful 
of  his  precepts  and  example."  To  Fabius,  indeed,  all  eyes  were 
now  turned.  The  Senate  instantly  met ;  and  at  his  motion,  each 
Senator  was  invested  with  the  power  of  a  magistrate :  they  were 
to  prevent  all  public  lamentations  ;*  to  hinder  the  people  from 
maeting  in  the  Forum,  lest  they  should  pass  resolutions  in  favour 
of  peace ;  to  keep  the  gates  well  guarded,  suffering  no  one  to 
pass  in  or  out  without  a  special  order.  Every  one  feared  to  see 
the  army  of  Hannibal  defiling  through  the  Apennines  upon  the 
plain  of  Latium. 

§  27.  What  the  Romans  feared  the  Carthaginians  desired. 
"  Only  send  me  on,"  said  Maharbal  to  the  General,  "  with  the 
cavalry,  and  within  five  days  thou  shalt  sup  in  the  Capitol." 
But  Hannibal  thought  otherwise.  His  army  was  small :  he  was 
totally  unprovided  with  materials  for  a  siege ;  Rome  was  strongly 
fortified.  He  felt  that  the  mere  appearance  of  his  army  before 
the  walls  would  rather  rouse  to  action  than  terrify  into  submission ; 
and  meanwhile  the  golden  time  for  raising  the  Samnites  and 
other  nations  of  Italy  might  be  lost.  Already  was  he  in  negocia- 
tion  with  the  leading  men  at  Capua,  a  city  second  only  to  Rome 
in  point  of  size,  superior  probably  in  wealth.  To  this  place  he 
resolved  to  march  as  soon  as  his  men  were  rested.  When  their 
Allies  had  deserted,  Rome  must  agree  to  his  terms,  without  giving 
him  the  trouble  of  a  siege. 

He  resolved,  however,  to  try  the  temper  of  the  Romans,  and 
accordingly  sent  ten  of  the  chief  men  among  his  prisoners,  with 
offers  to  hold  all  whom  he  had  taken  to  ransom.  The  Senate,  on 
the  motion   of  T.   Manlius  Torquatus,  a  man  who  had  inherited 

*  ov6'  eld  KXaLEtv  Ufua/uog  fiiyag'  oi  61  atUTrrj 

veKpodc  TTvpKaifjc  £TT£V)jveov,  dxvvjuevoi  Krip. — J\.  H.  42*7. 


Si6  ROME  AND  CARTHAGE!.  Book  IY. 

the  stern  decision  of  his  ancestor,  refused  to  admit  the  messengers 
to  an  audience,  and  ordered  all  to  return,  as  they  had  bound 
themselves,  to  Hannibal's  camp.  One  man  conceived  he  had  ful- 
filled his  promise,  because  he  had  gone  back  on  pretence  of  hav- 
ing forgotten  something.  But  the  Senate  sent  him  back  with 
his  companions.  Hannibal  was  greatly  provoked  at  this  almost 
contemptuous  reply  to  his  advances.  He  immediately  sold  the 
greater  part  of  his  prisoners  into  slavery.  This  was  but  the  com- 
mon custom  of  the  times.  But  besides  this,  he  reserved  the  bravest 
and  noblest  youths,  in  order  to  fight  as  gladiators  for  the  amuse- 
ment of  his  army  ;  and  on  their  refusal,  he  put  them  to 
death  by  torture.*  The  fact  shows,  that  in  moments  of  passion 
Hannibal  was  too  justly  liable  to  the  accusation  of  barbarous 
cruelty. 

§  28.  The  Senate  were  now  busily  occupied  in  taking  all  steps 
possible  for  the  safety  of  Rome.  The  public  horror  was  in- 
creased by  a  discovery  that  two  Vestal  virgins  had  been  guilty 
of  unchastity.  One  was,  as  the  law  directed,  buried  alive ;  the 
other  put  herself  to  death.  To  avert  the  wrath  of  the  gods, 
Fabius  Pictor  was  sent  to  consult  the  Greek  oracle  at  Delphi ; 
and  by  the  orders  of  the  Sibylline  books,  a  Greek  man  and 
woman  and  a  Gaulish  man  and  woman  were  buried  alive  in  the 
Forum,  according  to  the  same  horrid  practice  used  in  the  last 
great  Gallic  War.f  But  to  these  superstitious  rites  were  added 
wiser  precautions.  Fabius,  with  the  coolness  of  age  and  expe- 
rience, continued  to  direct  their  measures.  M.  Claudius  Mar- 
cellus,  one  of  the  Praetors,  was  at  Ostia  with  some  troops  for  the 
service  of  the  fleet,  and  one  legion.  He  was  ordered  to  bring 
these  troops  to  Rome,  while  he  himself  was  sent  to  take  the 
command  of  the  fugitives  in  Apulia.  For  by  this  time  despatches 
had  arrived  from  Varro,  stating  that  he  had  been  joined  by  about 
four  thousand  men  at  Venusia,  and  that  about  the  same  number 
had  assembled  at  Canusium  under  App.  Claudius,  young  P.  Scipio 
(now  about  nineteen  years  of  age,)  and  other  Tribunes.  It  was 
added,  that  some  of  the  young  nobles  at  Canusium,  headed  by  a 
Metellus,  had  formed  a  plan  to  fly  from  Italy  and  off'er  their  ser- 
vices to  some  foreign  prince,  despairing  of  the  Republic;  that 
young  Scipio  had  gone  instantly  to  the  lodgings  of  Metellus,  and 
standing  over  him  with  a  drawn  sword,  had  made  him  swear  that 
neither  would  he  desert  the  Republic,  nor  allow  others  to  do  so*, 
that  to  support  the  noble  conduct  of  Scipio,  Varro  had  himself 
transferred  his  head-quarters  to  Canusium,  and  was  using  all  his 
^ffbrts  to  collect  and  organise  the  remains  of  the  defeated  army. 

*  This  is  noticed  by  Dio  Cassius,  and  others.     Comp.  Polyb.  i.  62. 
f  See  Chapt.  xxvii.  §  ]  8. 


Chap.  XXXI.        SECOND  PUNIC  WAR:  PERIOD  I.  Sll 

On  tlie  arrival  of  Marcellus  at  Canusium,  Varro  set  out  to 
Rome  to  make  a  personal  report  of  his  conduct.  With  what 
feelings  he  approached  the  city  may  be  imagined.  But  as  he 
drew  near,  the  Senate  and  People  went  out  to  meet  him,  and 
publicly  thanked  him,  "  for  that  he  had  not  despaired  of  the  Re- 
public." History  presents  no  nobler  spectacle  than  this.  Had 
he  been  a  Carthaginian  general,  he  would  have  been  cruci- 
fied. 

The  Dictator  ordered  levies  in  Rome  and  Latium.  But  the 
immense  losses  sustained  in  the  three  past  years  had  thinned  the 
ranks  of  those  who  were  on  the  military  list.  From  the  action 
on  the  Ticinus  to  Cannae,  the  loss  of  the  Romans  and  their 
allies  could  not  have  been  less  than  80,000  men.  And  therefore, 
while  the  regular  levies  were  slowly  proceeding,  the  Dictator  pro- 
posed to  buy  8000  slaves  from  their  masters  to  serve  as  light 
troops ;  and  also  to  enrol  debtors,  prisoners,  and  other  persons  by 
law  incapable  of  serving  in  the  Roman  Legions.  Marcellus  had 
now  drawn  the  eight  or  ten  thousand  fugitives  from  Canusium 
into  Campania,  and  took  his  post  at  Casilinum.  All  commanders 
Avere  instructed  to  keep  to  the  defensive  system  of  Fabius,  and  on 
no  account  to  risk  another  battle. 

§  29.  Meanwhile  Hannibal  had  advanced  throughi  Samnium  to 
Capua,  where  he  found  all  prepared  to  receive  him.  The  Senate, 
who  were  in  the  interest  of  Rome,  were  dismissed,  and  the  chief 
power  committed  to  a  popular  leader,  named  Pacuvius  Calavius. 
His  first  act  was  to  seize  on  all  Romans  resident  in  the  city  and 
put  them  to  death ;  he  then  made  an  agreement  with  Hannibal 
that  no  Carthaginian  oflScer  should  exercise  authority  in  Capua, 
but  that  all  the  magistrates,  as  heretofore,  should  be  of  their  own 
choice ;  and  demanded  that  300  Roman  prisoners  should  be  put 
into  his  hands  as  hostages  for  the  safety  of  300  Capuan  knights 
who  were  serving  in  the  Roman  army  in  Sicily.  Hannibal  agreed 
to  all  their  demands,  and  entered  this  great  and  wealthy  city  in 
triumph.  One  man  only,  by  name  Decius  Magius,  ventured  to 
oppose  the  measures  of  Pacuvius.  Hannibal  treated  him  with 
magnanimous  clemency,  and  contented  himself  with  sending  him 
off  to  Africa.  The  rest  of  the  Roman  party  held  their  peace,  and 
were  suffered  to  remain  in  Capua. 

§  30.  All  Southern  Italy  had  by  this  time  declared  in  Han- 
nibal's favour.  Most  of  the  Apulians,  the  Hirpinian  and  Cau- 
dinian  Samnites,  the  Surrentines,  most  of  the  Lucanians,  the 
Bruttians,  and  all  the  Greek  cities  of  the  South  which  were  not 
held  by  Roman  garrisons,  welcomed  him  as  their  deliverer.  It 
seemed  as  if  he  were  now  about  to  realise  his  great  project  of 
raising  Italy  in  insurrection  against  Rome. 


318  ROME  AND  CARTHAGE.  Book  IV. 

He  was  obliged  to  send  detachments  of  his  army  into  these 
several  districts;  and  he  employed  what  small  force  he  still 
retained  in  attempting  to  gain  possession  of  the  cities  in  the 
plains  of  Campania.  Nuceria,  Acerra,  and  some  others  sub- 
mitted, as  Capua  had  done.  But  Neapolis  and  Cumse  closed 
their  gates ;  and  the  Senate  of  Nola,  fearing  that  the  people 
might  rise  against  them,  as  at  Capua,  sent  for  Marcellus  to 
Casilinum.  This  bold  and  enterprising  officer  threw  himself 
into  the  city,  and  by  a  successful  sally  repulsed  Hannibal  from 
the  gates.  He  then  seized  and  executed  seventy  persons  who 
were  suspected  of  treason,  and  entrenched  himself  strongly  in  a 
fixed  camp  near  the  city.  Hannibal  being  thus  repulsed  from 
Nola,  determined  to  invest  Casilinum,  which  from  its  close 
proximity  to  Capua  was  likely  to  prove  a  troublesome  neighbour.* 
The  garrison  held  out  obstinately ;  but  as  Marcellus  dared  not 
risk  an  action  to  relieve  them,  they  were  at  length  obliged  to 
yield  to  the  Carthaginian.  This  was  almost  the  only  town  in 
Italy  which  he  took  by  a  regular  siege. 

§  31.  Hannibal  now  went  into  winter  quarters  at  Capua,  in 
expectation  of  receiving  succours  from  home.  Soon  after  the  battle 
he  had  sent  off  his  brother  Mago  to  carry  home  the  tidings  of  his 
great  success.  For  three  years  he  had  pursued  a  career  of  victory 
unassisted  by  the  Government :  Rome  was  at  his  feet :  he  only 
wanted  force  enough  to  crush  her.  In  proof  of  the  greatness  of 
the  victory  of  Cannae,  Mago  poured  out  on  the  floor  of  the 
Senate-house  a  bushel  of  gold  rings,  which  had  been  worn  by 
Roman  knights  who  had  fallen  on  that  fatal  field.  But  the 
jealous  Government,  headed  by  a  Hanno,  the  mortal  enemy  of 
the  Barcine  family,  listened  coldly  to  Mago's  words :  they  asked 
"  whether  one  Roman  or  Latin  citizen  had  joined  Hannibal  ?  He 
wanted  men  and  money :  what  more  could  he  want,  had  he  lost 
the  battle  instead  of  winning  it  ?"  At  length,  however,  '.t  was 
agreed  that  Mago  should  carry  reinforcements  to  Hannibal.  But 
the  war  in  Spain  soon  assumed  so  threatening  an  aspect,  that 
these  succours  were  diverted  to  this  nearer  danger,  and  Mago  was 
ordered  to  lead  them  to  the  support  of  his  brother  Hasdrubal  in 
that  country.  All  that  reached  Hannibal  was  a  paltry  force  of 
4000  Numidian  horse,  with  about  forty  elephants,  and  a  stinted 
supply  of  money. 

§  32.  Perhaps  the  General  had  not  expected  much  from  this 
quarter.  No  doubt  the  person  to  whom  he  looked  for  chief  sup- 
port was  his  brother  Hasdrubal  in  Spain.     But  here,  too,  he  was 

*  Casilinum  is  the  modern  Capua,  It  lies  on  the  river.  The  site  of  the 
ancient  Capua  is  about  two  miles  eastward,  on  an  eminence. 


Chap.  XXXI.  SECOND  PUNIC  WAR:  PERIOD  L  319 

doomed  to  disappointment.  It  will  be  remembered  that  P.  Scipio, 
the  Consul  of  the  year  218,  when  he  returned  from  Marseilles  to 
Pisa,  had  sent  on  his  brother  Cneius  with  proconsular  command 
into  Spain,  according  to  the  original  orders  of  the  Senate.  The 
wisdom  of  this  step  was  fully  proved  by  the  event.  Cn.  Scipio 
landed  at  Emporium  (Ampurias),  an  old  Greek  colony.  Within 
the  year  he  had  driven  Hanno  across  the  Ebro,  and  recovered  the 
Roman  dominion  in  Spain.  In  the  next  year,  the  year  of  Trasi- 
msne,  he  defeated  Ilasdrubal  by  sea,  ravaged  the  coast  up  to  the  sub- 
urbs of  New  Carthage,  and  made  large  booty  in  one  of  the  Balearic 
Isles.  P.  Scipio  joined  his  brother  towards  the  close  of  the  same 
year ;  and  by  the  time  that  the  battle  of  Cannae  had  made  Hanni- 
bal master  of  Southen  Italy,  the  two  brothers  had  subdued  all 
Northern  Spain. 

§  33.  Hannibal's  hopes,  therefore,  of  reinforcements  for  the  next 
campaign  rested  with  his  new  Italian  allies.  The  additional  cavalry 
and  elephants  from  Carthage,  would  still  give  him  the  command 
of  the  open  country.  But  the  Romans  had  learnt  wisdom  by 
sore  experience,  and  Hannibal  could  not  expect  to  win  great  vic- 
tories, such  as  had  marked  his  first  three  campaigns.  What  he 
wanted  was  a  good  engineer  corps  and  siege  apparatus,  to  take 
the  Latin  Colonies  and  other  Free  Towns,  which  even  in  the  dis- 
tricts that  had  joined  him  still  maintained  the  cause  of  Rome. 
Why  he  did  not  employ  his  winter  at  Capua  in  organising  a  force 
of  this  nature  we  know  not.  Whether  it  was  that  he  thought 
Rome  was  too  much  weakened  to  make  head  against  him,  or 
whether  the  Italians  were  jealpus  of  his  authority,  and,  fearing  to 
make  him  their  master,  never  provided  him  with  any  efficient 
force,  we  know  not.  The  clear  narrative  of  Polybius  deserts  us 
after  the  battle  of  Cannae  ;  and  the  history  of  Livy,  beautiful  as  it 
is,  fails  in  all  that  precise  information  which  would  account  for 
Hannibal's  apparent  remissness  during  the  winter.  But,  whatever 
was  the  cause,  he  was  never  able  to  take  towns  by  force ;  and  the 
Romans  never  gave  him  an  opportunity  of  winning  another  great 
battle.  Consequently  all  the  Latin  Colonies  and  Free  Towns 
remained  faithful  to  Rome,  and  Hannibal  was  only  half  master 
even  of  Southern  Italy. 

§  34.  The  Romans,  for  their  part,  passed  the  winter  in  the  most 
active  preparations.  The  first  step  necessary  was  to  fill  up  tha 
numerous  vacancies  caused  in  the  Senate  by  the  late  disastrous  bat- 
tles. It  appeared,  on  calling  over  the  list,  that  no  fewer  than  one 
hundred  and  seventy-seven  members  were  missing.  Sp.  Carvilius 
proposed  to  recruit  the  ranks  of  the  Senate  by  admitting  the  chief 
citizens  of  the  Latin  towns,  but  this  liberal  proposal  was  not  list- 
ened to  ;  and  it  was  resolved  to  commit  the  whole  business  to  the 


320  ROME  AND  CARTHAGK  Book  FV. 

care  of  a  Dictator  specially  appointed  for  the  purpose.  The  person 
chosen  was  M.  Fabius  Bnteo,  the  same  who  had  been  sent  as  chief 
ambassador  to  Carthage  in  the  year  219  b.c.  He  was  an  old  man, 
universally  respected  ;  and  the  way  he  discharged  the  duty  laid 
upon  him  gave  great  satisfaction.  The  bravest  and  the  worthiest 
men  were  named  as  the  new  members.  The  Consuls  elected  for 
the  ensuing  year  were  T.  Sempronius  Gracchus  and  L.  Postumius, 
Vfho  was  now  Praetor  commanding  in  Cisalpine  Gaul.  But  before 
the  Ides  of  March  came  the  sad  intelligence  that  Postumius, 
with  all  his  army,  had  been  cut  off  by  the  Gauls.  Fabius  Maxi- 
mus  himself  was  elected  Consul  for  the  third  time,  to  supply  his 
place.  Marcellus  and  Varro  were  to  remain  in  command  as 
Proconsuls. 

Yet  to  support  the  vast  expenses  of  the  war  means  were  scanty, 
for  the  revenues  of  the  whole  of  Southern  Italy  were  cut  off.  The 
direct  taxes  were  doubled ;  and  to  regulate  the  collection  of  this 
impost,  three  Commissioners*  were  appointed  by  a  special  law.* 
The  Praetors  in  Sicily  and  Sardinia  were  informed  that  they  must 
raise  money  to  pay  their  forces  within  their  Provinces ;  and,  fortu- 
nately for  Rome,  King  Hiero  of  Syracuse  supplied  money  to  her 
treasury  even  in  her  most  exhausted  state.  But  he  died  at  the 
close  of  this  year,f  and  it  was  well  known  that  both  these  pro- 
vinces were  on  the  eve  of  revolt. 

§  35.  It  must  have  been  a  further  discouragement  to  find  that 
Hannibal  had  entered  into  negociations  with  Philip  King  of  Macc- 
don.  The  messengers  of  the  King  were  taken  on  their  way  to 
Capua.  For  the  present,  therefore,  the  danger  to  be  expected  from 
this  quarter  was  averted ;  but  for  the  future  the  prospect  was 
made  more  gloomy.  Yet  nothing  availed  to  break  the  courage  or 
shake  the  determination  of  the  Senate. 

Few  things,  probably,  could  mark  the  public  feeling  more  than 
a  law  which  was  passed  in  the  next  year  at  the  instance  of  the 
Tribune  Oppius,  by  which  it  was  forbidden  that  any  woman  should 
wear  a  gay-coloured  dress,  or  have  more  than  half  an  ounce  of 
gold  to  ornament  her  person,  and  that  none  should  approach 
within  a  mile  of  any  city  or  town  in  a  car  drawn  by  horses. 
Public  need  must  be  very  urgent  before  it  is  possible  to  restrain 
rivate  expense  by  enactments  so   rigid  as  those  of  the  Oppian 

w. 

*  Triumviri  mensarii  (Liv.  xxiii.  22). 
f  Clinton,  F.  H.  ii.  p.  267,  Not.  (Ed.  2). 


Head  of  Marcellus,  on  a  Coin  of  Marcellinus. 


CHAPTER    XXXII. 

SECOND    PUNIC    WAR.       SECOND    PERIOD    (215—211   B.C.). 

g  1.  Fabius  and  his  coadjutors.  §  2.  Plan  of  the  campaign  on  both  sidea 
§  3.  Gracchus  attacks  the  Capuans :  Marcellus  sallies  from  Nola  and  defeats 
a  division  of  the  Carthaginians.  §  4.  Fabius  sets  aside  the  election  of  the 
tribes.  §  5.  Order  with  respect  to  the  soldiers  of  Cannae.  §  6.  Hanno 
fails  before  Beneventum,  Hannibal  before  Tarentum.  §  7.  Uncertainty  of 
Hannibal's  position  in  Southern  Italy.  §  8.  War  declared  against  Philip 
of  Macedon.  §  9.  Insurrection  in  Sardinia.  §  10.  Death  of  Hiero,  and 
revolt  of  Syracuse.  §  11.  Marcellus  takes  Leontini  and  begins  siege  of 
Syracuse.  §  12.  Extent  of  Syracuse.  §  13.  Vigorous  defence  by  Archi- 
medes :  general  defection  of  the  Sicilian  towns.  §  14.  Capture  of  Syracuse. 
§  15.  War  still  maintained  by  Epicydes,  with  the  assistance  of  the  African 
Mutin:  Ovation  of  Marcellus.  §  16.  Laevinus  in  Sicily;  the  war  ended  by 
the  desertion  of  Mutin.  §  17.  Hannibal  surprises  Tarentum,  and  blockades 
the  Citadel.  §  18.  Capua  besieged  by  Fulvius  and  Appius.  §  19.  Raised 
by  Hannibal :  heavy  losses  sustained  by  several  Roman  commanders.  §  20. 
Siege  of  Capua  resumed:  the  place  completely  invested.  §  21.  Hannibal's 
endeavour  to  reUeve  it  by  a  march  upon  Rome.  §  22.  Surrender  and 
punishment  of  Capua.  §  23.  Prospects  of  Hannibal.  §  24.  The  war  in 
Spain :   defeat  and  death  of  the  two  Scipios. 

§  1.  The  first  three  campaigns  of  this  great  war  have  been  nar- 
rated somewhat  explicitly,  because  of  the  remarkable  nature  of 
the  events.-  It  would  not  suit  the  plan  of  this  work  to  pursue 
the  same  course  with  the  remainder  of  the  war.  Nor  indeed  is 
it  possible  to  do  so  satisfactorily.  For  here  (as  we  have  said)  the 
narrative  of  Polybius  fails  us,  and  we  are  left  to  the  guidance  of  Livy, 
whose  account  of  military  movements  is  always  extremely  vague. 
The  first  period  closed  with  the  revolt  of  Capua.     That  which 


claims    our   attention  ends 
portant  city  by  the  Romans 


with   the   recovery  o^    nat  im- 


14* 


322  ROME  AND  CARTHAGE  Book  IY 

In  times  of  danger  and  difficulty,  the  chief  power  of  a  Republic 
usually  falls  into  the  hands  of  a  single  man,  who  is  thought  capa- 
ble of  saving  the  state.  At  Rome,  after  the  battle  of  Cannae,  Q. 
Fabius  Maximus  became  for  some  years  the  virtual  chief  of  Senate 
and  People.  He  was  great-grandson  of  that  Q.  Fabius  who  won 
so  high  a  name  in  the  Second  Samnite  War.  He  was  already  an 
old  man ;  more  than  seventy  summers  had  passed  over  his  head. 
His  disposition  was  so  mild  or  so  apathetic  that  he  was  known 
by  the  popular  name  of  Ovicula,  or  the  Lamb.  His  abilities  seem 
not  to  have  been  great.  His  merit  was  that  he  had  the  hardihood 
to  avow  that  the  Roman  militia  were  no  match  for  Hannibal's  vet- 
erans, and  the  courage  to  act  on  his  belief.  The  cautious  system 
which  he  had  practised  after  the  battle  of  Lake  Trasimene  had 
excited  discontent :  but  the  great  defeat  of  Cannae  had  most 
unhappily  vindicated  it.  For  some  years  it  was  rigorously  car- 
ried out  by  commanders  more  skilful  in  war  than  Fabius  him- 
self. 

Of  these  coadjutors  the  ablest  was  unquestionably  M.  Claudius 
Marcellus,  who  was  called  the  Sword  of  Rome,  as  Fabius  was 
called  the  Shield.  He  also  was  past  the  middle  age,  being  at  this 
time  more  than  fifty.  In  his  first  consulship  he  had  distinguished 
himself  by  a  brilliant  victory  over  the  Insubrian  Oauls  ;*  and  his 
name  now  stood  very  high,  for  having  given  the  first  check  to 
Hannibal  in  his  career  of  victory.  Marcellus  was  a  true  Roman 
soldier,  prompt  and  bold  in  action,  resolute  in  adversity,  stern 
and  unyielding  in  disposition,  blunt  and  illiterate,  yet  not  with- 
out touches  of  finer  feeling,  as  was  proved  at  the  siege  of  Syra- 
cuse, 

With  him  must  be  mentioned  Tib.  Sempronius  Gracchus,  a  man 
of  humane  and  kindly  temper,  and  possessing  high  talents  for  com- 
mand. Had  he  not  been  cut  off"  so  early,  he  might  have  rivalled 
the  fame  of  Marcellus. 

Q.  Fulvius  Flaccus,  who,  like  Marcellus,  had  already  been  twice 
Consul,  disdained  not  for  the  two  following  years  to  act  as  Praetor 
of  the  City.  He  enjoyed  the  confidence  of  Fabius  and  the  Senate, 
and  this  office  gave  him,  in  the  continued  absence  of  the  Consuls, 
the  whole  management  of  the  home  government.  He  was  not 
less  than  sixty  years  of  age,  discreet  and  cautious  as  Fabius  himself, 
but  more  active,  energetic,  and  relentless. 

These  and  other  able  men  kept  Hannibal  in  check  by  acting 
on  the  defensive  system  of  Fabius.  When  by  this  means  the 
strength  of  the  republic  was  recruited,  Scipio  came  forward  as 
the  author  of  an  oflfensive  system.     But  for  the  next  few  years, 

*  Above,  Chapt.  xxx.  §  15, 


Chap.  XXXn.       SECOND  PUNIC  WAR:   PERIOD  II.  323 

it  is  only  necessary  to  cast  the  eye  over  the  list  of  Consuls,  to  see 
how  that  office  was  limited  to  those  whom  Fabius,  as  the  Senate's 
Minister  for  War,  approved.* 

§  2.  The  plan  of  war  now  adopted  was  of  the  following  kind. 
The  two  Consuls  and  a  Proconsul  were  stationed  in  Campania, 
each  with  two  legions  and  their  auxiliary  cohorts.  In  the  present 
year  Fabius  took  post  on  the  Latin  road,  between  Cales  and  Casili- 
num  ;  Gracchus  occupied  the  entrenched  camp,  which  had  been 
formed  by  Marcellus  near  Sinuessa;  and  Marcellus  himself  occupied 
a  similar  camp  near  Nola.  Thus  these  commanders  were  always 
ready  to  harass  Capua,  and  were  also  able  to  make  forays  into 
Samnium,  Apulia,  and  Lucania,  whenever  Hannibal  was  absent. 
Their  connexion  with  the  sea  was  maintained  by  the  great  sea- 
ports of  Naples  and  Cumse. 

Hannibal,  on  the  other  hand,  formed  a  strong  camp  on  the  ridge 
of  Mount  Tifata  above  Capua.  But  he  was  often  obliged  to  move 
his  forces  into  the  south,  leaving  the  Capuans  to  defend  themselves. 
He  sent  Hanno  son  of  Bomilcar,  with  a  small  division,  into  Brattii, 
to  reassure  his  friends  in  that  quarter,  and  collect  recruits.  The 
Greek  towns  of  Locri  and  Croton  fell  into  the  hands  of  this  com- 
mander ;  but  the  Romans  retained  a  firm  hold  of  Rhegiura,  Thurii, 
Metapontum  and  Tarentum.  We  have  no  means  of  estimating 
the  amount  of  Hannibal's  army  ;  but  it  may  be  inferred  that  it 
was  small ;  we  never  find  him  able  to  act  in  force  both  in  Campa- 
nia and  in  the  south. 

§  3.  He  soon  came  in  collision  with  the  Consul  Gracchus.  This 
general  was  in  his  camp  at  Sinuessa,  busily  employed  in  training 
the  two  legions  of  slaves,  who,  by  the  name  of  Volones  or  Volun- 
teers, still  served  under  his  command.  Here  he  received  informa- 
tion from  the  people  of  Cumse  that  the  Capuans  were  coming  to 
hold  a  festival  near  their  city,  and  he  was  enabled  to  fall  upon  the 
Capuans  by  night,  and  slaughter  a  great  number.  The  news  soon 
reached  Hannibal,  who  descended  from  his  camp,  only  to  find 
Gracchus  safe  behind  the  walls  of  Cumse. 

*  Those  who  seem  to  have  been  opposed  to  Fabius  are  marked  with  an 
asterisk.     The  Patrician  Consul  stands  first  in  each  year. 
215  B.C.  Q.  Fabius  Maximus,  iii. 

Tib.  Sempronius  Gracchus. 
214  —  Q.  Fabius  Maximus,  iv. 

M.  Claudius  Marcellus,  iii. 
213   —  Q.  Fabius,  son  of  old  Fabius. 

Tib.  Sempronius  Gracchus,  ii. 
212   —   App.  Claudius  Pulcher. 

Q.  Fulvius  Flaccus,  iii. 


211  B.C.  *P.  Sulpicius  Galba. 

Cn.  Fulvius  Centumalus. 
210  —  *M.  Valerius  Laevinus. 

M.  Claudius  Marcellus,  ir. 
209  —     Q.  Fabius  Maximus,  v. 

Q.  Fulvius  Flaccus,  iv. 
208  —     T.  Quinctius  Crispinus. 

M.  Claudius  Marcellus,  v. 


Therefore,  out  of  sixteen  Consulships,  Fabius  and  his  eon  held  four,  Marcellus 
three,  Fulvius  two. 


S24  ROME  AND  CARTHAGE.  Book  IV. 

While  Gracchus  was  thus  engaged  at  Cumse,  Fabius  had  occupied 
his  camp  at  Sinuessa,  and  Marcellus  was  making  forays  in  the  Sam- 
nite  country.  The  sufferers  sent  earnest  appeals  for  defence  to 
Hannibal,  who  now  appeared  a  second  time  before  the  walls  of 
Nola,  being  induced  by  some  of  the  popular  party,  which  in  all 
the  cities  was  hostile  to  Rome,  to  hope  that  the  place  might 
be  betrayed.  But  Marcellus  made  a  well-timed  sally,  in  which  he 
cut  off  a  large  body  of  the  Carthaginian  army  ;  and  Hannibal, 
retiring  in  disappointment,  went  into  winter  quarters  at  Arpi  in 
Apulia. 

§  4.  Returning  spring  (214  B.C.)  found  Hannibal  again  in  his 
camp  on  Tifata,  and  the  same  Roman  commanders  opposed  to  him. 
Pabius  was  still  Consul,  with  Marcellus  for  his  colleague  ;  while 
Gracchus  had  taken  the  place  of  the  latter  as  Proconsul.  The 
circumstance  of  the  election  of  these  Consuls  deserves  noting, 
because  it  shows  how  completely  the  people  had  surrendered  their 
right  of  free  choice  into  the  hands  of  Fabius.  The  old  Consul,  on 
returning  to  hold  the  Comitia,  purposely  halted  in  the  Campus 
Martins,  and  held  the  election  without  having  entered  the  city. 
By  this  means  he  retained  his  Imperium,  or  absolute  power.  The 
Prerogative  Century,  which  happened  to  be  the  Juniors  of  the  An- 
iene  tribe,  gave  their  vote  for  M.  ^milius  Regillus  and  T.  Otacilius 
Crassus.  Otacilius  was  a  nephew  of  Fabius,  and  had  served  as 
Praetor  in  command  of  the  fleet  during  the  current  year,  but 
without  much  credit.  Upon  this  vote  being  given,  the  old  Consul 
stopped  the  proceedings  and  addressed  the  people.  "The  Re- 
public," he  said,  "was  struggling  for  existence;  she  was  main- 
taining nearly  twenty  legions  in  Italy  and  Sicily  and  other 
quarters ;  and  that  with  revenues  diminished  and  citizens  thin- 
ned ;  what  was  the  use  of  all  their  exertions  if  she  committed 
her  armies  to  untried  men  ?  Therefore,"  he  concluded,  "  go, 
Lictor,  call  back  the  Juniors  of  the  Aniene  tribe  to  give  their 
vote  anew."  All  men  felt  that  the  old  man  had  not  only  power, 
but  reason  on  his  side.  The  same  Century  which  had  voted 
for  other  men,  now  gave  their  voices  for  Fabius  himself  and 
Marcellus. 

§  5.  At  the  same  time  the  Senate  gave  an  earnest  of  their  stern 
determination  by  passing  a  decree  that  the  soldiers  of  Cannae  should 
be  sent  to  act  on  the  defensive  in  Sicily,  without  hope  of  honour 
and  glory  till  the  end  of  the  war.  And  the  Censors,  in  the  course 
of  this  year,  summoned  before  them  Metellus  and  the  others  who 
had  wished  to  desert  the  Republic  after  the  defeat  of  Cannae ;  and 
they  were  all  deprived  of  their  civic  rights.  Provision  was  also 
made  for  supporting  the  continued  drain  upon  the  Treasury ;  but  of 
this  hereafter, 


Chap.  XXXII.       SECOND  PUNIC  WAR:  PERIOD  U.  325 

§  6.  Early  in  this  campaign,  Hannibal  was  enticed  from  Cam- 
pan»a  by  a  message  sent  from  certain  friends  whom  he  had  made 
within  the  walls  of  Tarentum,  and  who  now  offered  to  betray  that 
large  and  important  town  to  him.  Meanwhile  he  ordered  Hanno 
to  come  up  from  Bruttii,  for  the  purpose  of  covering  Samnium 
and  Campania.  Hanno  seems  to  have  had  hopes  of  surprising 
the  Roman  colony  of  Beneventum.  But  the  Proconsul  Gracchus 
threw  himself  into  the  town ;  "  A.nd  now,"  he  told  his  Slave- 
soldiers,  "  now  the  time  was  come  when  they  might  win  their 
liberty.  Every  one  who  brought  in  an  enemy's  head  should 
be  made  free."  In  the  battle  which  followed,  victory  was  long 
undetermined ;  till  Gracchus  proclaimed  that  without  victory 
none  should  be  enfranchised ;  but  if  they  conquered,  none  should 
remain  a  slave.  Thus  the  desperate  conflict  was  determined  in 
favour  of  the  Romans,  and  Hanno,  after  great  loss,  made  good 
his  retreat  back  into  the  Bruttian  territory.  Then  Gracchus 
fulfilled  the  promise  made  to  his  Volones,  and  celebrated  their 
enfranchisement  by  a  public  festival,  in  which  they  all  appeared 
wearing  white  caps  in  token  of  liberty.  So  pleased  was  their 
commander  with  the  scene,  that  he  had  a  picture  painted  to  com- 
memorate it  on  the  walls  of  the  Temple  of  Liberty  on  the  Aventine 
Hill.  . 

Hannibal,  therefore,  had  the  mortification  to  hear  of  this  reverse, 
without  the  satisfaction  of  succeeding  in  his  own  expedition.  For 
M.  Valerius  Lsevinus,  the  Roman  Praetor  stationed  at  Brundusium, 
being  informed  of  the  plot  to  betray  Tarentum,  threw  a  strong- 
garrison  into  the  place  under  the  command  of  M.  Livius,  and  the 
conspirators  did  not  dare  to  attempt  the  fulfilment  of  their 
promises. 

§  7.  The  next  year  (213  b.c.)  was  still  less  fruitful  in  decisive 
events  than  the  two  foregoing.  That  is,  it  was  favourable  to  the 
Romans  ;  for  to  Hannibal's  cause  inaction  was  fatal.  And  there 
are  not  wanting  indications  to  show  that  the  Italians  who  had 
joined  him  began  even  now  to  falter  in  their  resolution,  and  to 
look  with  fearful  eyes  to  the  little  progress  he  had  made  since 
the  battle  of  Cannae,  and  to  the  tenacity  with  which  the  Romans 
kept  hold  of  every  city.  Arpi  in  Apulia,  Hannibal's  late  winter 
quarters,  was  betrayed  to  Fabius  the  younger,  who  was  now 
Consul,   assisted   by   his   father   as   legate.*      The  300   Capuan 

*  In  the  same  way  that  the  elder  Fabius  nad  acted  as  legate  to  his 
son  in  the  Third  Samnite  War,  Chapt.  xxiii.  §  8.  When  old  Fabius  arrived 
in  camp,  he  rode  up  to  greet  his  son,  who  bade  him  dismount  before  he 
presumed  to  appear  before  the  Consul.  The  old  man  alighted  and  said, 
"  My  son,  I  wished  to  see  if  thou  wouldst  remember  that  thou  wen 
OonauL" 


326  ROME  AND  CAKTHAGB.  Book  IV. 

knights  who  were  in  the  service  of  Rome  at  the  time  when 
their  city  threw  itself  into  Hannibal's  arms,  had  shown  their 
disapprobation  of  this  step  by  enrolling  themselves  as  citizens  of 
Eome ;  and  about  this  time  one  hundred  and  twelve  more  of  the 
game  order  came  into  the  Roman  camp  at  Suessula.  There 
can  be  no  doubt  that  the  aristocratic  party,  who  had  formed 
the  municipal  government  of  the  communities  in  connexion  with 
Eome,  were  all  against  Hannibal.  It  was  this  party  which  main- 
tained so  many  places  in  their  old  allegiance,  and  were  ready 
to  restore  to  Rome  such  places  as  had  revolted  at  the  first 
opportunity.  But  if  the  war  in  Italy  languished,  it  had  broken 
out  with  great  vigour  in  other  quarters.  Hannibal's  skilfuP 
negociations  had  raised  up  enemies  to  Rome  wherever  his 
envoys  could  find  an  opening — in  Macedonia,  in  Sardinia,  in 
Sicily. 

§  8.  It  has  been  mentioned  that  the  first  letters  of  Philip 
king  of  Macedon  to  Hannibal  had  been  intercepted  by  the 
Romans;  and  it  was  the  fear  of  an  attack  from  this  quarter 
that  had  induced  them  to  station  Lsevinus  with  a  fleet  at 
Brundusium.  A  second  embassy  was  more  successful,  and  an 
alliance  was  concluded  by  Hannibal  with  the  king,  by  which  the 
latter  bound  himself  to  send  an  auxiliary  force  to  support  the 
Carthaginians  in  Italy.  But  Laevinus  and  his  successors  carried 
the  war  into  Philip's  own  neighbourhood,  and  took  their  measures 
with  so  much  skill  and  energy  that  the  promised  succours  were 
never  sent. 

§  9.  In  Sardinia  an  insurrection  broke  out  in  the  year  after 
Cannae.  Q.  Fulvius,  the  City-Pra^tor,  was  ordered  to  provide  for 
its  suppression,  with  leave  to  appoint  any  commander  whom  he 
thought  fit.  He  straightway  made  choice  of  T.  Manlius  Torquatus, 
a  man  as  stern  and  uncompromising  as  himself,  who  in  his  Consul- 
ship twenty  years  before  had  first  conquered  the  island..  The  old 
general  landed  with  little  delay,  and  in  one  decisive  battle  com- 
pletely restored  Sardinia  to  subjection. 

§  10.  Aff'airs  in  Sicily  gave  much  more  trouble.  Indeed  in 
the  years  211  and  212  this  island  became  the  chief  seat  of  the 
war.  Hiero,  the  old  king  of  Syracuse,  who  for  fifty  years  had 
never  faltered  in  his  alliance  with  Rome,  had  died  soon  after  the 
fatal  day  of  Cannae.  He  was  succeeded  by  his  grandson  Hiero- 
nymus,  a  youth  of  fifteen  years  of  age,  whose  imagination  was 
captivated  by  the  brilliant  career  of  Hannibal.  The  able  Cartha- 
ginian soon  availed  himself  of  the  opportunity  which  thus  pre- 
sented itself  to  send  over  agents,  into  whose  hands  the  young 
prince  completely  surrendered  himself.  These  were  two  brothers 
named  Hippocrates  and  Epicydes,  Syracusan  Greeks  by  descent, 


Chap.  XXXTL       SECOND  PUNIC  WAR:  PERIOD  II.  32V 

but  natives  of  Carthage.  The  young  King,  however,  after  a  little 
more  than  a  year's  reign,  was  assassinated  by  a  gang  of  obscure 
conspirators  in  the  main  street  of  Leontini.  A  republic  was 
immediately  proclaimed  at  Syracuse :  and  shortly  after,  all  the 
remaining  members  of  the  royal  family  were  massacred  with 
circumstances  of  singular  atrocity.  The  question  now  was  whether 
the  new  government  should  side  with  Rome  or  Carthage.  The 
brothers,  Hippocrates  and  Epicydes,  had  at  first  resolved  to  return 
to  Hannibal ;  but  they  changed  their  plan,  and  pretending  to  fall 
in  with  the  views  of  the  conspirators,  were  elected  Generals-in- 
Chief  with  several  others.  Yet  the  popular  feeling  seems  to  have 
inclined  towards  Rome  ;  and  when  App.  Claudius  the  Praetor,  who 
had  been  watching  the  course  of  events  from  Murgantia,  a  seaport 
about  thirty  miles  north  of  Syracuse,  appeared  off  the  harbour 
with  a  squadron  of  100  ships,  it  was  agreed  to  conclude  a  treaty 
with  Rome. 

Before  long,  however,  Hippocrates,  true  to  the  interests  of  his 
master,  contrived  to  leave  Syracuse  with  a  body  of  troops.  He  re- 
paired to  Leontini,  and  here  he  was  soon  joined  by  his  brother 
Epicydes.  They  then  threw  off  the  mask ;  and  the  Leontines  de- 
clared themselves  independent  of  Syracuse. 

This  was  probably  late  in  the  year  214  b.c.  And  about  that 
time  the  Consul  Marcellus  arrived  to  take  the  command  of  the  army 
in  Sicily  ;  for  Appius  foreseeing  that  war  was  at  hand,  had  sent 
despatches  to  the  Senate  early  in  the  year. 

§  11.  Marcellus,  without  delay,  laid  siege  to  Leontini,  and  took 
the  town  by  assault.  He  did  what  he  could  to  spare  the  inhabi- 
tants ;  but  he  was  guilty  of  a  piece  of  most  imprudent  severity  in 
scourging  and  putting  to  death  as  deserters  2000  of  the  garrison, 
who  had  once  been  in  the  service  of  Rome.  It  appears  that  the 
troops  whom  Hiero  had  sent  over  to  the  succour  of  Rome,  had 
returned  home  on  the  death  of  that  prince,  and  that  these  men 
were  now  in  the  Syracusan  army.  When  they  heard  of  the  cruel 
death  of  their  comrades  at  Leontini,  they  lent  a  ready  ear  to 
the  persuasion  of  Hippocrates  and  Epicydes,  who  had  escaped 
from  Leontini  and  now  turned  the  severity  of  Marcellus  to  good 
account.  These  two  adventurers  were  elected  sole  Generals,  and 
Syracuse  closed  her  gates  against  Rome.  Marcellus  made  some 
fruitless  attempts  at  negociation ;  and  finally  commenced  the  siege 
of  Syracuse. 

§  12.  The  city  of  Syracuse  had  been  greatly  enlarged  since  the 
Athenian  expedition.*  The  island  of  Ortygia  had  become  the 
citadel,    and   the  suburb  along  the  sea-coast,   called  Achradina, 

*  See  the  plan  in  Dr.  Smith's  *'  History  of  G-reece,"  p.  337. 


328  ROME  AND  CARTHAGE.  Book  IV. 

was  now  part  of  the  town.  The  rugged  triangular  surface  called 
Epipolse  was  well  fortified,  and  its  northern  approaches,  especially, 
were  strongly  defended  by  a  fort  called  Hexapylum. 

§  13.  Marcellus  at  first  attempted  to  take  the  city  by  assault. 
He  himself  attacked  the  sea-wall  of  Achradina,  while  Appius 
attempted  to  force  Hexapylum.  The  Romans  were  always  famous 
for  their  skill  in  the  attack  and  defence  of  fortifications,  and  Mar- 
cellus was  well  provided  with  engines  of  all  kinds.  But  within 
the  walls  was  an  engineer  more  skilful  than  any  they  possessed. 
Archimedes,  the  most  celebrated  mathematician  of  ancient  times, 
was  now  75  years  old,  but  age  had  not  quenched  the  inventive 
vigour  of  his  mind.  He  was  so  devoted  to  abstruse  calcu- 
lations, that  sometimes  he  forgot  even  to  take  his  meals ;  yet 
speculation  had  not  unfitted  him  for  practical  pursuits.  He  had 
been  the  friend  of  Hiero  and  therefore  of  Rome*  yet  his  pa- 
triotism burnt  with  steady  flame,  and  the  enemy  of  his  country 
was  his  enemy.  Marvellous  are  the  stories  told  of  the  engines 
which  he  invented  to  thwart  the  assaults  of  the  Romans,  both  by 
sea  and  land.  The  whole  wall  was  armed  with  ballists  and  cata- 
pults of  immense  power,  so  that  the  ships  dared  not  come 
within  shot.  If  they  ventured  to  get  close  under  the  walls, 
favoured  by  the  darkness  of  night,  they  were  galled  by  a  fire 
from  myriads  of  loopholes,  and  nearly  crushed  by  enormous 
stones  let  drop  from  the  battlements.  Then  one  end  of  the  ship 
was  grasped  by  an  "  iron  hand"  let  down  from  a  projecting  crane, 
which  suddenly  lifted  it  up,  and  as  suddenly  let  it  go,  so  that  first 
one  end  and  then  the  other  was  plunged  in  the  water.  It  is  said 
also,  that  burning-glasses  of  great  power  were  so  placed  as  to  set 
on  fire  ships  which  approached  within  their  reach.  This  is  pro- 
bably  a  fiction.*  But  thus  much  is  certain,  that  Marcellus  at 
length  gave  up  all  hopes  of  taking  the  city  by  storm,  and  com- 
menced to  blockade  it  by  regular  lines  of  circumvallation.  After 
many  months  the  Romans  were  as  far  from  taking  Syracuse  as 
ever. 

Meantime,  the  Roman  cause  was  daily  losing  ground  in 
Sicily.  Even  Murgantia,  the  head-quarters  of  the  fleet,  surren- 
dered to  Carthage  :  and  Enna,  a  very  strong  fortress,  was  only 
prevented  from  doing  likewise  by  the  prompt  cruelty  of  the 
Commandant,  who  massacred  the  whole  of  its  inhabitants.     But 

*  The  burning-glasses  are  not  mentioned  in  any  of  the  earlier  accounts. 
They  first  appear  in  Galen  and  Lucian,  authors  of  the  second  century  after 
Christ.  The  thing  appears  to  be  mathematically  possible ;  for,  by  a  compli- 
cated arrangement  of  mirrors,  Buffon  succeeded  in  igniting  wood  at  a  distance 
of  150  yards.  See  a  summary  of  the  argument  in  Smith's  Diet  of  Biography, 
vol  L  p.  270. 


Chap.  XXXIL       SECOND  PUNIC  WAR :  PERIOD  IJ  329 

this  barbarous  act,  though  efficacious  on  the  <spot,  served  still 
more  to  alienate  the  Sicilians  from  Rome.  Agrigentnm  sur- 
rendered, and  numerous  other  towns  threw  off  the  yoke. 

§  14.  But  there  was  treason  within  the  walls  of  Svracuse. 
Marcellus  at  length  succeeded  in  scaling  the  walls  of  Hexapylum 
by  night,  when  by  reason  of  a  festival  they  were  left  unguarded. 
He  soon  gained  possession  of  the  whole  upper  city ;  and  as  he 
gazed  from  the  heights  of  Epipolse  on  the  fair  view  beneath  him, 
even  his  rude  nature  was  so  affected  by  the  beauty  of  the  scene 
and  the  greatness  of  his  success,  that  he  burst  into  a  ilood  of 
tears. 

The  southern  quarters  of  the  town  surrendered  to  him;  but 
Epicydes,  with  his  army,  drew  within  Achradina,  and  prepared 
for  a  desperate  defence.  Hippocrates,  who  had  gone  to  obtain 
succours  from  Carthage,  soon  returned  with  a  considerable  force. 
But  Marcellus  lay  safe  within  the  Upper  City,  and  the  army  of 
Hippocrates,  which  encamped  on  the  marshy  ground  at  the 
mouth  of  the  Anapus,  was  soon  thinned  by  disease,  as  the  hot 
weather  came  on  ;  and  among  the  dead  was  Hippocrates  himself. 
Still  the  sea  was  open,  and  a  fleet  was  daily  expected  from 
Carthage  under  the  command  of  Bomilcar.  At  length  the  Admiral 
came  in  view ;  but  the  Roman  squadron  put  out  to  meet  him ; 
and  great  was  the  disappointment  of  Epicydes,  when  he  saw 
the  Carthaginian  fleet  bear  away  towards  Italy.  He  left  the  city 
secretly  and  fled  to  Agrigentum. 

Many  of  the  garrison  were  deserters  from  the  Romans,  who 
could  expect  little  mercy  from  the  severe  Marcellus.  But  the 
rest,  when  they  found  themselves  deserted  by  their  General, 
slew  their  officers,  and  put  themselves  under  Meric,  a  Spaniard, 
and  Sosis,  one  of  the  murderers  of  Hieronymus.  These  men 
admitted  Marcellus  by  night  within  the  walls  of  Achradina.  Next 
morning,  the  city  was  given  up  to  plunder ;  and  in  the  massacre 
which  followed,*  Archimedes  was  slain  by  a  soldier,  whose 
question  he  did  not  answer,  being  absorbed  in  a  geometrical 
problem.  For  the  honour  of  Marcellus,  it  should  be  recorded 
that  he  was  deeply  grieved  by  this  mischance,  that  he  gave 
honourable  burial  to  the  corpse  of  the  philosopher,  and  showed 
great  kindness  to  his  relations.  The  royal  treasure  was  reserved 
for  the  State ;  and  the  exquisite  works  of  the  Grecian  chisel 
which  adorned  the  splendid  city  were  sent  to  Rome,  to  begin 
that  system  of  plunder  which  enriched  Rome  at  the  expense  of 
Greece.     The  people  were  treated  with  more  mildness  than  usual; 

*  When  the  Romans  took  a  town  by  assault,  they  commenced  an  indiscri- 
minate slaughter  of  every  living  thing,  dogs  included.  This  was  what  so 
horrified  the  Greeks  of  Sicily.     See  Polyb.  x.  15. 


330  ROME  AND  CARTHAGE.  Book  IY. 

and  yet  what  was  that  mildness,  that  sold  the  mass  of  the  citizens 
into  slavery,  and  drove  numbers  starving  into  the  fields  ! 

§  15.  Thus  fell  Syracuse,  in  the  summer  of  212  b.c,  after  a 
siege  of  nearly  two  years.  But  though  Syracuse  was  taken,  Sicily 
was  not  conquered.  It  will  be  well  to  anticipate  events  a  little, 
so  as  to  finish  our  narrative  of  this  war  in  this  place. 

Epicydes,  who  had  escaped  to  Agrigentum,  continued  his 
ceaseless  activity,  and  persuaded  the  Carthaginian  Government 
to  send  out  another  large  force  under  the  command  of  a  general 
named  Hanno.*  Hannibal  also  sent  over  an  oflBcer  named  Mutin 
or  Mutton,  who  henceforth  became  the  soul  of  the  war  in  Sicily.f 
This  man  was  a  half-bred  Carthaginian  :  and  the  African  blood 
in  his  veins  degraded  him  as  much  in  the  eyes  of  pure  Cartha- 
ginians, as  the  taint  of  black  blood  degrades  a  man  in  the 
United  States.  But  his  abilities  as  a  soldier  made  Hannibal 
overlook  vain  distinctions,  and  Mutin  took  the  command  of  the 
Numidian  horse  in  the  army  of  Hanno  and  Epicydes.  With 
such  skill  did  he  use  this  formidable  cavalry,  that  Marcellus 
rather  lost  ground  than  gained  it.  But  Hanno  was  jealous  of 
the  upstart  commander,  and  took  occasion  to  give  battle  to  the 
Romans  during  his  absence.  Marcellus  accepted  the  challenge, 
and  gained  a  signal  victory. 

This  was  in  the  year  211  b.c;  and  the  Proconsul,  not  wishing 
to  tarnish  his  laurels  by  the  chance  of  another  encounter  with 
the  dreaded  Mutin,  went  straight  home  and  claimed  a  triumph. 
But  the  Senate,  finding  that  Sicily  still  continued  in  full  revolt, 
refused  this  demand ;  and  Marcellus,  notwithstanding  his  suc- 
cesses, was  obliged  to  remain  contented  with  a  splendid  Ovation. 

§  16.  In  the  next  year  (210  b.c.)  Valerius  Laevinus  took  the 
command  in  Sicily.  How  long  the  war  might  have  continued 
it  is  hard  to  say,  for  Mutin  still  continued  to  defy  the  Romans. 
But  in  an  evil  hour,  the  jealousy  of  Hanno  led  him  to  deprive 
his  able  subordinate  of  his  command,  upon  which  the  hot-blooded 
African  immediately  put  himself  at  the  head  of  hif^  faithful 
JSTumidians,  and  threw  open  the  gates  of  Agrigentum  to  the 
Roman  Consul.  Hanno  and  Epicydes  escaped  to  Carthage,  leav- 
ing the  army  an  easy  prey  to  the  Roman  Legions.  The  town 
was  sacked  and  plundered,  and  the  inhabitants  reduced  to 
slavery.  And  in  a  short  time  Laevinus  was  able  to  send  des- 
patches to  the  Senate,  reporting  the  entire  submission  of  ?.ll 
Sicily.     Mutin,  as  well  as  Meric  and  Sosis,  was  made  a  Roman 

*  The  Carthaginians  must  have  had  a  very  scarce  supply  of  names,     TbeiT 
Hannos  are  infinite. 
\  Livy  calls  hini  ^utin^ ;  Polybius,  Mvrrovof, 


Chap.  XXXII.      SECOND  PUNIC  WAR:  PERIOD  11.  331 

citizen,  and  received  500  jugera  of  State-land.  His  Numidian 
horse  took  service  with  Rome. 

§  17.  It  is  now  time  to  return  to  Italy,  where  the  war  had 
also  resumed  a  more  active  form.  Early  in  the  year  212  b.c. 
Hannibal  once  more  marched  southward  to  Tarentum,  and 
this  time  with  better  success  than  before.  He  encamped  at  a 
distance  of  about  three  miles,  and  was  constantly  visited  by 
two  young  Greeks,  who  left  the  city  under  pretence  of  hunting, 
and  repaired  to  Hannibal's  camp  to  concert  measures  for  de- 
livering the  city  into  his  hands.  The  place  was  very  strong, 
as  the  description  before  given  of  it  will  show.*  It  was  by  the 
landward  side  that  the  conspirators  proposed  to  admit  Hannibal ; 
and  the  time  they  chose  was  a  night  on  which  it  was  well  known 
that  M.  Livius,  the  Commandant,  would  be  engaged  in  a  drink- 
ing-bout. The  Romans  went  to  bed  in  drunken  security,  and 
at  daybreak  found  the  city  in  the  hands  of  the  Carthaginians. 
Great  part  of  the  garrison  was  put  to  the  sword  ;  but  Livius, 
with  the  survivors,  made  good  his  escape  to  the  Citadel.  Han- 
nibal immediately  took "  measures  for  besieging  it  ;  and  the 
Tarentines,  having  dragged  their  ships  over-land  from  the  harbour 
into  the  open  sea,  were  enabled  to  blockade  it  both  by  sea  and 
land.  It  was  about  this  time  that  Bomilcar  arrived  at  Tarentum, 
with  the  fleet  destined  to  relieve  Syracuse.  And  Hannibal, 
having  thus  received  considerable  reinforcements,  was  enabled 
to  resume  active  operations  against  the  Romans. 

§  18.  Meanwhile,  the  Consuls — Appius  Claudius  and  old  Q. 
Fulvius  Flaccus — were  preparing  to  besiege  Capua.  Gracchus, 
with  his  Volones,  was  stationed  in  Lucania ;  one  Praetor,  Claudius 
Nero,  occupied  the  old  camp  at  Suessula ;  another,  Cn.  Fulvius, 
brother  of  the  Consul,  lay  in  Apulia.  The  Capuans,  fearing  they 
should  be  cut  off  from  all  supplies,  sent  a  hasty  message  to  Han- 
nibal at  Tarentum  ;  and  he  straightway  sent  orders  to  provision 
the  town,  in  case  it  should  be  besieged  before  he  could  come. 
Hanno  executed  his  difficult  task  with  success;  but  near  Bene- 
ventum,  the  Consuls  fell  upon  Hanno,  and  captured  all  the 
supplies.  He  was  obliged  to  retire  once  more  into  Bruttii,  and 
leave  Capua  to  its  fate. 

§  19.  The  Roman  armies  now  began  to  close  round  that 
devoted  city.  But  they  were  destined  to  suffer  heavy  losses 
before  they  were  able  to  invest  it.  First,  Gracchus,  who  was 
coming  northwards  from  Lucania  to  reinforce  the  Consuls,  was 
slain  in  an  ambuscade,  and  his  Volones,  so  long  faithful  to  their 
favourite  leader,  dispersed  and  fled,  each  man  to  his  own  home. 

*  See  Ohapt.  xxv.  §  7. 


332  ROME  AND  CARTHAGE.  Book  IY 

Next,  Hannibal  himself  once  more  appeared  in  Campania.  He 
had  already  sent  Mago  with  a  division  of  cavalry  to  encourage 
the  Capuans  ;  and  now  he  entered  the  city  in  person  without 
the  knowledge  of  the  Consuls.  He  was  in  high  spirits  at  his 
successes  in  the  South.  Not  only  Tarentum,  but  also  Meta- 
pontum  and  Thurii,  had  joined  him*;  and  though  Syracuse  had 
fallen,  the  war  was  still  raging  fiercely  in  Sicily.  But  the  Roman 
Commanders  were  cautious ;  and  Hannibal,  finding  he  could  not 
bring  on  a  battle,  was  anxious  to  return  to  press  the  siege  of 
the  citadel  of  Tarentum,  which  the  Romans  had  succeeded  in 
reinforcing.  He  went  by  way  of  Lucania,  and  on  his  route  met 
a  Roman  army,  commanded  by  M.  Centenius,  an  old  centurion, 
who  had  collected  an  army,  and  with  equal  courage  and  folly 
attempted  to  bar  Hannibal's  march.  He  fell  as  a  valiant  soldier 
should  fall ;  and  many  thousand  brave  men  paid  the  penalty  of 
trusting  to  his  promises.  Hannibal  now  passed  the  mountains 
into  Apulia ;  and  here,  near  Herdonea,  he  surprised  the  Praetor, 
Cn.  Fulvius.  He  was  like  Centenius  in  rashness,  but  unlike  him 
in  being  a  profligate  and  a  coward.  In  this  action,  also,  many 
thousand  Romans  were  cut  to  pieces.  Fulvius  was  afterwards 
brought  to  trial,  and  obliged  to  go  into  exile  to  save  his  life. 

§  20.  But  notwithstanding  these  thick-coming  losses,  the 
Consuls  held  to  their  resolution  of  blockading  Capua.  No 
sooner  was  Hannibal's  back  turned  than  they  again  appeared 
before  the  city ;  and  before  the  expiration  of  the  year  the  lines 
of  circumvallation  were  completed.  The  armies  of  Rome  always 
contained  good  workmen  ;  their  common  agricultural  habits 
accustomed  them  to  the  use  of  the  spade ;  the  great  works  that 
had  for  some  time  been  going  on,  roads  and  aqueducts,  had 
trained  a  number  of  men  for  military  work.  Yet  the  rapidity 
with  which  the  vast  extent  of  lines  necessary  to  enclose  a  great 
city  like  Capua  was  completed,  cannot  but  surprise  us.  These 
lines  were  secured  by  a  double  wall,  and  care  was  taken  to  supply 
the  besiegers  with  provisions. 

§  21.  The  Consuls  for  the  next  year  (211  b.c.)  were  not  allowed 
to  supersede  Appius  and  Fulvius :  to  them  was  left  the  glory  of 
completing  well  what  they  had  well  begun. 

When  the  Capuans  found  themselves  blockaded,  their  spirits 
fell,  and  they  sent  an  urgent  message  to  Hannibal.  In  an  assault 
upon  the  Roman  lines,  he  was  beaten  off  with  loss.  And  now 
only  one  hope  remained.  It  was  possible  that,  if  he  threatened 
Rome  itself,  the  besieging  army  might  be  recalled  to  defend 
the  capital.  Accordingly,  he  sent  the  Capuans  notice  of  his 
purpose  by  means  of  a  pretended  deserter,  and  the  next  morning 
the   Proconsuls  saw  his   camp  oa  Mount   Tifata  empty.      They 


Chap.  XXXIl.       SECOND  PUNIC  WAR:  PERIOD  II.  333 

thought,  probably,  that  he  had  returned  to  the  South.  But 
they  soon  discovered  the  truth  from  country  people,  who  came 
in  full  of  horror  to  tell  that  Hannibal's  wild  Numidians  and 
monstrous  elephants  were  in  full  route  for  Rome.  Fulvius 
sent  word  to  the  Senate  of  this  fearful  visitation  ;  and  the 
opinion  of  Fabius  was  unanimously  adopted,  that  one  of  the 
Proconsuls  should  be  recalled  to  defend  the  city  with  part  of  his 
army  and  the  City  Legions,  while  the  other  was  left  to  maintain 
the  blockade  of  Capua.  Accordingly,  Fulvius  marched  straight 
to  Rome  by  the  Appian  road,  while  Hannibal  took  the  line  of  the 
Latin  road,  and  then  probably  crossed  the  Anio,  to  avoid  the 
thick-studded  cities  and  colonies  which  might  have  barred  his 
passage.  Fulvius,  therefore,  arrived  at  Rome  before  Hannibal 
descended  from  the  North,  and  encamped  within  a  mile  or  two 
of  the  city.  The  consternation  at  Rome  was  in  some  measure 
quelled  by  the  arrival  of  Fulvius;  and  still  more,  when  Han- 
nibal himself,  after  riding  up  to  the  CoUine  gate,  and  then 
skirting  the  walls,  was  attacked  by  the  old  Proconsul,  and 
obliged  to  fall  back  upon  his  camp.  It  is  said,  that  while  he  lay 
there,  the  land  occupied  by  his  camp  was  put  up  to  sale  and 
bought  at  a  price  not  at  all  below  its  value.  Hannibal  laughed, 
and  bade  an  auctioneer  put  up  the  silversmiths'  shops  in  the 
Forum  for  sale.  But  though  he  put  a  bold  face  upon  the  matter, 
he  felt  in  his  heart  that  he  had  failed.  Rome  was  able  to  defend 
herself,  and  yet  had  left  a  sufficient  force  at  Capua  to  continue 
the  blockade. 

The  line  of  his  retreat  is  as  uncertain  as  that  of  his  advance. 
It  is  known,  however,  that  he  conducted  his  army  through  Apulia 
into  Bruttii,  which  became  henceforth  his  head-quarters  in  Italy. 

§  22.  Meantime,  Fulvius  had  returned  to  the  lines  round 
Capua,  full  of  exultation.  Time  wore  on,  and  famine  began  to 
oppress  the  wretched  inhabitants.  How  long  the  desperate 
resistance  was  prolonged  we  know  not.  But  at  length  it  appeared 
manifest  that  surrender  must  ensue  within  a  few  hours ;  upon 
which  Vibius  Virrius,  one  of  the  insurgent  chiefs,  gave  a  splendid 
banquet  to  all  Senators  who  would  partake  of  it.  Twenty-seven 
came,  and  when  the  feast  was  over,  a  poisoned  cup  went  round, 
in  which  the  guests  pledged  their  host.  They  went  home  to 
die;  and  next  morning  the  city  was  surrendered.  The  savage 
old  Q.  Fulvius  determined  to  wreak  a  bloody  vengeance  upon 
the  leaders  of  the  insurgents.  Five-and-twenty  were  sent  to 
Cales,  to  Teanum  eight-and-twenty,  there  to  await  their  doom.  In 
vain  did  Appins  plead  for  milder  measures.  Fulvius  heeded  no 
intercession.  On  the  morning  after  the  capture,  he  rc^e  in 
person   to  Teanum,   and  saw  all  the  prisoners  beheaded       He 


334  EOME  AND  CARTHAGE.  Book  ly. 

then  galloped  off  to  Cales;  but  when  the  prisoners  there  were 
being  bound,  a  messenger  from  Rome  brought  him  letters  from 
the  Senate.  He  put  them  into  his  bosom,  and  ordered  the 
executions  to  proceed.  When  all  the  heads  had  fallen,  he 
opened  the  letters,  which  contained  orders  to  reserve  the 
prisoners  for  the  judgment  of  the  Senate.  Others  of  the  chief 
men  were  imprisoned,  and  all  the  commoner  sort  were  sold  into 
slavery.  The  city  itself  was  confiscated  to  Rome.  The  future 
settlers,  for  the  most  part  freedmen  and  slaves,  were  allowed  no 
power  of  self-government,  a  Prefect  being  sent  every  year  from 
Rome,  who  ruled  them  with  arbitrary  sway.*  Such  was  the 
terrible  fate  of  a  revolted  city  in  the  best  times  of  the  Roman 
Republic. 

Other  revolted  cities  of  Campania  suffered  a  like  fate.  But  it 
is  worth  remarking,  that  when  the  Consuls  returned  home,  they 
were  refused  a  triumph.  No  Roman  general,  it  was  said, 
deserved  a  triumph  for  merely  recovering  what  once  belonged 
to  the  Republic. 

§  23.  The  fall  of  Syracuse  and  Capua  had  given  a  decided 
superiority  to  the  Roman  arms  in  Italy.f  Yet,  though  Hannibal 
was  at  present  so  weak  that  he  could  not  leave  the  South,  nor 
give  effectual  succour  to  his  Campanian  allies,  there  were  many 
causes  to  give  him  hopes  of  retrieving  his  fortunes.  The 
diversion  made  by  sending  Mutin  to  Sicily  had  proved  most 
successful,  and  it  was  not  till  a  year  later  that  the  folly  of  Hanno 
betrayed  the  cause  of  Carthage  in  that  island.  Though  the 
Citadel  of  Tarentum  still  held  out,  that  great  city  itself,  with 
the  rest  of  Magna  Graecia,  except  Rhegium,  had  joined  Hannibal; 
and  if  the  Greeks  of  Sicily  should  be  permanently  attached  to 
his  interests,  he  might  hope  at  length  that  Philip  of  Macedon 
would  come  over  to  oppose  the  common  enemy. 

§  24.  But  the  quarter  to  which  he  looked  for  most  effectual 
aid  was  Spain.  For  a  long  time  the  successes  of  the  Scipios 
had  cut  off  all  hope  of  succour  from  his  brother  Hasdrubal. 
These  successes  continued^  notwithstanding  the  arrival  of  Mago 
with  reinforcements  from  Carthage ;  and  the  Romans  at  one 
time  penetrated  into  the  valley  of  the  Guadalquivir.  Many  of 
the  Celtiberian  Tribes  enlisted  under  their  banners,  eager  t 
try  a  change  of  masters.  Syphax,  a  Prince  of  the  Numidians 
formed  an  alliance  with  them,  and  they  seemed  thus  early  to 
have  formed  the  design  of  carrying  the  war  into  Africa.     In  the 

*  See  above,  Chapt.  xxvii.  §  11. 

+  So  much  was  attributed  to  the  capture  of  Syracuse,  that  the  Sibylline 
books  wer<?  consulted,  and  the  games  of  Apollo,  afterwards  one  of  the  most 
splendid  shows  of  Rome,  instituted  (Liv.  xxv.  12). 


Chap.  XXXII.       SECOND  PUNIC  WAR:  PERIOD  n.  335 

year  212  b.c,  the  same  which  witnessed  the  fall  of  Syracuse  and 
the  investment  of  Capua,  the  two  brothers  entertained  high  hopes 
of  a  successful  campaign.  They  had  wintered  in  the  Celtiberian 
country,  and  now  divided  their  armies ;  Cn.  Scipio  marching 
against  Hasdrubal,  the  brother  of  Hannibal,  and  Publius  directing 
his  course  against  a  second  Carthaginian  army,  under  another 
Hasdrubal  and  Mago.  But  the  Celtiberians  in  the  army  of  Cneius 
deserted  to  their  old  commander  ;  and  the  Roman  Proconsul  was 
in  full  retreat  when  he  heard  that  his  brother  Publius  had  been 
surprised  and  slain  with  a  great  portion  of  his  army.  The  united 
Carthaginian  armies  now  threw  themselves  on  the  retreating  army 
of  Cn.  Scipio.  He  fell  fighting  bravely,  with  most  of  his  officers. 
The  remains  of  the  Roman  armies  were  collected  by  a  brave  knight, 
by  name  L.  Marcius.  But  though  he  made  good  his  retreat,  it  is 
not  too  much  to  say  that  the  defeat  and  death  of  the  two  Scipios 
gave  back  to  the  Carthaginians  all  that  they  had  lost  in  Spain  since 
the  departure  of  Hannibal. 

The  road  now  lay  open  for  Hasdrubal  to  lead  a  large  force  to 
the  assistance  of  his  brother  in  Italy,  and  enable  him  to  resume 
that  superiority  which  he  had  lately  lost.  Notwithstanding  his 
losses,  however,  it  must  not  be  forgotten  that  no  Roman  General 
had  dared  to  meet  him  in  a  fair  field  of  battle  since  Cannae. 
What  might  he  not  hope  when  largely  reinforced  ?  It  belongs  to 
the  history  of  the  next  period  to  show  how  irremediably  these 
hopes  were  blighted. 


Coin  of  an  Acilius,  with  Triumphal  Car. 

CHAPTER     XXXIII. 

SECOND  PUNIC  WAR  :    THIRD  PERIOD  (210 20*7  B.C.). 

^  I.  Depressed  state  of  Rome.  §  2.  Renewed  Discontent  with  the  Fabian 
system :  Election  of  Consuls  for  210  B.C.  §  3.  M.  Valerius  Lsevinus. 
§  4.  Immense  armies  kept  on  foot.  "-§  5.  Financial  measures  to  raise 
money.  §6.  Patriotic  Loan.  §7.  Caution  of  Marcellus.  §8.  Lsevinus: 
quarrel  with  the  Senate.  §  9.  Twelve  of  the  Thirty  Latin  Colonies  refuse 
any  longer  to  contribute  to  the  war.  §  10.  Tarentum  recovered  from 
Hannibal  by  Fabius.  §  11.  Dissatisfaction.  §  12.  Marcellus  killed. 
§  13.  His  colleague  Crispinus  only  lives  long  enough  to  name  a  Dictator : 
apprehensions  of  Hasdrubal's  invasion.  §  14.  M.  Claudius  Nero  and  M. 
Livius  Salinator  elected  Consuls  for  207  B.C.,  to  meet  Hasdrubal.  ^  15. 
March  of  Hasdrubal:  his  delay  at  Placentia.  §  16.  His  despatches  to  Han- 
nibal intercepted:  Nero  marches  to  join  Livius  in  Umbria.  §  17.  Hasdru- 
bal returns:  overtaken  by  the  Romans  on  the  Metaurus.  §  18.  Battle  of 
the  Metaurus.  §  19.  Joy  at  Rome.  §  20.  Grief  of  Hannibal:  he  retires 
into  the  Bruttian  territory.  §  21.  Triumph  of  the  Consuls :  the  first  since 
the  beginning  of  the  War. 

§  1.  The  last  year's  campaign  was  full  of  heavy  discouragement 
to  the  Romans.  Syracuse,  indeed,  had  been  taken ;  but  Sicily 
still  remained  in  full  revolt.  Capua  had  fallen,  and  Campania  was 
again  restored  to  Roman  dominion  :  but  Tarentum,  all  except  the 
citadel,  was  lost.  The  unmolested  march  of  Hannibal  to  the  walls 
of  Rome  showed  that  no  part  of  Italy  save  the  fortified  towns  and 
entrenched  camps  could  be  called  their  own,  so  long  as  the  Car- 
thaginian General  could  lead  his  wild  and  lawless  mercenaries 
whithersoever  he  pleased.  The  loss  of  Spain  had  placed  before 
them  the  dreadful  possibility  that  their  great  enemy  might  soon 
be  reinforced  by  numbers  so  large  as  to  make  him  stronger  than 
be  had  been  since  he  crossed  the  Alps. 


CH..P.  XXXIII.      SECOND  PUNIC  WAR:  PERIOD  III  QSl 

§  2.  It  is  evident  that  mutteriiigs  of  discontent  were  beginning 
to  arise  at  the  manner  in  which  the  war  had  been  conducted 
by  Fabius  and  his  friends.  The  bitter  lesson  of  Cannae  had 
taught  the  necessity  of  caution,  and  proved  that,  to  act  with 
success  against  Hannibal,  they  must  act  on  the  defensive  only. 
But  was  this  system  to  last  for  ever?  Were  they  never  to 
meet  Hannibal  in  the  field?  Thoughts  like  these,  no  doubt, 
suggested  the  experiment  of  electing  a  popular  Consul  for  tha 
year  210  b.c.  When  the  votes  of  the  Prerogative  Century  were 
taken,  it  appeared  that  the  men  of  their  choice  were  old  T.  Man- 
lius  Torquatus,  the  conqueror  of  Sardinia,  and  that  same  T.  Ota- 
cilius  who  had  been  ousted  from  his  Consulship  five  years  before 
by  his  uncle  Fabius.  He  was  doomed  to  like  treatment  a  second 
time,  though  he  did  not  live  to  hear  of  it.  For  Manlius  imme- 
diately rose  and  declined  the  Consulship  for  himself:  "he  was," 
he  said,  "  old  and  nearly  blind  :  a  general  should  be  able  to  use 
his  own  eyes.  They  must  choose  other  and  better  men."  The 
Century,  after  some  hesitation,  obeyed,  and  gave  one  of  their  votes 
for  Marcellus,  as  no  doubt  Fabius  and  the  Senate  wished,  while 
they  bestowed  the  other  upon  M.  Valerius  Laevinus,  who  had 
perv^ed  the  State  well  in  the  conduct  of  the  war  against  Philip  of 
Macedon. 

§  3.  Valerius '  probably  owed  his  choice  to  the  fact  that  he 
was  not  disposed  to  submit  to  Fabius  and  Fulvius.  An  oppor- 
tunity soon  arose  for  showing  this.  As  he  passed  through 
Capua  on  his  way  to  Rome,  where  he  had  not  been  for  several 
years,*  the  Campanians,  smarting  under  the  severe  dominion  of 
Fulvius,  earnestly  besought  him  to  let  them  follow  in  his  train, 
that  they  might  lay  their  grievances  before  tbe  Senate.  The  old 
Proconsul  growled,  but  at  length  allowed  them  to  go  with  Lasvinus. 
When  the  Consul  arrived  at  Rome,  he  was  greeted  by  a  deputation 
of  Sicilians,  who  had  heard  with  alarm  that  the  imperious  Mar- 
cellus was  about  to  return  to  their  island  with  Consular  authority. 
The  aff'airs  of  both  peoples  were  brought  before  the  Senate.  As 
to  the  Campanians,  the  Fathers  confirmed  in  all  respects  the 
stern  edicts  of  Fulvius;  and  not  unjustly,  for  of  all  cities  Capua 
had  been  most  generously  treated  by  Rome :  her  rebellion  had 
been  prompted,  not  by  love  of  liberty  (for  she  was  already 
free),  but  by  lust  for  power.  Capua,  therefore,  now  became  a 
Prefecture.  On  the  other  hand,  Marcellus  at  once  gave  up  his 
Sicilian  province  to  his  colleague  Laevinus,  and  agreed  to  take 
the  command  in  Italy  against  Hannibal ;  and  the  Senate,  though 

*  He  served  as  Praetor  and  Propraetor  in  Southern  Italy  and  Macedonia  from 
215to21lP.c. 

15 


338  ROME)  Ai^D  CARTHAGE.  Book  IV- 

they  ratified  the  previous  measures  of  Marcellus,  now  recom- 
mended the  Sicilians  to  the  special  care  of  Laevinus.  Upon  this, 
the  Sicilian  Envoys,  fearing  the  future  anger  of  Marcellus,  fell  at 
his  feet  and  entreated  him  to  take  them  as  his  clients.  For  many 
years  the  Marcelli,  his  descendants,  are  found  as  patrons  and  pro- 
tectors of  the  island. 

§  4.  Before  the  Consuls  took  the  field,  they  were  called  upon  to 
meet  the  financial  difficulties  under  which  the  state  was  labouring. 
The  force  which  had  been  maintained  by  Rome  now  for  many 
years  was  very  large,  and  the  cost  enormous.  The  number  of 
Legions  kept  on  foot  since  the  battle  of  Cannae  had  averaged  about 
twenty;  so  that  the  number  of  soldiers,  legionaries  and  allied, 
amounted  to  nearly  200,000  men.  While  the  expenditure  was 
thus  prodigiously  increased,  the  revenues  were  greatly  diminished  : 
and  it  is  a  recorded  fact,  that  about  this  time  corn  had  risen  to 
many  times  its  ordinary  price.* 

§  5.  Hitherto  the  difficulties  had  been  met  by  various  expe- 
dients. Early  in  the  war  the  Senate  had  simply  doubled  all 
existing  imposts.  The  commanders  in  Sardinia  and  Sicily  were 
told  that  they  must  subsist  their  troops  from  the  resources  of 
those  provinces.  The  Scipios  in  Spain  had  for  some  time  done 
likewise.  But  in  the  year  after  Cannae,  these  commanders  had 
written  to  say  that  they  were  destitute  of  all  things — money, 
food,  and  clothing.  Upon  this,  the  Senate  proposed  to  the  con- 
tractors to  supply  the  required  stores,  and  wait  for  payment  till 
the  end  of  the  war,  it  being  understood  that  whatever  was 
shipped  from  Italy  was  to  be  paid  for,  whether  the  vessel  reached 
its  destination  or  not.  This  offer  was  readily  accepted  ;  but  some 
of  the  contractors  were  guilty  of  a  fraud,  disgraceful  enough  at 
any  time,  but  at  a  time  when  the  State  was  struggling  for  very 
existence,  utterly  detestable.  These  wretched  men  put  a  quantity 
of  worthless  stores  on  board  crazy  vessels,  which  were  purposely 
lost  on  their  passage,  and  then  claimed  payment  in  full,  ac- 
cording to  their  contract.  The  fraud,  however,  was  discovered, 
and  these  unworthy  citizens  were  obliged  to  seek  refuge  in  dishon- 
ourable exile. 

Contracts  taken  on  such  terms  were,  in  fact,  a  loan  to  the 
State.  The  contractors  advanced  their  property  for  the  service 
of  the  State,  and  received  in  exchange  a  ticket  promising  them 

*  The  medimnus  (=li  bushels)  was  selling  for  15  drachmae  (about  12  shil- 
lings), Polyb.,  ix.  44.  In  Polybius'  time  corn  sold  in  Cisalpine  Gaul  for  4 
obols  (about  6^d)  the  medimnus  (ii.  15,  1):  but  this  was  extraordinarily 
cheap.  In  Cicero's  time  a  medimnus  in  Sicily  sold  for  15  sesterces  (about 
2s.  6d.),  in  Yerr.  iii.  76. 


Chap.  XXXin.     SECOND  PUNIC  WAR :  PERIOD  IH  339 

payment  at  some  future  time.  Till  then  they  lent  her  their  goods, 
and  held  her  promissory  note  as  a  security. 

In  the  same  manner,  the  owners  of  the  eight  thousand  slaves 
who  were  enlisted  by  Gracchus,  gave  up  their  slaves  to  the  State, 
and  waited  for  payment  till  the  Treasury  was  replenished. 

Both  these  transactions  took  place  in  the  year  215  B.C.  In  the 
foUowing  year  (214  B.C.)  the  Senate  were  obliged  to  borrow  money 
in  a  more  direct  form.  The  fortunes  of  minors  and  widows,  which 
were  in  the  hands  of  guardians  or  trustees,  were  now  advanced 
to  the  State,  all  expenses  incurred  on  the  part  of  the  owners 
being  discharged  by  orders  upon  the  Treasury.*  These  Treasury 
Bills  (as  they  may  be  called)  were  probably  taken  in  payment  by 
the  tradesmen  and  others,  who  did  not  press  to  have  them  ex- 
changed for  coin  till  it  was  convenient  for  the  Treasury  to  do  so. 
In  these  loans  it  does  not  appear  that  the  State  allowed  any  in- 
terest upon  the  goods  or  money  advanced.  It  is  probable  that  the 
bills  or  orders  upon  the  Treasury  continued  in  use  as  money,  like 
our  Bank-notes. 

In  the  same  year  (214  b.c.)  an  extraordinary  measure  had  been 
taken  for  manning  the  fleets.  All  citizens,  except  the  poor,  were 
required  to  furnish  one  or  more  seamen,  with  six  months'  pay  and 
their  full  accoutrements.  Senators  were  called  upon  to  equip 
eight,  and  the  rest  in  proportion  to  their  rated  property.  Such 
was  the  Roman  "  Ship-money." 

§  6.  The  necessities  of  the  present  year  (210)  were  greater  than 
ever.  Every  resource  seemed  to  be  exhausted.  Among  other 
means,  the  coinage  had  been  gradually  lowered  in  value.  The  As, 
which  had  originally  been  a  pound  weight,  of  copper,  had  now  been 
diminished  to  one-sixth  of  that  weight ;  and  all  payments  for  the 
Treasury  were  no  doubt  made  in  this  depreciated  coinage.  The 
usual  results  of  such  measures  had  followed.  A  temporary  relief 
was  gained.  But  the  prices  of  all  articles  were  raised  to  meet  the 
change,  and  public  credit  was  shaken. 

In  these  difficulties,  the  Senate  proposed  again  to  levy  ship- 
money.  But  the  people  were  in  no  mood  to  bear  it.  They  had 
been  much  impoverished  in  the  last  four  years;  continued 
increase  of  taxation  had  drained  their  resources ;  continued 
service  in  the  army  had  prevented  the  proper  cultivation  of  their 
lands;  the  marauding  march  of  Hannibal  in  the  year  before  had 
ruined  many.  The  ferment  caused  by  this  new  impost  assumed 
a  very  formidable  appearance.  The  Senate  met  to  deliberate, 
and  the  Consul  Lsevinus  proposed  that  the  great  Council  should 

*  A  quaestore  perscribebantur  (Liv.  xxiv.  19),  For  the  use  of  the  term 
perscribere  or  rescribere,  to  pay  by  aa  order  or  uotQ  of  hwd,  m^  Terwt, 
Phorm,  V.  7,  30,  with  the  notes, 


340  ROME  AND  CARTHAGE.  Book  IV. 

set  an  example  of  patriotic  devotion.  "  Let  us,"  said  he,  "  contri- 
bute all  our  treasure  for  the  service  of  the  State.  Let  us  reserve 
— of  gold,  only  our  rings,  the  bullae  worn  by  our  sons,  and  for  the 
ornaments  of  our  wives  and  daughters  one  ounce  apiece, — of  sil- 
ver, the  trappings  of  our  horses,  the  family  salt-cellar,  and  a  small 
vessel  for  the  service  of  the  gods, — of  copper,  five  thousand  pounds 
for  the  necessities  of  each  family."  This  proposal  was  carried  by 
acclamation,  and  the  noble  example  followed  emulously  by  all  the 
people.  So  eager  was  the  throng  which  pressed  to  the  Treasury, 
that  the  clerks  were  unable  to  make  a  full  register  of  the  names. 
This  Patriotic  Loan  (for  it  was  intended  that  it  should  be  repaid 
hereafter)  saved  the  State ;  and  it  was  even  more  valuable  in  the 
spirit  which  it  called  forth,  than  for  the  actual  relief  which  it 
afforded  to  the  Treasury. 

§  7.  The  Consuls  now  took  the  field.  Marcellus  arrived  in 
Samnium  only  to  hear  that  Cn.  Fulvius  Centumalus,  the  last 
year's  Consul,  had  shared  the  fate  of  his  namesake  and  pre- 
decessor, Cn.  Fulvius  Flaccus,  and  had  been  cut  off  with  the 
greater  part  of  his  army  at  Herdonea.*  The  unhappy  relics  of 
this  force  were  sent  to  be  added  to  the  remains  of  the  army 
of  Cannse,  which  the  relentless  Senate  still  kept  in  banishment  in 
Sicily.  Marcellus  cautiously  advanced  to  Venusia,  and  so  dogged 
Hannibal's  footsteps  that  he  was  unable  to  strike  another  blow. 
The  town  of  Salapia  in  Apulia,  where  lived  a  lady  whom  Hanni- 
bal loved  too  well,  and  who  is  said  to  have  more  than  once  de- 
tained him  from  the  field,  was  betrayed  to  Marcellus,  as  Arpi  had 
been  to  Fulvius,  and  was  another  example  of  the  altered  feeling  of 
the  Italians. 

§  8.  Lsevinus,  as  has  above  been  mentioned,  was  enabled  by  a 
stroke  of  good  luck  to  finish  the  war  in  Sicily  with  ease  and 
credit ;  and  he  returned  to  Rome  accompanied  by  the  redoubt- 
able Mutin.  Before  he  left  Sicily  he  had  sent  over  his  fleet  to 
examine  the  coasts  of  Africa.  The  officer  despatched  on  this 
service  learnt  that  the  Carthaginian  Government  were  actively 
engaged  in  collecting  troops  to  be  placed  under  Hasdrubal's  com- 
mand for  a  second  invasion  of  Italy  from  the  North ;  and  he 
immediately  forwarded  this  intelligence  to  the  Consul  at  Rome. 
The  Senate  were  so  much  alarmed  that  they  ordered  Laevinus 
to  return  instantly  to  his  province  without  waiting  to  preside 
at  the  Comitia.  He  was  to  name  a  Dictator  for  that  purpose; 
and  the  person  submitted  to  him  for  nomination  was  old  Q. 
Fulvius,  the  Governor  of  Capua.     Lsevinus,  however,  refused  to 

*  The  names  are  so  similar,  and  Livy's  narrative  so  vague,  that  one  is  led 
to  suspect  that  one  event  has  been  made  into  two. 


Chap.  XXXIII.     SECOND  PUNIC  WAR:  PERIOD  IIL  341 

name  his  personal  enemy ;  upon  which  the  ruling  party  referred 
the  matter  to  the  People,  who  peremptorily  ordered  the  Consul 
to  name  Fulvius,  and  no  one  else.  But  Lajvinus,  to  avoid  this 
necessity,  had  already  left  Rome ;  and  the  Fathers  were  obliged 
to  send  for  Marcellus  to  execute  their  orders.  When  the  old 
Dictator  held  the  Comitia,  the  Prerogative  Tribe  gave  its  vote 
for  Fulvius  himself  and  Fabius.  An  objection  was  taken 
ly  two  of  the  Tribunes,  who  were  of  the  party  opposed  to 
Fabius,  that  a  presiding  magistrate  could  not  allow  himself  to  be 
elected.  But  this,  like  many  other  ordinances,  was  ovenuled  at 
this  critical  season  by  the  Senate,  and  the  election  proceeded. 
The  next  year  was  to  see  Hannibal  confronted  with  the  three 
men  reputed  to  be  the  ablest  commanders  in  Rome,  Fabius  and 
Fulvius  the  Consuls,  and  Marcellus  as  Proconsul.  It  was  hoped 
that  by  their  united  efforts  the  enemy  might  be  crushed  before  the 
arrival  of  Hasdrubal  and  his  Spaniards. 

§  9.  But  the  result  was  not  equal  to  men's  expectations.  In 
the  very  outset  of  this  year  (209  b.c.)  the  levies  were  delayed 
by  a  circumstance  which  looked  even  more  threatening  than  the 
financial  difficulties  of  the  previous  year.  The  Latin  Colonies, 
now  Thirty  in  number,  have  been  mentioned  as  the  chief  stays 
of  Roman  power  in  the  subject  provinces  of  Italy.  They  had 
hitherto  borne  the  toils  and  expenses  of  the  war  as  unrepiningly 
as  Rome  herself.  What  then  was  the  alarm  of  the  Consuls  and 
the  Senate,  when  Twelve  of  the  Thirty  openly  declined  to  comply 
with  the  requisition  to  furnish  their  contingents  for  the  armies 
of  this  year.  The  refusal  was  due  in  part  no  doubt  to  exhaustion 
and  poverty ;  but  it  was  partly  caused  by  anger  at  the  fact,  that 
most  of  the  defeated  soldiers  of  Centumalus  who  had  lately  been 
banished  to  Sicily  were  citizens  of  their  towns.  The  Consuls  at 
first  endeavoured  to  reason  with  them,  but  in  vain ;  and  when  the 
deputies  of  the  other  Eighteen  Colonies,  which  comprised  all  the 
largest  and  most  important  places,*  declared  their  stedfast  and  un- 
altered allegiance,  they  determined  to  pass  the  matter  over  for  the 
present,  saying  that  they  would  not  deign  to  ask  assistance  from 
those  who  would  not  give  it  willingly. 

*  The  Eighteen  faithful  Colonies  were : — In  Apulia,  Brundusium,  Venusia, 
Luceria;  in  Lucania,  Foestum ;  in  Samnium,  Beneventum,  Saticula,  ^sernixi; 
in  Latium,  Fregelloe,  Signia,  Norba;  in  Etruria,  Cosa ;  in  Picenum,  Hadria, 
Pirmum;  in  Umbria,  Spoleium,  Ariminum;  in  Gallia  Cisalpina,  Flacentm, 
Cremona ;  and,  lastly,  the  island  of  Fontia. 

The  Twelve  contumacious  Colonies  were : — In  Campania  Cdks,  Suessa ;  in 
Latium,  Interamna,  Circeii,  Setia,  Cora,  Ardea;  in  the  Marsian  country, 
Alba  Fuceniia ;  in  the  Sabine,  Carseoli ;  in  Etruria,  Sairium,  Nepete ;  in 
Umbria^  Narnia. 


342  ROME  AND  CARTHAGE.  Book  IV. 

To  provide  for  the  current  expenses,  a  large  treasure  of  gold, 
which  had  been  reserved  for  the  emergency  of  another  Gallic  war, 
was  now  first  invaded. 

§  10.  Fulvius  resumed  his  station  at  Capua;  Marcellus  was  to 
engage  Hannibal's  attention  in  Apulia,  while  old  Fabius  made 
an  attempt  to  recover  Tarentum.  Marcellus  found  his  enemy 
at  Canusium ;  and  a  series  of  indecisive  actions  followed,  in 
which  (although  the  Roman  annalists  claim  the  advantage  for 
their  hero)  it  is  plain  that  he  must  have  suffered  greatly;  for 
he  remained  inactive  during  the  rest  of  the  campaign.  But 
fortunately  for  Fabius'  attempt  upon  Tarentum,  Hannibal's  pre- 
sence was  required  in  Bruttii  to  defend  his  allies  from  a  band 
of  Free  Mercenaries,  who,  formerly  in  the  service  of  the  Car- 
thaginians in  Sicily,  had  now  been  engaged  by  Laevinus,  and 
sent  to  Rhegium  to  harass  their  old  masters.  The  appearance 
of  the  great  General  was  enough  to  scare  these  marauders  into 
submission ;  but  scarcely  was  this  done,  when  he  heard  the 
news  that  Fabius  had  sate  down  before  Tarentum.  Instantly 
he  put  his  army  in  motion,  and  marched  day  and  night  to 
relieve  this  important  city.  But  he  was  too  late.  By  treachery 
he  had  won  the  place,  and  by  treachery  he  lost  it.  The  officer 
in  command  at  Tarentum  was  a  Bruttian.  This  man  had  a 
mistress,  sister  to  an  Italian  serving  in  the  army  of  Fabius :  she 
it  was  who  persuaded  him  to  open  the  gates  to  the  Consul ; 
and  Hannibal,  while  yet  upon  his  march,  heard  this  disastrous 
news.  The  old  Consul  gave  up  the  despised  city  of  the  Greeks  to 
be  plundered  by  his  soldiers,  reserving  the  public  treasure  for  the 
service  of  the  State.  But  when  he  was  asked  whether  he  would 
have  the  statues  and  works  of  art  taken  to  Rome,  after  the  example 
set  by  Marcellus  at  Syracuse,  "  No,"  he  said,  "  let  the  Tarentines 
keep  their  angry  gods." 

Besides  the  recovery  of  Tarentum,  the  Samnites  and  Lucanians, 
long  wavering,  again  returned  to  their  allegiance,  and  were  restored 
by  Fulvius  to  their  position  as  allies  without  any  notice  being  taken 
of  their  revolt. 

§  11.  Notwithstanding  this,  men  were  dissatisfied  with  the  re- 
sult of  the  campaign.  Three  consular  armies  had  not  sufficed  to 
defeat  Hannibal ;  Marcellus,  reputed  their  best  general,  seemed 
to  have  suffered  a  defeat.  But  the  party  who  murmured  against 
Fabius  and  his  friends  were  as  yet  feeble,  even  among  the  people. 
Very  lately  Laevinus  had  been  compelled  to  relinquish  his  oppo- 
sition to  that  great  party ;  and  when  Marcellus  appeared  before 
the  people,  and  gave  a  narrative  of  his  services,  all  men's  hearts 
were  turned,  and  not  only  was  he  forgiven  freely,  but  was 
even  elected  Consul  for  the  ensuing  year  (208  b.c).     His  col- 


Chap.  XXXIII.      SECOND  PUNIC  WAR:  PERIOD  IIL  343 

league  was  T.  Quinctius  Crispinus,  who  had  served  under  him  in 
Sicily. 

Old  Fabius  had  just  completed  his  public  life.  The  capture  of 
Tarentum  was  his  greatest  exploit,  and  it  was  his  last ;  an  honour- 
able close  to  an  honourable  career.  Marcellus,  so  long  his  friend 
and  compeer,  was  destined  to  close  not  only  his  military  career, 
but  his  life,  a  few  weeks  later. 

§  12.  The  defection  of  the  Italians  had  no  doubt  weakened 
Hannibal,  and  the  two  Consuls  determined  to  throw  them- 
selves upon  him  with  their  conjoint  force,  in  order  (if  possible) 
to  break  the  charm  which  seemed  to  protect  the  Carthaginian 
from  defeat.  They  found  him  near  Venusia,  and  every  day  they 
drew  out  their  forces  before  his  camp  and  oifered  him  battle. 
But  the  odds  were  too  great  even  for  Hannibal,  and  he  kept 
close  within  his  intrenchments.  It  happened  that  between  his 
camp  and  that  of  the  Consuls  there  was  a  hill  which  Marcellus 
thought  it  desirable  to  occupy.  Accordingly  he  rode  up  to  the 
top,  accompanied  by  his  colleague  and  a  small  detachment  of 
cavalry,  unconscious  that  a  large  body  of  Numidian  horse  were 
lurking  in  the  woods  below.  In  a  moment  the  Consuls  were 
surrounded.  Marcellus  was  run  through  by  the  spear  of  one 
of  these  wild  horsemen,  and  fell  dead  from  his  horse ;  Crispinus 
escaped  mortally  wounded  to  his  camp.  As  soon  as  Hannibal 
heard  of  this  great  stroke  of  good  luck,  he  hastened  to  the  scene 
of  conflict,  and  saw  with  his  own  eyes  his  ablest  antagonist  lying 
dead  before  him.  His  conduct  proved  the  true  nobility  of  his 
nature.  He  showed  no  triumph  :  but  simply  drew  the  gold 
ring  from  the  dead  man's  finger,  saying  :  "  There  lies  a  good  sol- 
dier but  a  bad  general."  He  then  ordered  the  corpse  to  receive 
a  soldier's  burial.  Like  his  father  Hamilcar,  he  warred  not  with 
the  dead,  but  with  the  living, 

§  13.  Great  was  the  consternation  at  Rome  when  intelligence 
of  this  untoward  event  arrived.  The  Consul  Crispinus  lived  just 
long  enough  to  be  carried  in  a  litter  to  Capua,  where  he  was  on 
Roman  ground,  and  could  therefore  execute  the  command  of  the 
Senate  to  name  a  Dictator.  He  named  old  Manlius  Torquatus. 
But  no  attempt  was  made  to  molest  Hannibal  again  this  year. 
Torquatus  only  exercised  his  oftice  in  holding  Comitia  for  the 
election  of  new  Consuls.  The  occasion  was  a  grave  one.  Never 
before,  since  the  beginning  of  the  Republic,  had  she  been  bereft 
of  both  her  Consuls  at  one  blow.  But  in  order  to  understand  the 
full  importance  of  the  choice  which  the  people  were  now  required 
to  make,  it  must  be  mentioned  that  Hasdrubal,  the  brother  of 
Hannibal,  had  already  set  out  upon  his  march  from  Spain,  and  m 
a  short  time  might  be  expected  to  arrive  in  Italy. 


344  ROME  AND  CARTHAGE.  Book  IV 

§  13.  All  notice  of  the  Spanish  war  since  the  death  of  the 
two  Scipios  has  purposely  been  deferred.  Here  it  will  be 
enough  to  say,  that  soon  after  that  event,  the  Senate,  well 
understanding  the  importance  of  maintaining  the  war  in  Spain, 
and  anxious  (if  it  might  be)  to  prevent  a  further  invasion  of 
Italy,  had  endeavoured  to  retrieve  their  losses  in  that  quarter; 
and  in  211  B.C.  young  P.  Scipio,  the  hero  of  the  latter  part  of  the 
war,  had  been  appointed  to  the  dangerous  command  left  vacant 
by  his  father  and  uncle.  In  the  next  chapter  notice  will  be  taken 
of  his  splendid  successes  during  the  three  years  which  had  passed. 
But  these  successes  had  not  served  to  divert  Hasdrubal  from  his 
purpose.  This  general  had  collected  an  army,  not  large,  but  com- 
posed of  tried  soldiers,  which  he  skilfully  carried  through  the  heart 
of  Spain,  and  crossed  the  Pyrenees  near  Bayonne,  entering  Gaul 
by  the  pass  which  now  is  threaded  by  the  high  road  from  Paris 
to  Madrid.  By  this  dexterous  movement  he  completely  eluded 
the  vigilance  of  the  Romans,  who  lost  sight  of  him  altogether 
and  knew  not  whither  he  was  gone.  But  towards  the  close  of 
the  present  year  news  came  from  the  friendly  people  of  Marseilles, 
to  the  effect  that  Hasdrubal  had  arrived  in  Aquitania,  and  in- 
tended wintering  in  Gaul,  as  the  season  was  too  far  advanced  for 
the  safe  passage  of  the  Alps. 

Such  were  the  grave  circumstances  under  which  Torquatus  sum- 
moned the  people  to  elect  Consuls  for  the  year  20*7. 

§  14.  It  might  have  been  thought,  that  the  ablest  Patrician  to 
be  found  was  M.  Valerius  Laevinus,  who  was  still  in  Sicily.  Not 
only  had  he  restored  the  province  to  order,  but  had  laid  in 
large  stores  of  provisions  at  Catana  for  the  Italian  armies,  and 
had  assisted  in  other  ways  in  lightening  the  expenses  of  the  war. 
But  the  Senate  distrusted  him :  they  had  not  forgotten  the 
contumacious  way  in  which  he  had  quitted  Rome  two  years  be- 
fore, rather  than  name  a  Dictator  at  their  bidding.  They  there- 
fore turned  their  eyes  on  M.  Claudius  Nero,  a  man  of  known 
energy  and  unflinching  resolution,  who  had  served  now  for  many 
years  under  Fulvius  and  Marcellus.  He  had  been  sent  to  Spain 
at  the  first  news  of  the  disasters  there,  and  remained  in  command 
till  the  appointment  of  young  Scipio.  All  men  agreed  that  Nero 
should  be  the  Patrician  Consul.  But  who  was  to  be  his  Ple- 
beian colleague  ?  Marcellus  was  dead,  and  Gracchus  was  dead ; 
and  Fulvius  was  nearly  as  old  as  Fabius.  At  length  it  was 
resolved  to  choose  M.  Livius  Salinator,  a  man  who  was  also  well 
stricken  in  years,  for  he  had  been  Consul  with  ^milius  Paullus 
in  the  year  before  Hannibal's  invasion,  and  had  triumphed  with 
him  over  the  Illyrians.  But  he  had  been  accused  of  unfair 
division  of  the  spoil  taken  in  that  Illyrian  war,  and  had  been 


Chap.  XXXin.      SECOND  PUNIC  WAR;  PERIOD  III.  «45 

condemned  to  pay  a  fine  by  the  vote  of  all  the  Tribes,  save 
one.  Indignant  at  a  sentence  which  he  deemed  unjust,  he  had 
withdrawn  to  his  estate  in  the  country,  and  had  only  lately 
reappeared  in  the  Senate  at  the  command  of  the  Censors.  But 
when  there,  he  sat  in  moody  silence,  till  at  length  he  started 
up  to  speak  in  defence  of  his  kinsman  Livius,  the  commandant 
of  Tarentum,  who  was  accused  of  having  lost  the  city  to  Han- 
nibal. On  this  occasion  Fabius'  conduct  had  not  been  conciliatory. 
For  when  it  was  urged  in  defence  of  the  accused  that  he  had 
mainly  assisted  in  recovering  the  city,  Fabius  drily  remarked, 
that  "  he  did  not  wish  to  condemn  Livius  :  certainly  he  had 
assisted  in  recovering  Tarentum,  for  if  he  had  not  lost  it,  it  would 
not  have  been  recovered  at  all."  These  recollections  all  rankled 
in  the  heart  of  the  old  Senator;  and  he  refused  the  proffered 
Consulship.  Here,  however,  he  yielded  to  the  command,  rather 
than  the  entreaty  of  the  Fathers.  But  still  one  difficulty  re 
mained.  The  cross-grained  old  man  was  at  feud  with  his  col- 
league Nero ;  and  when  friends  tried  to  reconcile  them,  he  replied 
that  "  he  saw  no  occasion  for  it :  if  they  remained  enemies,  they 
would  keep  a  keener  watch  for  each  other's  faults."  At  last  he 
gave  way  in  this  point  also,  and  before  they  took  the  field  the 
Consuls  were  in  perfect  agreement. 

They  hastened  early  in  the  year  to  their  respective  stations, 
Nero  to  take  the  command  in  Southern  Italy,  against  the 
feeble  army  of  Hannibal ;  Livius  to  Ariminura,  on  the  frontier 
of  Cisalpine  Gaul,  to  await  the  arrival  of  Hasdrubal. 

§  15.  As  soon  as  the  season  permitted,  Hasdrubal  advanced 
from  his  winter-quarters  to  the  passage  of  the  Alps.  He  avoided 
the  coast-road  taken  by  his  brother,  and  passed  through  the 
country  of  the  Arvernians  (who  have  left  their  name  in  French 
Auvergne),  and  thus  came  straight  to  the  point  where  the 
Rhone  and  Isere  meet,  so  as  to  take  the  same  route  over 
the  mountains  which  had  been  pursued  by  his  brother  eleven 
years  before.  The  time  of  the  year  was  favourable :  in  the 
period  which  had  elapsed  the  people  had  become  better  ac- 
quainted with  the  Carthaginians ;  and  Hasdrubal  achieved  his 
passage  into  Italy  with  little  loss  or  difficulty.  He  straightway 
marched  through  the  plains  of  Cisalpine  Gaul  to  the  banks  of  the 
Po,  where  the  Roman  colony  of  Placentia,  one  of  the  eighteen 
Jately  found  faithful,  had  before  defied  the  arms  of  Hannibal. 
Hannibal  had  not  wasted  time  in  assailing  this  town;  but 
Hasdrubal  spent  some  time  in  besieging  it,  probably  to  oblige 
the  Gauls,  whom  he  expected  to  swell  the  numbers  of  his  army. 
For  hitherto  they  had  not  given  Hannibal  much  assistance.  In 
the    eventful    year  of  Cannae  thev  had  cut  off"  the   Con»ul-elect 

15* 


346  ROME  AND  CARTHAGE.  Book  IY. 

Posthumius,  and  still  drank  mead  out  of  his  skull.  But  since 
then  they  had  remained  quiet ;  and  Varro,  with  a  single  Legion 
at  Ariminum,  had  sufficed  to  watch  them.  And  now  they  seem 
to  have  given  Hasdrubal  indifferent  support,  so  that  the  time  he 
spent  at  Placentia  must  have  been  nearly  thrown  away.  However 
he  obtained  some  Gallic  recruits,  and  (what  was  more  valuable)  a 
considerable  body  of  Ligurians,  an  active  and  hardy  people,  who 
were  likely  to  do  him  good  service. 

§  16.  Before  he  left  his  lines  at  Placentia,  he  sent  off  sii, 
couriers,  four  Gauls  and  two  Numidians,  to  inform  his  brotner 
of  his  intended  route.  Hannibal,  meantime,  had  been  constantly 
on  the  move.  We  find  him  marching  from  Bruttii  into  Lu- 
cania,  from  Lucania  into  Apulia,  and  from  Apulia  again  into 
Bruttii,  and  then  once  more  back  into  Apulia.  The  purpose  of 
these  rapid  movements  seems  to  have  been  to  collect  recruits 
from  such  people  as  still  remained  faithful  to  him,  in  order 
that  he  might  join  his  brother  with  as  strong  a  force  as  possible. 
We  cannot  but  admire  the  skill  with  which  he  eluded  Nero,  who 
pursued  him  with  a  double  army  of  four  Legions.  Yet  it  was 
one  of  these  marches  that  accidentally  proved  the  ruin  of  his 
cause.  The  couriers  despatched  by  Hasdrubal  from  Placentia 
made  their  way  into  Apulia,  but  unfortunately  arrived  just  at 
the  time  when  Hannibal  was  absent  in  Bruttii.  They  at- 
tempted to  follow  him  but  missed  their  way,  and  fell  into  the 
hands  of  the  Prsetor  stationed  on  the  Tarentine  frontier.  That 
officer  immediately  sent  off  the  despatches  found  upon  them  to 
Nero,  who  was  lying  at  Canusium.  An  interpreter  was  soon  pro- 
cured, and  the  whole  plan  of  the  enemy's  campaign  was  now 
revealed  to  the  Consul.  Hasdrubal  told  his  brother  that  he  in- 
tended to  advance  along  the  Adriatic,  by  way  of  Ariminum,  and 
proposed  that  they  should  join  forces  in  TJmbria,  in  order  to  march 
upon  Rome.  Nero's  determination  was  soon  taken.  Legally,  he 
had  no  power  to  quit  his  district  in  Southern  Italy,  but  in  this 
emergency  he  resolved  to  set  all  forms  at  defiance.  He  picked 
out  6000  foot  and  1000  horse,  the  flowet-  of  his  army,  and  gave 
out  that  he  would  march  at  nightfall  on  a  secret  expedition  into 
Lucania.  As  soon  as  it  was  dark,  he  set  out;  but  the  soldiers 
soon  discovered  that  Lucania  was  not  their  destination.  They 
were  marching  northwards  towards  Picenum,  and  they  found 
that  provisions  and  beasts  of  burthen  were  ready  for  them  all 
along  the  road,  by  the  Consul's  orders.  As  soon  as  he  was 
well  advanced  upon  his  march,  he  addressed  his  men,  and  told 
them  that  "in  a  few  days  they  would  join  their  countrymen 
under  Livius  in  his  camp  at  Sena  Gallica  in  Umbria ;  that  com- 
bined they  would  intercept  Hasdrubal  and  his  invading  army; 


Chap.  XXXIII.     SECOND  PUNIC  WAR :  PERIOD  III.  34  / 

that  victory  was  certain ;  that  the  chief  share  of  the  glory  would 
be  theirs."  The  men  answered  such  an  address  as  soldiers 
should ;  and  everywhere,  as  they  passed,  the  inhabitants  came 
out  to  meet  them,  pressing  upon  them  clothes,  victuals,  horses, 
all,  and  more  than  all  that  they  could  want.  In  a  week's  time 
they  accomplished  a  distance  of  about  250  miles,*  and  found 
themselves  within  a  short  distance  of  Sena.  Nero  halted  till  it 
was  dark,  that  he  might  enter  his  colleague's  camp  unperceived  t/ 
Hasdrubal. 

§  17.  He  had  previously  written  to  the  Senate,  informing  them 
of  his  march,  and  urging  them  to  throw  forward  a  strong  force 
to  defend  the  defile  through  which  the  Flaminian  road  passes  at 
Narnia,  in  case  the  Consuls  should  be  beaten  by  Hasdrubal. 
Answers  had  reached  him,  fully  approving  his  bold  design,  and 
promising  all  support.  It  was,  therefore,  with  full  confidence 
that  he  entered  his  colleague's  camp,  and  beheld  the  watch- 
fires  of  Hasdrubal  at  not  more  than  half  a  mile's  distance 
in  front.  His  men  were  warmly  greeted  by  their  comrades,  and 
received  within  the  camp  of  Livius,  that  Hasdrubal  might  not 
observe  the  increase  of  the  army.  After  one  day's  rest,  Nero 
urged  immediate  action,  lest  his  absence  from  Apulia  might  be 
discovered  by  Hannibal,  or  his  presence  in  Umbria  by  Hasdrubal. 
Accordingly,  the  two  legions  of  Livius,  with  the  two  commanded' 
by  the  Praetor  Porcius,  and  Nero's  troops,  drew  out  before  Has- 
drubal's  camp  and  offered  battle.  The  experienced  eye  of  the 
Carthaginian  was  struck  with  an  apparent  increase  of  numbers ; 
and  his  suspicions  were  confirmed,  when  he  heard  the  trumpet 
sound  twice  in  the  Consul's  lines.  This  convinced  him  that 
Nero  had  joined  his  colleague,  and  full  of  anxious  fear  as  to  the 
fate  of  his  brother,  he  determined  to  refuse  battle  and  retreat 
under  cover  of  night.  The  Romans  returned  to  their  camp; 
and  when  the  next  day  broke,  they  found  Hasdrubal's  camp 
deserted.  Orders  were  given  to  pursue.  They  came  up  with  the 
Carthaginian  army  on  the  banks  of  the  Metaurus,  about  twelve  or 
fourteen  miles  north  of  their  former  position.  The  Metaurus, 
usually  a  small  river,  was  swollen  by  rains,  so  that  they  could  not 
pass  it  except  at  certain  places ;  and  their  guides  had  deserted 
them  so  that  they  could  not  find  the  fords.  Hasdrubal,  therefore, 
was  obliged  to  give  battle  with,  the  river  in  his  rear. 

§  18.  On  the  side  of  the  Romans,  Nero  commanded  on  the 
right  and  Livius  on  the  left,  the  centre  being  under  the  charge 
of  the  Praetor  Porcius.     Hasdrubal  with    his   Spanish   veterans, 

*  In  six  days,  Livy  says  (xxviii  10).     The  soldiers  were  much  assisted  in 
long  marches  by  the  loan  of  horses,  cars,  &c. 


348  ROME  AND  CARTHAGE.  Book  IT. 

stood  opposed  to  Livius,  while  his  Gallic  allies  confronted  Nero; 
and  his  centre,  covered  by  a  corps  of  elephants,  was  formed  of  the 
Ligurians  who  had  taken  service  in  his  army. 

The  battle  began  along  the  whole  line  at  once.  In  the  cen- 
tre, the  elephants  were  wounded,  and  running  furiously  about 
trampled  down  friends  and  foes  alike.  On  the  left,  Nero  found 
the  Gauls  strongly  posted ;  and  leaving  the  greater  part  of  his 
troops  to  hold  them  in  check,  he  himself  made  a  flank  movement 
with  his  own  troops,  and  fell  upon  the  right  of  Hasdrubal's 
division.  This  bold  charge  decided  the  battle.  When  the  right 
wing  of  the  Carthaginian  army  gave  way,  the  centre  followed 
their  example ;  and  Hasdrubal,  finding  the  battle  lost,  and  the 
destruction  of  his  army  inevitable  from  the  nature  of  the  ground, 
threw  himself  into  the  enemy's  ranks  and  fell  fighting.  The 
slaughter  was  great :  the  Metaurus  ran  red  with  blood. 

§  19.  At  Rome,  as  may  be  well  imagined,  the  news  of  Nero's 
march  had  filled  all  hearts  with  hope  and  fear.  And  now,  after 
some  ten  days  of  intense  anxiety,  vague  rumours  came  that  a 
battle  had  been  fought  and  won.  Still,  men  feared  to  believe 
what  they  wished ;  and  the  anxiety  rose  higher  and  higher, 
till  the  officer  in  command  at  Narnia  sent  home  despatches  to 
say  that  two  horsemen  had  arrived  at  that  place  from  the 
field  of  battle  with  certain  news  of  a  great  victory.  So  eager 
were  the  people,  that  the  Praetor  had  great  difficulty  in  prevent- 
ing the  despatches  from  being  seized  and  torn  open  before  they 
had  been  read  in  the  Senate.  And  when  he  brought  them  out 
from  the  Senate-house,  and  read  them  publicly  from  the  Rostra, 
a  burst  of  exultation  broke  from  every  tongue ;  and  men,  women, 
and  children  thronged  to  the  temples  to  bless  the  gods  for  their 
great  deliverance.  Thanks  were  decreed  to  the  Consuls  and 
their  armies;  three  days  were  appointed  for  a  public  thanks- 
giving to  the  gods.  Never  was  public  joy  and  gratitude  more 
deserved.  The  battle  of  the  Metaurus  was  the  salvation  of  Italy; 
and  Horace  spoke  with  as  much  historic  truth  as  poetic  fervour 
when  he  said  that  "  Then,  by  the  death  of  Hasdrubal,  then  fell 
all  the  hope  and  fortune  of  Carthage."* 

§  20.  The  news  was  conveyed  to  Hannibal  in  a  barbarous 
feshion.  Nero  had  returned  to  his  camp  at  Canusium  as 
speedily  as  possible,  and  his  lieutenants  had  kept  the  secret  so 
well,  that  Hannibal  had  remained  ignorant  of  his  absence ;  when 
one  morning  a  grisly  head  was  thrown  into  his  camp,  and  Han- 
nibal knew  the  features  of  his  brother.     Two  prisoners  sent  in, 

*  "  Occidit  occidit 

Spes  omnis  et  fortuna  nostri 
Nominis,  Hasdrubale,  interempto." 


Char  XXXIII.       SECOND  PUNIC  WAR:  PERIOD  IIL  349 

and  a  large  body  paraded  before  the  Roman  camp,  confirmed  the 
dismal  forebodings  of  the  general,  and  he  said  with  a  heavy  heart 
that  "  the  doom  of  Carthage  was  spoken."  This  treatment  of 
his  brother's  remains  was  an  ill  return  for  the  generosity  shown  by 
Hannibal  to  the  corpses  of  his  opponents ;  and  Nero,  by  this  act, 
forfeited  all  claim  to  admiration,  except  such  as  must  be  bestowed 
on  a  skilful  general  and  a  resolute  man. 

Hannibal  now  retreated  into  Bruttii.  The  people  of  this  wild 
country,  still  nearly  as  wild  as  it  was  then,  clung  to  his  fallen  for- 
tunes with  unshaken  fidelity.  Here  he  maintained  himself  for  four 
years  longer,  almost  more  admirable  in  adversity  than  in  prosperity. 
Even  now  no  Roman  general  was  able  to  gain  a  victory  over  him ; 
even  now  every  veteran  soldier  remained  faithful  to  his  great 
leader.  But  he  was  driven  into  a  corner,  and  stood  like  a  lion  at 
bay,  still  terrible,  but  without  hope.  The  war  in  Italy  may  now 
be  considered  at  an  end. 

§  21.  The  victory  of  the  Metaurus  was  held  to  be  an  occasion 
for  allowing  a  triumph  to  the  victorious  Generals.  No  triumphal 
procession  had  passed  down  the  Sacred  Way  and  ascended  to 
the  Capitol  since  JEmilius  PauUus  and  Livius  Salinator  had  led  up 
the  captive  Illyrians  in  the  year  before  Hannibal's  invasion.  All 
former  successes  in  the  war  had  been  but  the  recoveries  of  losses, 
all  except  the  capture  of  Syracuse ;  and  Marcellus  was  refused  a 
full  triumph  then,  because  he  left  the  Sicilian  war  unfinished.  But 
now  there  was  no  drawback.  The  two  Consuls  met  at  Prseneste, 
and  advanced  with  the  army  of  Livius  and  the  captives  in  long 
procession  to  the  Temple  of  Bellona,  in  the  Campus  Martins.  Here 
they  were  received  by  the  Senate  and  people  in  festal  array. 
Livius  appeared  in  the  triumphal  car  drawn  by  four  white  horses, 
attended  by  his  army ;  Nero  rode  on  horseback  beside  him  unat- 
tended ;  for  the  battle  had  been  fought  in  Livius'  district.  Yet  all 
men  turned  their  eyes  on  the  Patrician  Consul,  and  the  acclama- 
tions of  the  crowd  showed  to  whom  belonged  the  true  honours  of 
the  triumph. 

Notwithstanding  these  honours,  Nero  (strange  to  say)  was  never 
again  employed  during  the  war;  and  it  was  not  till  Neros  became 
heirs  of  the  Empire  of  Augustus  that  poets  sang  of  the  debt  which 
Rome  owed  to  that  name.*  A  star  was  appearing  in  the  west, 
iv'hich  soon  eclipsed  the  brightness  of  Nero's  fame.  The  remain- 
ing period  of  the  war  will  be  little  more  than  a  history  of  the  deeds 
of  Scipio. 

*  "  Quid  debeas,  o  Roma,  Neronibus, 

Testis  Metaurum  flumen  at  Hasdrubal 
Devictus,"  etc. 


L.  Cornelius  Scipio  Africanus. 

CHAPTER    XXXIY. 

SECOND    PUNIC    WAR  I     FOURTH    AND    LAST     PERIOD    (206 202  B.C.) 

§  1.  Young  P.  Scipio  elected  Proconsul  for  Spain.  §  2.  Character  of  Scipio, 
§  3.  He  resolves  to  surprise  New  Carthage.  §  4  Site  of  New  Carthage : 
its  capture.  §  5.  His  humane  and  politic  conduct :  he  refuses  to  be  king. 
§  6.  Movements  of  Hasdrubal  Barca.  §  7.  Great  battle  near  the  Guadal- 
quivir :  Romans  masters  of  all  Spain  except  Gades.  i:,  8.  Scipio's  designs 
upon  Africa.  §  9.  He  crosses  over  to  hold  conference  with  Syphax,  king 
of  Western  Numidia:  Treaty.  §  10.  Revolt  of  Spanish  Cities.  §  11. 
Mutiny  quelled.  §  12.  Mago  loses  Gades.  §  13.  Scipio  returns  home :  is 
elected  Consul,  and  sent  to  Sicily  with  permission  to  invade  Africa.  §  14. 
Adventures  of  Masinissa.  §  15.  Attempts  made  at  home  to  thwart  Scipio, 
triumphantly  repelled.  §  16.  Restoration  of  confidence  and  credit  at  Rome. 
§  17.  Scipio  lands  in  Africa.  §  18.  Besieges  Utica,  and  destroys  Cartha- 
ginian army  by  a  treacherous  artifice.  §19.  Defeats  a  second  army:  ad- 
vances to  Tunis.  §  20.  Masinissa  made  King  of  all  Numidia:  death  of 
Sophonisba.  §  21.  The  Carthaginians  recall  Hannibal  and  Mago,  and  send 
to  treat  for  Peace  at  Rome.  §  22.  Peace  refused:  death  of  Fabiils.  §  23. 
Hannibal  lands  at  Leptis  and  advances  to  Zama :  Scipio  moves  to  the  same 
point :  Conference.  §  24.  Battle  of  Zama.  §  25.  Zama  and  Waterloo. 
§  26.  Conditions  of  Peace.  §  27.  Hannibal  becomes  chief  of  Carthage. 
§  28.  Triumph  of  Scipio. 

§  1.  The  History  of  the  War  in  Spain  has  been  left  almost  un- 
noticed, since  the  Defeat  and  Death  of  the  two  Scipios  in  212  or 
211.     It   is  now  time  to  return   to  that  country;   for  the  issue 


Chap.  XXXIV.      SECOND  PUNIC  WAR:  PERIOD  lY.  351 

of  the  war  between  Rome  and  Hannibal  was  in  reality  determined 
on  Spanish  soil. 

After  the  disasters  of  that  campaign,  the  Senate  determined 
to  despatch  reinforcements  without  delay ;  and  the  officei-  ap- 
pointed to  take  the  temporary  command  was  C.  Claudius  Nero, 
the  future  hero  of  the  Metaurus.  Nero  succeeded  in  restoring 
Eoman  dominion  in  the  district  north  of  the  Ebro ;  but  the 
Senate  resolved  to  call  upon  the  People  to  elect  a  Proconsul  for 
Spain  at  the  Great  Comitia.  This  was  an  unusual  course,  and 
was  due  no  doubt  to  the  peculiar  exigencies  of  the  case.  The 
policy  of  continuing  the  Spanish  War  was  manifest ;  but  the  risk 
of  failure  was  so  great,  that  the  Senate  thought  fit  to  throw 
the  responsibility  upon  the  People.  It  was  announced  therefore 
that  Candidates  for  the  Proconsulate  were  to  present  themselves 
in  the  Campus  Martins.  But  when  the  day  came  no  Candidate 
appeared.  Men  looked  at  one  another  in  blank  dismay.  It 
seemed  that  none  of  the  soldiers  of  the  Republic  dared  to  under- 
take so  great  and  hazardous  an  enterprise  ;  when,  to  the  surprise 
and  admiration  of  all,  P.  Cornelius  Scipio,  son  and  nephew 
of  the  slain  Proconsuls,  arose  and  offered  himself  to  the  suffrages 
of  the  People.  He  was  barely  twenty-six  years  of  age  ;*  but  his 
name  and  character  were  well  known ;  and  though  he  had  hither- 
to held  no  office  higher  than  that  of  ^dile,  he  was  elected  by 
acclamation. 

§  2.  Scipio  presents  in  almost  all  respects  a  striking  contrast  to 
the  men  who  had  hitherto  conducted  the  aff"airs  of  Rome  in 
the  •Second  Punic  War.  They  were  far  advanced  in  years,  cau- 
tious and  distrustful ;  he  was  in  the  prime  of  youth,  enterprising 
and  self-confident.  They  had  been  trained  in  all  the  severity  of 
the  old  Roman  discipline ;  he  is  said  to  have  been  dissolute  in 
early  years,  and  was  still  thought  to  aff'ect  too  much  the  easy 
laxity  of  Grecian  manners.  They  were  strictly  obedient  to  the 
letter  of  the  law  ;  he  was  accustomed  from  his  very  youth  to  put 
himself  above  the  laws  and  customs  of  Rome.  They  always 
acted  as  the  faithful  ministers  of  the  Senate;  he  very  soon 
showed  that  the  Senate  must  be  content  to  follow  his  policy, 
rather  than  guide  it.  They,  however  gentle  to  their  country- 
men, were  to  foreigners  harsh,  arrogant,  and  cruel ;  he  treated 
foreigners  with  a  humanity  and  courteousness  that  made  his 
name  better  loved  in  Spain  than  in  Italy.  Yet  in  some  re- 
spects  he  was   a   true   Roman.      Notwithstanding    the    excesses 

*  He  was  seventeen  at  the  skirmish  on  the  Ticinus  (Polyb.,  x.  3).  When 
he  went  to  Spain  he  was  in  his  twenty-seventh  year  (id.,  x.  6).  He  cannot 
therefore  have  set  out  till  the  end  of  21^  or  the  beginning  of  209.  Livy's 
chronology  is  hardly  to  be  reconciled  with  the  above  statements. 


352  ROME  AND  CARTHAGE.  Book  IV 

charged  upon  his  youth,  he  had  long  learnt  to  control  his  pas- 
sions absolutely,  and  to  submit  every  desire  to  his  own  views 
of  duty.  Notwithstanding  the  grace  and  affability  of  his  manner, 
he  preserved  a  loftiness  of  deportment  which  kept  men  at  a  cer- 
tain distance  from  him.  Few  shared  his  intimacy  ;  but  where 
he  gave  his  confidence,  as  to  his  friend  C.  Laelius,  that  confidence 
was  complete  and  unreserved.  One  point  in  his  character  cal't 
for  particular  attention, — the  Religiousness  of  his  life.  Never, 
from  his  first  appearance  in  public,  had  he  been  known  to  un- 
dertake any  enterprise  without  first  resorting  to  the  Great  Tem- 
ple on  the  Capitol,  and  remaining  there  for  hours  absorbed 
in  devotion.  There  have  been  those  who  have  represented 
this  conduct  as  merely  assumed  to  blind  and  influence  the 
p3ople.  But  such  was  not  the  belief  of  those  who  knew 
him  best ;  and  to  think  that  Scipio  was  a  mere  hypocrite, 
is  a  monstrous  belief.  In  the  time  of  the  Second  Punic  War, 
religious  feelings  were  strong  in  the  hearts  of  the  people, 
though  the  popular  belief  in  prodigies  and  the  popular  mode 
of  deprecating  the  divine  wrath  were  gross  and  barbarous.  The 
Religion  of  Scipio  might  nc^  be  consistent ;  yet,  on  the  whole, 
it  would  be  unjust  to  doubt  that  he,  hke  others  of  his  own 
time,  acted  in  reliance  on  the  support  of  Higher  Powers.  In 
this  lies  the  secret  of  his  character.  That  self-confidence,  which 
prompted  him  to  shrink  from  no  responsibility,  led  him  also  to 
neglect  the  laws  of  his  country,  when  they  seemed  to  oppose 
what  he  thought  just  or  necessary.  Every  incident  in  his 
youth  shows  this  confidence.  Not  to  insist  on  the  doubtful 
story  of  his  saving  his  father's  life,  when  he  was  yet  a  boy, 
we  have  seen  him  a  Tribune  of  the  Legions  at  the  age  of 
twenty,  assisting  to  rally  the  broken  remains  of  the  army  of 
Cannae,  and  barring  the  Secession  of  the  young  Nobles  after 
that  disastrous  day.  Three  years  after,  we  find  him  offering  him- 
salf  Candidate  for  the  Curule  ^dileship  ;  and,  when  it  was  ob- 
jected that  he  was  yet  too  young  for  the  office,  promptly  answering, 
"If  the  People  vote  for  me,  that  will  make  me  old  enough." 
And  now,  after  the  death  of  his  Father  and  Uncle  in  Spain,  we 
see  him  modestly  waiting  till  it  was  clear  that  no  experienced 
commander  would  claim  the  dangerous  honour  of  succeeding 
them,  and  then  bravely  offering  himself  to  the  acceptance  of  the 
People. 

§  3.  Scipio  arrived  in  Spain  late  in  the  summer  of  210,  or 
perhaps  not  till  the  spring  of  209.  He  landed  at  Emporiae,  with 
his  friend  Laelius  and  his  elder  brother  Lucius,  who  accompanied 
him  as  Legates,  and  M.  Junius  Silanus,  who  was  to  command  as 
Propraetor   in  the   place   of    Nero,      He   found   that  the  thrPQ 


Chap.  XXXIV.      SECOND  PUNIC  WAR:  PEHlOt)  lY.  353 

Generals  commanding  the  Carthaginians  in  Spain,  Hasdrubal 
and  Mago,  brothers  of  Hannibal,  and  Hasdrubal,  son  of  Gisgo, 
were  at  discord  with  each  other.  Their  forces  lay  scattered 
over  a  wide  extent  of  country  from  Gades  to  Celtiberia  ;  and 
there  seems  to  have  been  no  disposition  to  act  on  the  offensive 
against  the  Romans.  Scipio,  taking  advantage  of  these  circum- 
stances, determined  to  strike  a  blow  which,  if  successful,  would 
confirm  the  enthusiastic  feelings  of  the  Roman  People  towards  him, 
and  would  mark  that  a  General  had  arisen  who  would  not  rest 
content  with  the  timid  discretion  of  the  Fabian  policy.  No  less 
a  place  than  New  Carthage  itself,  the  Capital  of  Carthaginian 
Spain,  was  the  object  he  had  in  view.  He  heard  that  it  was  de- 
fended by  a  garrison  of  1000  men  only,  and  that  none  of  the 
Carthaginian  armies  lay  near  it.  By  a  bold  stroke  it  might  be 
possible  to  surprise  it.  His  purpose  was  revealed  to  none  save 
Laelius,  who  sailed  in  command  of  the  fleet,  while  Scipio  himself 
led  his  army  across  the  Ebro,  and  arrived  in  an  incredibly  short 
time  under  the  walls  of  the  city.* 

§  4.  New  Carthage  lay  on  a  hilly  peninsula  jutting  out  into  a 
fine  bay,  which  forms  the  harbour.  On  the  land  side  its  walls 
>vere  covered  by  a  marsh  or  lagoon,  which  was  overflowed  by  the 
sea,  so  that  the  place  was  only  approachable  by  a  narrow  neck  of 
land  between  the  lagoon  and  the  harbour.  On  this  neck  of  land 
Scipio  took  up  his  position,  entrenching  himself  in  rear,  but  leaving 
the  front  of  his  camp  open  towards  the  city.  No  time  was  to 
be  lost ;  and  next  morning  he  gave  orders  to  assault  the  walls. 
He  addressed  his  soldiers,  and  assured  them  of  success ;  Neptune, 
he  said,  had  appeared  to  him  in  a  dream,  and  promised  to 
fight  with  the  Romans.  The  men  advanced  gallantly  to  the 
escalade,  confident  in  their  young  General.  But  the  walls  were 
high  and  strong ;  the  garrison  made  a  stout  defence  :  and  before 
noon  Scipio  called  off  his  soldiers.  But  he  did  not  give  up 
his  enterprise.  In  the  afternoon,  as  he  was  informed,  the  water 
in  the  lagoon  would  be  very  low,  in  consequence  of  a  fall  in  the 
tide  assisted  by  a  strong  wind.  He  therefore  picked  out  500 
men,  who  were  ordered  to  take  a  number  of  scaling-ladders  and 
dash  through  the  water  so  as  to  mount  the  walls  unobserved, 
while  the  main  body  of  the  army  made  a  feigned  attack  by 
the  neck  of  land.  Thus  Neptune  would  fulfil  his  promise. 
The  device  succeeded  completely.  The  garrison  had  retired  to 
their  noon  day's  sleep,  and  while  they  were  hurrying  to  repel  the 

*  Polybius  says  in  seven  days  (x.  9).  The  distance  in  a  straight  line  is  not 
less  than  230  miles,  so  that  this  march  would  rival  the  march  of  Nero  to  the 
Metaunis.  We  must  suppose  that  the  baggage  and  engines  were  sent  with 
the  fleet. 


354  ROME  AND  CARTHAGE.  Book  IV. 

feigned  attack,  the  500  got  into  the  town  unopposed,  and  rushing 
to  the  main  entrance  threw  open  the  gates.  Scipio,  with  a 
chosen  detachment,  pushed  on  to  the  citadel,  into  which  the 
garrison  had  fled  ;  and  the  Commandant  surrendered  at  discretion. 
All  pillaging  and  slaughter  was  now  stopped  ;  and  at  the  close  of 
the  day  the  young  General  found  himself  master  of  this  impor- 
tant city,  with  a  very  large  treasure  and  an  immense  supply  of 
stores. 

§  5.  In  the  city  he  found  a  number  of  Spaniards,  mostly  women 
and  children,  kept  there  as  hostages  for  the  fidelity  of  their 
countrymen.  For  the  Carthaginian  rule  was  no  longer  beloved 
ks  in  the  days  of  the  elder  Hasdrubal.  Hasdrubal  tlie  son  of 
Gisgo,  especially,  had  made  himself  hateful  to  the  people ;  and 
the  Celtiberians,  the  most  powerful  tribe  of  Central  Spain,  were 
eager  for  an  opportunity  of  revolting.  Scipio  turned  these 
dispositions  to  his  own  advantage  with  admirable  dexterity.  He 
set  free  all  the  hostages,  as  well  as  all  of  Spanish  blood  who  had 
been  taken  prisoners  in  the  city.  Among  these  hostages  was 
the  wife  of  Mandonius,  brother  of  Indibilis,  a  powerful  chief 
who  had  formerly  been  the  friend  of  Carthage,  and  the  daughters 
of  Indibilis  himself  He  sent  them  home  with  as  much  care 
as  if  they  had  been  his  own  kinswomen,  although  Indibilis  and 
Mandonius  had  been  actively  engaged  against  his  unfortunate 
father  and  uncle.  Then  the  soldiers  brought  him  a  beautiful 
girl,  whom  they  had  reserved  as  a  special  gift  for  their  youth- 
fill  commander.  But  Scipio,  observing  her  tears,  inquired  into 
her  condition,  and  finding  that  she  was  the  betrothed  of  Al- 
lucius,  a  young  Celtiberian  chief,  he  sent  for  the  youth,  and 
restored  his  bride  unharmed,  without  ransom  or  condition.  This 
generous  conduct  was  not  without  its  reward.  The  Spaniards, 
quick  in  feeling  and  romantic  in  disposition,  regarded  the 
young  conqueror  as  a  hero  sent  to  deliver  them  from  the 
yoke  of  Carthage.  His  noble  bearing,  his  personal  beauty, 
confirmed  the  favourable  impressions  caused  by  his  conduct  to 
the  hostages;  and  when  he  advanced  next  year  into  Celti- 
beria,  he  was  v/elcomed  by  Indibilis  and  Mandonius  at  the 
head  of  their  vassals.  Soon  after,  a  deputation  of  Spaniards 
came  to  him  with  entreaties  to  become  their  King.  In  him 
they  saw  revived  the  dignity  of  Hamilcar,  the  aflEability  of  the 
elder  Hasdrubal;  and  they  hoped  that  the  popular  times  of  those 
favourite  rulers  might  return.  But  Scipio  courteously  declined 
the  offer,  informing  them  that  he  was  but  the  General  of  the 
Roman  People,  in  whose  ears  the  name  of  king  was  a  byword 
and  a  reproach. 

§  6.  The  Carthaginian  generals  had  been  quite  unable  to  make 


Chap.  XXXIY.      SECOND  PUNIC  WAR:  PERIOD  IV.  365 

head  against  the  well-earned  popularity  of  the  youthful  Roman. 
Hasdrubal  Barca  had  attempted  to  retake  New  Carthage  by 
surprise,  but  in  vain  ;  and  the  year  208  found  him  too  busily 
engaged  in  preparing  for  his  Italian  expedition  to  act  with  energy 
against  the  Romans.  All  Spain  north  of  the  Baetis  (Guadalquivir) 
was  relinquished ;  but  at  length  Hasdrubal  found  himself  obliged 
to  give  battle  at  a  place  called  Bsecula,  which  stands  near  that 
river.  The  Romans  won  the  day;  but  the  Carthaginian  Com- 
mander made  a  skilful  retreat,  leaving  his  camp  and  baggage  in 
the  hands  of  the  enemy.  Hasdrubal  now  drew  back  into  Lusi- 
tania,  leaving  his  brother  Mago  and  the  other  Hasdrubal  (son  of 
Gisgo)  to  cover  the  borders  of  that  district,  which  with  the  pro- 
vince now  called  Andalusia  were  the  only  parts  of  Spain  left  to 
the  Carthaginians.  Meanwhile  he  himself  crossed  the  Tagus, 
and  marching  northwards  (as  we  have  seen)  by  ways  unknown 
to  the  Romans,  crossed  the  Pyrenees  into  Gaul  near  the  shores 
of  the  Bay  of  Biscay.  Scipio,  informed  of  his  intentions  to  pass 
into  Italy,  and  expecting  him  to  follow  the  course  of  his  brother 
Hannibal,  spent  the  remainder  of  the  season  upon  the  Ebro  in 
fruitless  expectation.  In  the  beginning  of  207,  he  heard  that  his 
able  opponent  had  eluded  him,  and  was  already  in  the  heart  of 
Gaul. 

§  7.  In  that  year  the  Carthaginians  made  great  efforts  to 
retrieve  their  falling  fortunes.  An  officer  named  Hanno  had 
come  over  from  Africa  to  replace  Hasdrubal  Barca;  and  the 
young  Masinissa,  son  of  Gala,  a  powerful  Numidian  chief,  had 
also  taken  the  field  with  a  large  body  of  his  formidable  horse- 
men. Scipio  himself  did  not  appear  in  the  field  till  late  in  the 
season,  when  he  found  that  his  brother  Lucius,  with  his  legate 
Silanus,  had  kept  the  Carthaginians  in  check.  But  the  news  of 
the  Metaurus  had  reached  him,  and  he  burned  with  eagerness  to 
eclipse  the  glory  of  Nero. 

Late  in  this  year,  therefore,  or  early  in  206,  Scipio  with  his 
whole  force  prepared  to  pass  the  Baetis  and  bring  the  enemy 
to  action.  The  Carthaginians,  confident  in  their  numbers, 
were  equally  ready,  and  their  united  forces  boldly  faced  the 
enemy.  The  place  of  the  battle  is  unknown  ;  its  name  is 
variously  given  as  Silpia  or  Elinga.  But  the  result  is  certain. 
Scipio's  victory  was  complete  :  the  whole  Carthaginian  army 
was  broken  and  destroyed  ;  its  scattered  remains  took  re- 
fuge behind  the  walls  of  Gades,  with  Hasdrubal  Gisgo  and 
Mago ;  while  the  wily  Masinissa  entered  into  secret  negotia- 
tions with  Silanus,  of  which  we  shall  have  to  speak  further  pre- 
sently. The  Senate,  therefore,  at  the  commencement  of  the 
year  206,  had  to  congratulate  the  People  not  only  on  seeing 


356  HOME  AND  CARTHAGE.  Book  IV. 

Italy  almost  delivered  from  the  army  of  Hannibal,  but  also  on 
the  important  fact  that  all  Spain,  except  the  town  of  Gades, 
was  in  the  hands  of  the  Roman  armies. 

§  8.  But  Scipio  regarded  Spain  as  a  mere  stepping-stone  to 
Africa.  Here,  and  here  only,  he  felt  convinced,  could  the  war 
be  concluded.  Already  had  Valerius  Lsevinus  made  descents 
upon  the  African  coast,  and  found  the  country  nearly  as  de- 
fenceless as  in  the  days  of  Regulus.  But  Fabius  and  the  Senate 
•were  hostile  to  bold  enterprises,  and  Laevinus  could  go  no 
further.  Scipio  determined  not  to  return  to  Rome  till  he  had 
laid  the  train  for  an  invasion  of  Africa;  and  then,  with  the 
confidence  that  marked  his  whole  career,  he  would  offer  him- 
self for  the  Consulship,  and  force  the  Senate  to  allow  him  his 
own  way. 

§  9.  At  that  time,  the  country  to  the  west  of  the  Carthaginian 
Territory,  from  Bona  to  Oran,  was  known  by  the  name  of  Nu- 
raidia;  and  the  Numidians  themselves  were  divided  into  two 
great  Tribes,  the  Eastern  Numidians  or  Masaesylians,  and  the 
Western  or  Massy lians.  Of  the  Masaesylians,  Syphax  was  King  ; 
his  capital  being  Cirta,  now  well  known  under  the  name  of  Coi  - 
stantine  as  a  chief  place  in  French  Algeria.  Gala,  father  o1 
Masinissa,  was  ruler  of  the  Massylians.  We  have  already  seen 
Scipio  entering  into  negotiations  with  Masinissa.  But  Masinissa 
had  not  yet  any  power  of  his  own.  On  the  other  hand,  the 
position  of  the  territory  of  Syphax  on  the  Carthaginian  frontier 
necessarily  made  him  the  most  dangerous  enemy  of  Carthage. 
It  was  therefore  of  the  greatest  importance  to  secure  the  friend- 
ship of  this  powerful  but  unstable  chieftain.  Scipio  resolved, 
with  a  boldness  almost  romantic,  to  pay  a  visit  to  the  Numi- 
dian  capital ;  and,  to  show  his  confidence  in  Syphax,  he  sailed 
from  New  Carthage  to  Africa  with  two  ships  only.  It  hap- 
pened that  Hasdrubal  Gisgo,  who  had  before  this  left  Spain 
in  despair,  appeared  at  the  court  of  Syphax  at  the  self-same  time, 
with  the  self-same  purposes.  The  two  rivals  were  both  enter- 
tained by  the  Numidian ;  but  the  winning  manners  and  personal 
grace  of  Scipio  prevailed  for  the  present,  and  Syphax  formed  an 
alliance  with  the  Romans. 

§  10.  When  Scipio  returned  to  Spain,  he  found  that  his  short 
absence  had  produced  a  serious  change.  Three  important  cities 
in  the  vale  of  the  Baetis,  Illiturgi,  Castulo,  and  Astapa,  had  closed 
their  gates  and  declared  their  independence.  Without  delay,  he 
laid  siege  to  Illiturgi.  The  town  was  taken  after  an  obstinate 
defence,  and  given  up  to  massacre  and  pillage.  This  dreadful 
fate  of  their  countrymen  produced  immediate,  but  opposite,  eflfects 
on  Castulo  and  Astapa.     The  men  of  Castulo,  stricken  with  fear, 


Chap.  KXX.1V.      SECOND  PUNIC  WAR:  PERIOD  IV.  357 

surrendered  at  discretion.  The  men  of  Astapa  collected  all 
their  property  and  valuables  into  a  huge  funeral  pile  in  the 
market-place,  and  placed  their  wives  and  daughters  under  a 
guard,  who  had  orders  to  slay  them  and  fire  the  pile  as  soon 
as  the  gates  should  be  forced.  The  rest  of  the  citizens  fell 
fighting  bravely,  and  the  Romans  were  left  masters  of  a  heap  of 
ashes. 

§  11.  Another  circumstance  showed  that  the  Roman  power  in 
Spain  rested  on  a  very  precarious  tenure.  Scipio  fell  ill  at  New 
Carthage,  and  a  report  was  spread  that  he  was  dead.  Upon  this, 
Indibilis  and'  Mandonius,  whom  he  had  believed  to  be  his  most 
faithful  friends,  raised  the  standard  of  revolt  and  advanced  into 
Celtiberia.  A  division  of  Italian  troops,  8900  strong,  stationed 
upon  the  Sucro,  broke  out  into  open  mutiny,  driving  away  their 
Roman  officers,  and  choosing  two  Italians  as  their  chiefs.  The 
prompt  and  decisive  way  in  which  Scipio  quelled  this  dangerous 
mutiny  recalls  the  conduct  of  Clive  in  Bengal  on  a  similar  occasion. 
He  sent  messengers  to  the  mutineers,  desiring  them  to  come  to 
New  Carthage  and  state  their  grievances;  and  as  they  approached 
the  town,  he  ordered  the  division  of  the  army  in  that  place  to  pre- 
pare for  marching  against  the  revolted  Spaniards.  The  Italians, 
therefore,  met  the  army  leaving  New  Carthage  as  they  entered 
it,  and  fondly  deemed  that  the  General  would  now  be  completely 
at  their  mercy.  But  when  they  appeared  next  morning  before 
Scipio,  they  found  that  thirty-five  persons,  the  ringleaders  of  the 
mutiny,  had  been  arrested  during  the  night ;  and  the  clash  of 
arms  in  the  streets  leading  to  the  Forum  apprised  them  that  the 
army  had  returned  from  its  pretended  march.  Scipio  now 
showed  the  mutineers  that  they  were  in  his  power.  He  re- 
proved them  with  much  severity.  He  ordered  the  ringleaders 
for  execution,  and  pardoned  the  rest  on  their  taking  the  oath  of 
allegiance  anew.  Indibilis  and  Mandonius,  finding  that  the  re- 
port of  the  General's  death  was  false,  hastened  to  make  full  sub- 
mission. But  no  sooner  had  Scipio  left  Spain,  than  these  discon- 
tented chiefs  again  took  arms.  Indibilis  fell  in  battle  ;  Mando- 
nius was  taken  prisoner,  and  put  to  death  with  a  number  of 
Other  chieftains.  For  the  present,  therefore,  Spain  was  reduced 
to  quiet ;  but  it  was  more  than  two  centuries  before  the  power 
of  Rome  was  finally  established  in  the  Peninsula. 

§  12.  It  was^  now  apparent  that  the  Carthaginians  had  no 
longer  any  hope  of  recovering  their  lost  ground  in  Spain.  Has- 
drubal  Gisgo  had  returned  to  Africa.  Masinissa  obtained  a 
personal  interview  with  Scipio,  and  renewed  those  promises  of 
friendship  which  he  had  made  to  Silanus  after  the  battle  of 
Elinga,  and    which    he    afterwards   faithfully  performed.     Mago, 


358  ROME  AND  CARTHAGE.  Book  IV. 

the  last  remaining  brother  of  Hannibal,  after  a  vain  attempt  to 
surprise  New  Carthage,  returned  to  Gades,  and  found  that  the 
inhabitants  shut  their  gates  against  him.  He  enticed  the  chief 
Magistrates,  called  SufFets,  like  the  two  chief  Magistrates  of 
Carthage,  into  a  negotiation,  and  then  seizing  their  persons,  he 
crucified  them  in  sight  of  the  town.  This  brutal  and  trea- 
cherous act  forfeited  his  last  claim  on  the  sympathies  of  the 
people  of  Gades.  They  immediately  surrendered  to  the  Romans, 
while  Mago  sailed  off  to  the  Balearic  Isles,  and  there  occupied 
himself  in  preparing  for  a  fresh  descent  upon  the  coast  of  Italy, 
as  a  last  chance  of  relieving  his  illustrious  brother. 

§  13.  The  soil  of  the  Spanish  Peninsula  was  now  completely 
cleared  of  the  Carthaginians,  and  Scipio  prepared  to  return  to 
Rome.  About  three  years  before  he  had  left  his  country  amid  the 
hopes  and  expectations  of  all  men.  He  now  returned,  having  more 
than  fulfilled  those  hopes  and  expectations.  His  friend  Laelius 
had  been  sent  home  to  announce  his  first  great  success;  his 
brother  Lucius  had  lately  arrived  to  prepare  the  Senate  and 
people  for  the  speedy  arrival  of  the  hero  ;  and  no  one  doubted 
that  at  the  approaching  elections  Scipio  would  be  raised  to  the 
Consulship  by  the  unanimous  voice  of  the  people. 

It  was  towards  the  close  of  the  year  206  b.c.  that  he  returned. 
The  Senate  met  him  at  the  Temple  of  Bellona;  but  refused 
him  a  triumph  on  the  ground  that  he  had  not  held  any  regular 
magistracy  during  his  absence.  He  therefore  entered  the  city, 
and  offered  himself  candidate  for  the  Consulship.  Every  Tribe 
united  in  giving  him  their  suffrages,  though  he  was  not  yet  thirty 
years  old.  But  the  common  rules  of  election  had  been  neglected 
throughout  the  war,  and  no  difficulty  seems  to  have  been  raised 
on  the  score  of  age.  His  colleague  was  P.  Licinius  Crassus, 
who  was  Pontifex  Maximus,  and  therefore  unable  to  leave  Italy. 
Whatevei;  foreign  enterprise  was  undertaken  must  fall  to  the  lot 
of  Scipio.  He  himself  was  at  no  pains  to  conceal  his  intention 
of  carrying  the  war  into  Africa;  and  it  was  generally  understood, 
that  if  the  Senate  refused  leave,  he  would  bring  a  special  bill  for 
the  purpose  before  the  people.  Fabius,  with  Fulvius  and  the 
old  Senatorial  party,  vehemently  opposed  these  bold  projects. 
But  the  time  was  gone  by  when  they  could  use  the  votes  of  the 
people  against  an  enterprising  Consul,  as  they  had  done  some 
years  before  against  Laevinus.*  The  confidence  of  all  men  in 
Scipio  was  unbounded  ;  and,  in  the  end,  the  Senate  was  fain  to 
compromise  the  matter  by  naming  Sicily  as  his  province,  with 
permission  to  cross  over  into  Africa,  if  he  deemed  it  expedient 

*  Chapt.  xxxiii.  §  8. 


Chap.  XXXIV.      SECOND  PUNIC  WAR :  PERIOD  IV.  359 

They  refused  him,  however,  the  additional  levies  and  supplies 
which  he  required.  But  the  Etruscans  and  other  Italians  enthu- 
siastically volunteered  to  give  all  he  wanted.  Scipio  led  a  well- 
appointed  fleet  into  his  province,  and  was  able  to  add  con- 
siderably to  the  veteran  soldiers  of  Cannai  and  Herdonea,  who 
had  seen  hard  service  under  Marcellus  and  Lsevinus.  The  year 
passed,  however,  without  any  attempt  on  Africa,  except  that 
Laelius  went  across  to  reconnoitre,  and,  after  an  interview  with 
Masinissa,  returned  laden  with  spoil. 

§  14.  It  will  be  worth  while  to  devote  a  few  lines  to  the  for- 
tunes of  this  Numidian  Prince.  His  life,  since  his  return  from 
Spain,  had  been  one  series  of  romantic  enterprises ;  and  at  the 
present  time,  notwithstanding  his  adventurous  daring,  he  was 
a  wanderer  and  an  outlaw.  While  he  was  in  Spain,  his  father 
Gala  had  died,  and  his  uncle  Q^salces  took  possession  of  the  chief- 
tainship of  the  Massylians.  On  the  death  of  his  uncle,  and  his 
uncle's  son,  which  followed  in  rapid  succession,  the  chief  power 
was  seized  by  an  adventurer  named  Mezetulus,  who  pretended 
to  act  as  guardian  of  an  infant,  the  sole  remaining  scion  of  the 
family  of  (Esalces.  Masinissa  now  appeared  on  the  scene.  He 
was  very  popular  among  the  Massylians,  and  Mezetulus,  with  his 
young  charge,  was  obliged  to  fly  for  safety  to  the  court  of 
Syphax  at  Cirta.  This  prince,  we  saw,  had  formed  a  treaty  with 
Scipio.  But  Hasdrubal  Gisgo  soon  found  means  to  detach  the 
fickle  Numidian  from  his  new  ally,  by  offering  him  the  hand  of 
his  beautiful  daughter  Sophonisba,  and  urged  him  to  prevent 
Masinissa  from  recovering  the  power  of  his  father.  The  power 
of  Masinissa  was  unequal  to  that  of  Syphax.  He  was  defeated 
in  every  battle  he  ventured  to  fight ;  but  he  seemed  to  lead  a 
charmed  life.  Once  he  was  obliged  to  lie  hid  many  days  in  a 
cave,  once  he  escaped  with  only  two  horsemen  by  swimming  a 
broad  and  rapid  river ;  but  he  always  appeared  afresh,  from  his 
fastnesses  in  the  mountains  of  the  south,  at  the  head  of  a  body 
of  his  wild  cavalry,  plundering  and  alarming  the  subjects  of 
Carthage,  as  well  as  those  of  Syphax.  Personal  pique  was  added 
to  the  desire  of  recovering  the  chieftainship  of  his  father ;  for 
the  beautiful  Sophonisba  had  been  his  betrothed  bride. 

§  15.  In  the  next  year  he  looked  eagerly  to  see  the  Romans 
in  Africa.  But  before  this  took  place  the  enemies  of  Scipio 
made  one  more  attempt  to  thwart  his  African  enterprise.  He 
had  been  continued  in  his  command  as  Proconsul ;  and,  hearing 
that  the  citadel  of  Locri  had  been  taken  by  Q.  Pleminius,  who 
commanded  as  Propraetor  in  Bruttii,  but  that  Hannibal  had  come 
to  the  relief  of  the  place,  he  left  his  province  without  hesita- 
tion, and  sailing  into  the  harbour  of  Locri,  obliged  the  Cartha- 


360  ROME  AND  CARTHAGE.  BooK  IV 

ginian  to  retire.  Pleminius  was  no  sooner  left  in  command 
tliere  than  he  indulged  in  gross  and  brutal  outrages,  not  only 
against  the  people  of  Locri,  but  against  such  Romans  as  ventured 
to  oppose  his  will.  Scipio  was  appealed  to,  but  declined  to 
interfere,  desiring  the  Locrians  to  lay  their  complaints  before 
the  Senate  at  Rome.  These  complaints  arrived  early  in  the  year 
204  B.C.,  and  old  Fabius  again  took  occasion  to  inveigh  loudly 
against  the  presumptuous  audacity  of  his  young  rival.  He  endod 
his  speech  by  proposing  that  he  should  be  deprived  of  his  cou-- 
mand.  Other  complaints  were  made  against  Scipio,  that  by 
going  to  Locri  he  had  transgressed  the  limits  of  his  province, 
as  he  had  done  before  by  visiting  Syphax  in  Numidia ;  more- 
over, that  he  spent  his  time  in  pursuits  unfit  for  a  Roman 
soldier,  frequenting  the  schools  and  gymnasia  of  the  Greek 
cities,  and  wearing  a  Greek  dress ;  while  his  men  were  daily 
becoming  corrupted  by  licentious  living  and  want  of  discipline. 
The  Senate  was  too  well  aware  of  the  merits  and  popularity  of 
Scipio  to  venture  to  act  on  these  vague  accusations  without  pre- 
vious inquiry ;  and  it  was  therefore  resolved  to  send  a  commission 
into  Sicily  to  examine  into  the  truth  of  the  charges.  The  result 
was  highly  favourable  to  the  General.  It  was  reported  that  he 
was  quite  guiltless  of  the  excesses  of  Pleminius,  who  was  arrested 
and  left  to  die  in  prison ;  and  his  troops,  instead  of  being 
neglected  or  undisciplined,  were  in  the  highest  order ;  the  Com- 
missioners had  themselves  witnessed  the  evolutions  of  the 
army  and  fleet,  and  could  testify  to  their  effective  condition ; 
they  had  also  inspected  the  stores  at  Lilybseum,  and  found  arms, 
engines,  and  supplies  of  every  kind  provided  for  the  invasion  of 
Africa.  It  was  universally  resolved  that  Scipio  should  retain  his 
command  till  he  should  bring  the  war  to  a  close. 

§  16.  The  confidence  which  the  Senate  felt  in  the  altered  state 
of  aff'airs  is  fully  shown  by  two  Decrees  passed  in  the  same  year. 
The  first  respected  the  Twelve  Latin  Colonies,  which  five  years 
before  had  refused  to  furnish  soldiers.  At  the  time,  it  had 
been  thought  prudent  to  pass  over  this  contumacious  conduct.* 
But  now  they  were  required  to  furnish  twice  their  proper  con- 
tingent till  the  end  of  the  war.  They  murmured,  but  submitted. 
The  other  Decree  was  moved  by  Laevinus  for  the  repayment 
of  the  patriotic  loan  advanced  by  the  Senators  and  people  during 
his  Consulship  in  the  year  210  B.c.f  It  was  apparent,  therefore, 
that  the  battle  of  the  Metaurus,  backed  by  the  great  successes 
of  Scipio  in  Spain,  had  raised  the  Republic  above  all  fear  of 
disaffection  in  her  Colonies,  or  of  bankruptcy  at   home.     Other 

*  Chapt.  xxxiii.  §  8.  f  Chapt.  xxxiii.  §  6. 


Chap.  XXXIY.      SECOND  PUNIC  WAR:  PERIOD  IV.  361 

signs  of  confidence  appear.  A  huge  stone,  supposed  to  represent 
the  Great  Mother  of  the  Gods,  was  brought  in  state  to  Rome  from 
Pessinus  in  Sicily.  The  Sibylline  books  directed  that  the  care  of 
this  precious  reHc  should  be  given  to  "  the  best  man"  at  Rome : 
and  the  Senate  adjudged  the  title  to  P.  Scipio  Nasica,  son  of  Cn. 
Scipio,  who  had  died  in  Spain,  and  first  cousin  to  the  great  man 
who  was  now  making  the  name  illustrious.*  The  Cincian  Law, 
also,  brought  forward  by  the  Tribune  M.  Cincius  Alimentus,  at  the 
instance  of  old  Fabius,  to  prevent  advocates  from  accepting  fee* 
for  their  services,  shows  that  business  was  falling  into  its  routine 
course  again. 

§  17.  All  obstacles  being  now  removed,  Scipio  prepared  to 
cross  over  into  Africa.  His  army  and  fleet  were  assembled  at 
Lilybseum  under  his  own  eye.  His  brother  Lucius  and  his  friend 
La?lius  still  attended  him  as  legates;  and  his  Quajstor  was  a 
young  man  destined  hereafter  to  become  famous,  M.  Porcius 
Cato.  It  was  towards  the  close  of  204  b.c.  that  he  set  sail.  His 
army  was  not  so  numerous  as  it  was  well-appointed  and  well- 
disciplined,  composed  of  men  who  had  grown  old  in  service, 
skilful  in  sieges,  prepared  for  all  dangers ;  for  the  greater  part  of 
them  knew  that  in  the  successful  termination  of  the  war  lay 
their  only  chance  of  returning  home  to  end  their  days  in  peace. 
As  the  ships  left  the  harbour  at  daybreak,  Scipio  prayed  aloud 
to  all  the  gods,  that  his  enterprise  might  be  blessed  by  their 
favour;  that  the  evils  which  Carthage  had.  wrought  against 
Rome  might  now  be  visited  upon  her  own  head.f  When  the 
second  morning  broke,  they  were  in  sight  of  land ;  and  Scipio, 
when  he  heard  that  they  were  off*  the  Fair  Promontory,  said 
that  the  omen  was  a  good  one,  and  there  should  be  their  landing- 
place. 

Masinissa  hastened  to  join  him  with  only  200  of  his  Numidian 
horse ;  but  his  knowledge  of  the  country,  and  the  ceaseless  activity 
which  he  displayed,  would  have  made  him  most  welcome,  even  if 
he  had  come  alone. 

§  18.  Scipio  immediately  laid  siege  to  Utica.  The  terror  felt 
at  Carthage,  when  Laelius  had  landed  the  year  before,  was  great ; 
and  now,  when  Scipio  himself  was  almost  at  the  gatfes,  terror 
rose  to  its  highest  pitch.  For  a  time  he  was  left  to  carry  on 
his  operations  unmolested.  But  as  the  winter  advanced,  Has- 
drubal  Gisgo    succeeded    in    collecting  a  considerable  force,  and 

*  The  Megalesian  games  (i.  e.  the  games  of  the  jueydXij  juijTijp)  long  pre- 
served the  memory  of  this  great  event. 

f  The  prayer  is  given  by  Livy  (xxix.  27)  evidently  from  an  old  author. 
Jl  number  of  old  Latin  forms  occur  in  it, — Dii. . .  he'm  verruncent^  i.  e.  vertani 
■ — bonis  auctihus  auxiUs, — copiam  faxitis, — eta 

16 


5^62  ROME  AND  CARTHAGE.  Book  IV. 

persuaded  Syphax,  his  son-in-law,  to  lend  his  aid  in  relieving 
Utica.  Scipio  was  encamped  on  a  head-land  to  the  eastward 
of  this  town,  on  a  spot  which  long  retained  the  name  of  "the 
Cornelian  Camp,"*  where  (it  is  said)  the  ruins  of  his  entrench- 
ments are  still  to  be  traced ;  and  the  Carthaginians  hoped  that 
they  might  blockade  him  here  both  by  land  and  sea.  They  made 
their  arrangements  not  without  skill ;  and  their  fleet,  which  was 
superior  to  that  of  the  Romans,  threatened  to  intercept  com- 
munication with  Sicily.  Scipio  remained  quiet  the  whole  winter, 
except  that  he  amused  Syphax  by  entering  into  negotiations  for 
peace.  The  fickle  Numidian  showed  himself  not  unwilling  to 
form  a  separate  treaty,  and  to  desert  his  father-in-law  Hasdrubal. 
But  Scipio  had  no  real  purpose  in  these  negotiations.  They  were 
only  carried  on  to  mask  a  design,  which,  as  spring  came  on,  he 
was  enabled  to  put  in  practice.  He  observed  that  Hasdrubal 
occupied  one  camp,  and  Syphax  another.  The  huts  occupied  by- 
the  Numidians  were  composed  merely  of  stakes  wattled  and 
thatched  with  reeds ;  the  quarters  of  the  Carthaginians,  though 
somewhat  more  substantial,  consisted  solely  of  timber,  without 
any  stone  or  brick.  Scipio,  in  the  course  of  the  before-mentioned 
negotiations,  contrived  to  gain  an  accurate  knowledge  of  the  plan 
and  disposition  of  these  camps ;  and  when  he  thought  the  time 
for  the  execution  of  his  design  was  arrived,  he  suddenly  broke  off 
the  negotiations,  and  told  Syphax  that  all  thoughts  of  peace  must 
be  deferred  till  a  later  time. 

On  the  first  dark  night  that  followed,  he  sent  Lselius  and  Ma- 
sinissa  against  the  camp  of  Syphax,  while  he  himself  moved  to- 
wards that  of  Hasdrubal.  Masinissa,  with  his  Numidians,  ob- 
tained an  easy  entrance  into  the  lines  of  his  countrymen,  and 
straightway  set  fire  to  their  inflammable  habitations.  The  unfor- 
tunate men  rose  from  their  beds  or  from  their  wine-cups,  and  en- 
deavoured to  extinguish  the  flames.  But  the  work  had  been  too 
well  done  ;  and  as  they  attempted  to  escape,  they  found  that  every 
avenue  of  the  camp  was  beset  by  enemies.  Fire  was  behind  them, 
death  by  the  sword  before ;  and  though  Syphax,  with  a  chosen 
band,  escaped,  the  whole  of  his  army  was  destroyed.  The  same 
fate  befel  ±Iasdrubal.  On  the  first  alarm,  he  conjectured  the  truth, 
and  with  a  cowardly  haste  made  off",  leaving  his  men  an  easy  prey 
to  Scipio.  When  morning  broke,  the  Romans  pursued  the  fugi- 
tives; and  it  is  not  too  much  to  say  that  the  whole  army  on  which 
Carthage  depended  for  safety  was  cut  off  in  this  horrible  way. 
The  recital  makes  the  blood  run  cold. 

We  may  congratulate  ourselves  on  the  comparative  hone?*" 

*  Caesar,  Bell  Civ.  U.  24  and  31. 


Chap.  XXXIY.     SECOND  PUNIO  WAR :  PERIOD  IT.  363 

of  modern  warfare.  If  in  sieges  and  bombardments  dreadful  calami- 
ties are  inflicted  and  suftered,  yet  no  general  would  form  a  plan  for 
burning  and  destroying  an  army  by  pretended  negotiations  for 
peace,  carried  on  in  cold  blood  for  weeks  before.  Yet  the  historian 
Polybius  relates  this  event  as  a  matter  quite  in  the  ordinary  course 
of  warfare,  without  any  remark  on  the  duplicity  by  which  it  was 
made  successful.  Neither  the  act  itself,  nor  the  means  by  which 
it  was  carried  into  execution,  was  ever  thought  to  cast  any  slur  on 
the  fair  fame  of  Scipio. 

§  19.  The  Carthaginian  Senate  were  ready  to  give  up  matters 
as  lost.  But  at  this  juncture  10,000  Celtiberians  landed  in  Africa 
and  offered  their  services  to  Syphax  ;  and  this  prince  was  over- 
persuaded  by  the  entreaties  of  Sophonisba  to  renew  the  struggle. 
Hasdrubal  also  exerted  himself  greatly  to  collect  a  new  army ;  and 
in  the  course  of  thirty  days  the  two  allied  generals  appeared  on 
the  Great  Plains,  which  lie  about  70  or  80  miles  to  the  south-west 
of  Utica  and  Carthage.  Scipio,  leaving  his  fleet  and  a  division  of 
his  army  to  continue  the  blockade  of  Utica,  advanced  to  give 
them  battle  without  delay.  The  Celtiberians  made  a  stout  resist- 
ance ;  but  being  deserted  by  the  rest  of  the  army,  they  were  en- 
tirely cut  to  pieces.  Hasdrubal  fled  to  Carthage,  Syphax  to  his 
own  kingdom  ;  so  that  the  whole  country  was  left  to  the  mercy 
of  the  Romans.  Scipio  advanced  towards  Carthage,  receiving  the 
submission  of  the  different  towns  by  which  he  passed.  Encamping 
at  Tunis,  within  sight  of  the  Capital,  he  awaited  the  submission  of 
the  Government. 

§  20.  Meanwhile  La)iius  and  Masinissa,  with  the  Italian  and 
Numidian  cavalry,  pursued  Syphax  to  Cirta.  The  unlucky  king 
made  a  faint  show  of  resistance ;  but  he  was  defeated,  and  his 
capital  surrendered  at  discretion.  Masinissa  now  received  his 
reward,  and  was  proclaimed  king  of  all  Numidia.  When  he 
entered  Cirta,  he  was  met  by  Sophonisba,  formerly  his  betrothed, 
and  now  the  wife  of  his  rival.  Her  charms  melted  his  heart; 
and  fearing  lest  Scipio  might  claim  her  as  his  captive,  to  lead  her 
in  triumph  by  the  side  of  Syphax,  he  took  the  bold  step  of  mar- 
rying her  at  once.  This  much  provoked  Scipio,  who  sent  for  the 
young  chief  and  rebuked  him  sternly  for  venturing  to  take  pos- 
session of  a  Roman  captive.  Masinissa  sighed,  and  felt  that  he 
was  unable  to  protect  his  unhappy  bride.  But,  resolved  that  at 
least  she  sho  ild  have  the  option  of  escaping  from  the  degrada- 
tion of  a  Roman  triumph,  he  sent  her  a  cup  of  poison,  telling 
her  that  herein  lay  her  only  possible  deliverance.  She  took  the 
potion,  saying  that  she  accepted  the  nuptial  gift,  and  drained 
it  to  the  dregs.  When  the  tragical  fate  of  Sophonisba  reached 
the  ears  of  Scipio,  he  feared  that  he  had  dealt  too  harshly  with 


364  ROME  AND  CARTHAGE.  Book  IT. 

his  Numidiaii  ally.  He  sent  for  him,  and  gently  reproving  him 
for  his  haste,  he  publicly  presented  him  with  the  most  honourable 
testimonies  to  his  bravery  and  fidelity  which  a  Roman  General 
could  bestow.  In  the  delights  of  satisfied  ambition  and  the  ac- 
quisition of  a  powerful  sovereignty,  Masinissa  soon  forgot  the  sor- 
rows of  Sophonisba. 

§  21.  While  Scipio  remained  at  Tunis,  the  Carthaginian  fleet 
made  an  attack  on  the  Roman  ships  in  the  harbour  of  Utica,  and 
gained  some  advantage.  Intelligence  also  reached  the  Govern- 
ment that  Mago,  on  landing  in  Italy,  had  been  welcomed  by  the 
Ligurians  and  a  portion  of  the  Gauls,  and  had  lately  taken  posi- 
tion on  the  Po  with  a  considerable  force.  Here,  however,  he  was 
encountered  by  a  Roman  army  and  defeated  after  a  severe  strug- 
gle. Mago,  himself  wounded,  took  refuge  among  the  Ligurians, 
who  still  remained  faithful  to  his  cause. 

The  Carthaginian  Government  then  had  the  choice  of  three 
courses :  either  to  make  terms  with  Rome  at  once ;  or  to  continue  the 
war  by  recalling  Hannibal  and  Mago  from  Italy  to  Africa ;  or  to  re- 
call the  two  brothers  on  the  one  hand,  while  on  the  other  they  en- 
tered into  negotiations  for  a  peace.  The  last  was  the  course  adopted. 
Ambassadors  were  dispatched  to  Rome  to  treat  for  peace,  while 
orders  were  sent  to  Hannibal  and  Mago  to  return  with  such  forces 
as  they  could  bring. 

Mago  obeyed  the  orders  immediately,  but  never  reached  Africa. 
He  died  of  his  wound  upon  the  passage,  and  his  few  ships  were 
taken  by  the  Romans.  Hannibal  also  with  bitter  feelings  prepared 
to  obey.  For  sixteen  years  had  the  indomitable  man  maintained 
himself  on  foreign  ground ;  and  even  now  the  remains  of  his 
veteran  army  clung  to  him  with  desperate  fidelity.  He  felt  that, 
so  far  as  he  was  concerned,  he  had  been  more  than  successful ;  if 
he  had  failed,  it  had  been  the  fault  of  that  ungrateful  country, 
which  had  left  him  long  years  unsupported,  and  now  was  recall- 
ing him  to  defend  her  from  the  enemy.  What  Scipio  w^as  now  to 
Carthage,  that  might  Hannibal  have  been  to  Rome.  Still  he  saw 
that  no  advantage  could  be  gained  by  remaining  longer  in  Italy : 
he  therefore  bade  farewell  to  the  foreign  shores,  so  long  his  own, 
and  set  sail  for  that  native  land  which  had  not  seen  him  for  nearly 
forty  years. 

§  22.  Great  was  the  joy  at  Rome  when  the  news  came  that 
their  dire*  enemy  had  been  at  length  compelled  to  leave  the 
shores  of  Italy.  A  public  thanksgiving  was  decreed;  sacrifices 
off'ered  to  all  the  Gre^t  Gods  of  Rome;  and  the  Roman 
Games,  which  had  been  vowed  by  Marcellus  in  his  last  Consul- 

*  This  epithet  has  been  appropriated  to  Hannibal  by  Horace. 


Chap.  XXXIV.      SECOND  PUNIC  WAR :  PERIOD  lY.  365 

ship,  were  now  at  length  performed.  It  was  at  this  moment  of 
triumph  that  the  Carthaginian  Ambassadors  arrived.  The 
Senate  received  them  (inauspicious  omen  !)  in  the»  Temple  of 
Bellona.  Laevinus  moved  that  they  should  be  at  once  dismissed, 
and  that  orders  should  be  sent  to  Scipio  to  push  on  the  war  with 
vigour.  After  some  debate,  his  proposition  was  adopted.  The 
close  of  the  year  203  therefore  rendered  it  certain  that  the  war 
must  be  decided  by  a  trial  of  strength  between  the  two  great 
Generals,  who,  each  triumphant  in  his  own  career,  had  never  yet 
encountered  each  other  in  arms.  About  the  same  time  old 
Fabius  breathed  his  last,  as  if  unwilling  to  be  a  spectator  of  the 
final  glory  of  Scipio.  He  died  in  extreme  old  age.  He  has  the 
merit  of  first  successfully  opposing  Hannibal ;  but  his  somewhat 
narrow  mind,  and  the  jealous  obstinacy  which  often  accompanies 
increasing  years,  prevented  him  from  seeing  that  there  is  a  time 
for  all  things;  that  his  own  policy  was  excellent  for  retrieving 
the  fortunes  of  tbe  Republic,  but  that  the  inactivity  of  the  Car- 
thaginian Government  had  ruined  Hannibal  and  left  the  field 
open  for  the  bolder  measures  of  Scipio. 

§  23.  Hannibal  had  landed  at  Leptis,  to  the  south  of  Carthage, 
with  his  veterans  ;  and  thence  marching  northwards,  took  up 
his  position  on  the  plain  of  Zama,  within  five  days'  march  of 
Carthage.  Scipio,  early  in  the  year  (202  b.c),  advanced  from 
Tunis  to  meet  him ;  and  finding  that  the  Carthaginian  General 
had  sent  spies  to  ascertain  his  strength,  he  ordered  them  to  be 
led  through  his  camp,  and  sent  back  with  a  full  account  of  all 
that  they  had  seen.  Hannibal  felt  that  he  had  to  deal  with  a 
superior  force,  led  by  a  General  only  second  in  ability  to  himself. 
His  own  veterans  were  few  in  number ;  the  remainder  of  his 
army  were  raw  levies  or  allies  little  to  be  trusted ;  the  Numidian 
horse,  which  had  been  his  main  arm  in  Italy,  were  now  arrayed 
against  him  under  the  enterprising  Masinissa.  He  therefore 
proposed  a  personal  conference,  in  the  faint  hope  that  he  might 
effect  a  treaty  between  himself  and  Scipio,  which  he  would 
then  compel  the  Carthaginian  Government  to  accept.  Perhaps 
if  Scipio  had  felt  himself  free  to  act  independently,  he  might 
have  listened  to  the  blandishments  of  his  great  opponent;  but 
he  was  the  General  of  the  Republic,  and  he  knew  the  feeling 
at  Rome  too  well  to  venture  to  act  in  opposition  to  it.  The 
Generals  therefore  parted  from  their  conference,  with  feelings  of 
mutual  esteem,  and  prepared  to  decide  the  fate  of  the  civilised 
world  by  battle. 

§  24.  Next  day  at  sunrise  both  armies  drew  out.  Hannibal 
marshalled  his  army  in  three  lines :  first  his  Gallic  and  Ligurian 
auxiliaries,   with    Balearians    and   other    light    troops ;    in   the 


366  ROME  AND  CARTHAGF*.  Book  IV. 

second  line,  the  veterans  of  Italy  with  fresh  African  levies; 
and  in  the  rear,  the  few  Bruttian  and  Italian  allies  who  had 
followed  his  fortunes.  Both  wings  were  flanked  by  cavalry,  as 
usual ;  and  the  whole  line  of  battle  was  covered  by  a  formidable 
array  of  eighty  elephants.  To  oppose  him,  Scipio  also  formed 
three  lines  according  to  the  common  practice  of  the  Romans ; 
Lselius  with  the  Italian  cavalry  was  posted  on  the  left,  Masi- 
nissa  with  his  Numidians  on  the  right.  The  Roman  army  was 
superior  in  all  respects,  except  in  elephants ;  and  to  make  the 
attack  of  these  monsters  powerless,  Scipio  drew  up  the  maniples 
of  his  infantry  not  (as  was  usual)  chequer-wise,  but  one  imme- 
diately behind  the  other,  so  as  to  leave  open  lanes  between  the 
maniples  from  front  to  rear. 

The  battle  began  by  an  attack  of  the  elephants  on  the  Roman 
light  troops,  who  skirmished  in  front  of  the  regular  lines. 
These  were  overborne  by  the  weight  of  the  huge  beasts,  and  fled 
down  the  lanes  which  have  been  described ;  but  when  the 
elephants  came  within  the  ranks,  the  men  on  each  side  pricked 
them  with  their  javelins,  so  that  some  of  them  rushed  clear 
through  the  spaces  without  turning  to  the  right  or  left;  others 
wheeled  about  and  carried  confusion  into  the  Carthaginian 
ranks.  Meanwhile  both  Masinissa  and  Lselius  had  routed  the 
cavalry  opposed  to  them,  and  the  battle  grew  hot  in  the  centre. 
The  auxiliaries  in  Hannibal's  front  line  were  soon  driven  in 
upon  the  veterans,  who,  how^ever,  levelled  their  spears  and  com- 
pelled them  to  advance  again.  Both  parties  kept  bringing  up 
their  fresh  men,  withdrawing  their  wounded  to  the  rear  ;*  and 
the  battle  continued  with  great  fury,  till  Lselius  and  Masinissa, 
returning  with  the  cavalry  from  the  pursuit,  charged  the  Car- 
thaginians in  rear,  and  decided  the  fate  of  the  day.  The  Romans 
lost  about  5000  on  the  field  ;  the  Carthaginians  not  less  than 
20,000,  besides  a  vast  number  who  were  taken  prisoners. 

§  25.  Thus  was  Hannibal  defeated,  but  not  subdued.  The 
Battle  of  Zama  has  often  been  compared  to  that  of  Waterloo. 
In  both,  the  greatest  Generals  of  the  respective  parties  met 
for  the  first  time;  and  in  both,  the  more  famous  chief,  fighting 
with  an  army  hastily  drawn  together  in  defence  of  his  country, 
was  defeated.  But  in  other  points  they  were  unlike.  Waterloo 
left  France  helpless ;  and  her  ruler  had  no  hope  but  in  with- 
drawing from  her  shores.  After  the  Battle  of  Zama  Hannibal 
could  still  have  oflfered  a  long  resistance;  ar/d  if  he  thought  it 
best  to  make  peace  immediately,  it  was  that  he  might  reform 
the  government,  and  prepare  for  new  struggles  at  a  future 
time. 

§  26.  As  Scipio  was  returning  to  Tunis,  he  met  envoys  from 


Crap.  XXXIY.     SECOND  PUNIC  WAR:  PERIOD  lY.  367 

Carthage.  He  sent  them  back  with  the  following  conditions  of 
peace :  "  The  Carthaginians  were  to  be  left  independent  within 
their  own  territories;  they  were  to  give  up  all  prisoners  and 
deserters,  all  their  ships  of  war  except  ten  triremes,  and  all  their 
elephants ;  they  were  not  to  make  war  in  Africa  or  out  of  Africa 
without  the  consent  of  Rome  ;  they  were  to  acknowledge  Masi- 
nissa  as  King  of  Numidia;  they  were  to  pay  10,000  talents  of 
silver  towards  the  expenses  of  the  war  by  instalments  in  the 
course  of  the  next  fifty  years."*  When  the  Senate  of  Carthage 
met  to  debate  on  these  conditions,  Hasdrubal,  son  of  Gisgo,  rose 
to  advise  the  continuation  of  war !  when  Hannibal,  angry  at  the 
folly  of  the  man,  pulled  him  back  to  his  seat.  A  loud  cry  was 
raised;  upon  which  the  General  rose  and  said  that  "for  six- 
and-thirty  years  he  had  been  fighting  the  battles  of  his  country 
in  foreign  lands,  and  if  in  the  camp  he  had  forgotten  the  manners 
of  the  city,  he  prayed  forgiveness."  He  then  went  on  to  show 
that  all  resistance,  however  prolonged,  must  eventually  prove 
fruitless;  and  in  the  end  the  Senate  agreed  to  accept  the  pro- 
posed conditions.  Upon  this  Scipio  granted  an  armistice  of 
three  months,  while  he  sent  his  brother  Lucius,  with  two  other 
envoys,  to  Rome  to  learn  the  pleasure  of  the  Senate  and  People. 
The  Senate  gave  audience  to  Scipio's  envoys  in  the  Temple  of 
Bellona,  and  welcomed  them  into  the  city  with  the  highest 
honours.  At  the  same  time  ambassadors  arrived  from  the  old 
Government  party  at  Carthage,  who  had  always  opposed  the 
Hannibalic  War,  and  now  hoped  to  obtain  more  favourable 
terms :  but  they  were  dismissed  by  the  Senate  with  contumely ; 
and  the  final  decision  respecting  Peace  was  left  to  the  People. 
All  the  Tribes  voted  that  Scipio  should  be  empowered  to  con- 
firm the  conditions  which  he  had  already  offered ;  and  the  Fe- 
cials were  ordered  to  pass  over  into  Africa,  carrying  with  them 
Italian  flints  to  strike  fire  withal,  and  Italian  herbs  on  which  to 
offer  sacrifice,  that  the  Treaty  might  be  made  in  unexceptionable 
form.  Accordingly,  in  the  very  beginning  of  the  year  201  b.c, 
seventeen  years  after  Hannibal  had  set  out  from  New  Carthage 
on  his  march  into  Italy,  peace  was  concluded,  and  Scipio  set  sail 
for  Rome. 

§  27.  When  the  old  merchant  rulers  of  Carthage  saw  their 
ships  of  war  delivered  up  to  the  Romans,  and  most  of  them 
burned  before  their  eyes ;  when  they  were  obliged  to  open  their 
money-bags  to  pay  the  first  instalment  of  the  enormous  fine 
entailed  upon  them  by  that  war,  which  had  been  begun  in  defi- 
ance of  their  secret  wishes,  and   which   had   ended  thus  disas- 

*  10,000  talents  weight  of  silver  would  be  worth  at  the  present  day  more 
than  2,000, OOOi.  sterling. 


368  ROME  AND  CARTHAGE.  Book  1 , . 

trously  in  consequence  of  their  own  jealousy  and  supineness,  Han- 
nibal made  no  secret  of  his  contempt,  and  laughed  openly  at  their 
rueful  and  dejected  aspect.  Nothing  marks  more  clearly  the  cha- 
racter of  this  son  of  the  camp.  Kind  and  genial  as  he  was, 
frank  and  generous  to  his  soldiers,  he  respected  not  the  real  suf- 
ferings of  these  civilians,  and  took  no  trouble  to  disguise  his  sen- 
timents. He  felt  conscious  that  his  power  in  the  city  was  greater 
now,  than  when  he  was  conqueror  of  Italy.  We  shall  see  here- 
after that  for  the  next  few  years  he  became  the  absolute  ruler  of 
Carthage,  and  the  reformer  of  her  narrow  institutions.  If  he  had 
been  permitted,  he  might  have  raised  her  to  an  eminence  greater 
than  that  froin  which  she  had  fallen.  But  such  was  not  the  will 
of  Providence. 

§  28.  The  Triumph  of  Scipio  was  the  most  splendid  that  had 
ever  yet  ascended  the  Sacred  Hill.  The  enormous  quantity  of 
silver  which  he  brought  with  him  not  only  enriched  his  soldiers, 
but  relieved  the  State  from  the  pressure  of  the  debts  which  dur- 
ing the  war  she  had  been  obliged  to  contract.  King  Syphax  fol- 
lowed his  car,  with  many  other  illustrious  prisoners ;  and,  what 
was  still  more  grateful  to  his  feelings,  many  Romans  who  had  long 
'anguished  in  captivity  attended  their  deliverer  wearing  caps  of 
Liberty.  Among  these  was  a  Senator,  by  name  Q.  Terentius 
Culeo,  who  ever  after  considered  himself  the  Freedman  of  Scipio. 
The  General  himself,  the  universal  gaze  of  men,  was  saluted  by 
the  name  of  the  country  he  had  conquered.  No  one  before  him 
had  obtained  the  honour  of  this  titular  surname:  but  the  name 
of  Scipio  has  come  down  to  our  own  times  indissolubly  linked  with 
that  of  Africanus. 


Lictors. 


CHAPTER    XXXV. 


Guv^ERNMENT  AND   CONSTITUTIONAL  CHANGES  UP  TO  THE   CLOSE   O: 
THE   HANNIBALIC   WAR. 

§  1.  The  present  a  fit  place  for  a  Review  of  the  Constitution,  &c.  §  2.  The 
severance  between  Patricians  and  Plebeians  fast  disappearing.  §  3.  Decay 
of  the  Comitia  Curiata.  §  4.  Regulations  of  age,  &c.,  for  admission  to 
offices  of  State.  §  5.  Duties  attached  to  each,  §  6.  These  offices  pro- 
fessedly open  to  all,  but  now  practically  limited  to  the  wealthy.  §  7. 
Constant  change  in  executive  officers,  even  in  those  of  the  army.  §  8.  Re- 
publican nature  of  the  system :  its  disadvantages,  how  counteracted  in 
practice.  §  9.  Stability  given  to  the  system  by  the  Senate:  the  Senate 
composed  of  persolis~qualified  (1)  by  tenure  of  office,  (2)  by  property,  (3) 
by  age.  §  10.  Power  of  the  Senate,  (1)  in  legislation,  (2)  in  administra- 
tion of  home  and  foreign  affairs,  (3)  in  jurisdiction.  §  11.  The  Comitia 
Centuriata,  as  re-modelled.  §  12.  The  Comitia  Tributa:  its  gradual  rise  to 
power,  coordinate  with  the  encroachments  of  the  Tribunate.  §  13.  Anomaly 
of  two  independent  legislative  bodies :  how  were  collisions  prevented  ? 
§  14,  The  Tribe  Assembly  far  from  a  pure  democracy,  §  15.  AU  laws  in 
both  Assemblies  required  the  previous  sanction  of  the  Senate.  §  16. 
Causes  that  prevented  colUsions  between  the  Senate  and  the  Tribes,  §  17, 
Predominance  of  the  Tribe  Assembly  over  the  Centuriate,  in  legislation. 
§  18,  Their  elective  powers,  §  19.  Their  rights  of  jurisdiction.  §  20. 
Present  supremacy  of  the  Senate  accounted  for. 

§  1.  Now  that  we  have  seen  Rome  first  become  Mistress  of  Italy, 
and  then,  after  a  life   and  death  struggle,  rise   superior  to   Car- 

16* 


370  ROME  AND  CARTHAGE.  Book  IV. 

thage  ;  now  that  we  shall  have  to  follow  her  in  her  conquest  of  all 
the  countries  bordering  on  the  Mediterranean,  so  that  this  sea  be- 
came what  in  modern  phrase  may  be  called  a  Roman  lake,  we 
naturally  inquire  what  was  the  form  of  government;  under  which 
she  made  these  great  achievements,  what  the  treatment  of  the 
subject  foreigners,  what  the  condition  of  the  people,  their  manners 
and  mode  of  life,  their  progress  in  art  and  literature.  To  some  of 
these  questions  an  answer  has  already  been  given  by  the  history 
itself;  to  others  no  answer  can  be  given,  so  scanty  are  the  records 
of  the  time. 

§  2.  About  the  time  of  the  Punic  Wars  the  framework  of  the 
Roman  Constitution  was  complete.  This  Constitution  was  not 
created  by  a  single  legislator,  like  that  of  Sparta,  nor  due  to  the 
convulsive  eftbrts  of  an  oppressed  commonalty,  like  that  of  modern 
France,  but  had  grown  up,  like  that  of  England,  by  slow  degrees 
out  of  the  struggle  between  the  Patrician  Lords  who  had  origi- 
nally engrossed  all  political  power,  and  the  Plebeians  or  Commons, 
who  had  by  successive  steps  obtained  a  share  in  all  the  privileges 
of  the  Patricians.  The  only  trace  remaining  of  ancient  severance 
was  the  regulation  by  which,  of  the  two  Consuls  and  the  two 
Censors,  one  must  be  a  Patrician,  one  a  Plebeian.  At  the  time  of 
which  we  speak  this  regulation  was  in  full  force.  Indeed  the 
Consuls  who  in  the  Hannibalic  War  rendered  the  most  signal 
services  were  Patrician ;  but,  by  a  law  of  nature,  the  Patrician 
Families  being  (like  the  Scottish  Peei'ages)  limited  in  number, 
gradually  died  off,  while  new  Plebeian  Families  were  rising  to 
opulence  and  honour.  In  a  few  years  even  the  partition  of  offices 
fell  into  disuse,*  and  no  political  distinction  remained,  save  that 
persons  of  Patrician  pedigree  were  excluded  from  the  Tribunate 
of  the  Plebs,  as  Scottish  Peers  from  sitting  in  the  House  of  Com- 
mons. 

§  3.  In  correspondence  with  the  advance  of  Plebeian  and  the 
decay  of  Patrician  Families,  a  silent  revolution  had  been  wrought 
in  most  parts  of  the  Constitution. 

The  Assembly  of  the  Curies,  consisting  wholly  of  Patricians, 
once  the  sole  and  supreme  Legislative  Body,  continued  to  drag  on 
a  sickly  existence.  The  Curies,  indeed,  still  retained  nominal 
powers  of  high  sound.  No  Consul  or  Dictator  could  assume 
the  Imperium  without  a  Curiate  Law  to  invest  him  therewith. 
But  what  at  first  sight  seems  a  veto  on  the  appointment  of  the 
first  officers  of  State,  was  in  fact  a  mere  form  ;  for  the  assent 
which  the  Curies  were  still  allowed  to  give  they  were  not  allowed 
to  withhold.     They    continued   to   meet    even  to   Cicero's   time, 

*  Both  Consuls  were  plebeian  first  in  1*72  B.C. ;  both  Censors  first  in  131. 


Chap.  XXXY.   GOVERNMENT  AT  CLOSE  OF  PUNIC  WARS.       37 1 

but  their  business  had  then  dwindled  away  to  the  regulation  of 
the  religious  observances  proper  to  the  Patrician  Gentes.  A  few 
Lictors,  who  were  present  as  the  attendants  of  the  presiding  Magis- 
trate, alone  appeared  to  represent  the  descendants  of  the  Valerii, 
the  Claudii,  and  the  Posthumii.* 

As  the  Assembly  of  the  Curies  declined,  the  Assembly  of  the 
Tribes  arose.  As  the  Comitium  or  Patrician  Meeting-place  at  the 
narrow  end  of  the  Forum  was  deserted,  the  Forum  itself  or  Ple- 
beian Meeting-place  was  more  and  more  thronged.f  But  before  wc 
speak  of  this  Assembly  it  will  be  convenient  to  give  some  account 
of  the  Executive  Government. 

§  4.  The  chief  officers  of  State  employed  in  the  administration 
of  Roman  affairs  remained  as  they  had  been  settled  after  the  Li- 
cinian  Laws. 

In  Cicero's  time  it  is  well  known  that  every  Roman  who 
aspired  to  the  highest  offices  was  obliged  to  ascend  through  a 
regular  scale  of  honours.  An  age  was  fixed  before  which  each 
was  unattainable.  The  first  office  so  held  was  the  Qusestorship, 
and  the  earliest  age  at  which  this  could  then  be  gained  appears 
to  have  been  about  twenty-seven.  Several  years  were  then  to 
elapse  before  a  Roman  could  hold  the  first  Curule  office,  that  is, 
the  iEdileship.  But  between  this  and  each  of  the  highest  honours, 
the  Praetorship  and  the  Consulship,  only  two  complete  years 
were  interposed.  To  be  chosen  ^dile  a  man  must  be  at  least 
thirty-seven,  to  be  Praetor  at  least  forty,  to  be  Consul  at  least 
forty-three.J 

But  no  settled  regulations  had  yet  been  made.  Many  cases 
occur,  both  before  and  after  the  Second  Punic  Wav,  in  which 
men  were  elected  to  the  Consulship  at  a  very  early  age,  and 
before  they  had  held  any  other  Curule  office.  Such  was  the 
case  with  Valerius  Corvus  in  the  Samnite  Wars ;  such  was  the 
case  with  the  great  Scipio  in  the  Hannibalic  War  ;  such  was 
the  case  with  Galba  and  Flamininus,  two  of  the  Consuls  whom 
we  shall  find  employed  in  the  Macedonian  War.  Even  in  later 
times  the  rule   was  dispensed  with   on  great  emergencies  or  in 

*  Cicero,  ad  Alt  iv.  18 ;  a  curious  and  interesting  passage. 

•f-  In  later  times  the  Tribe  Assembly  became  too  large  for  the  Forum,  It 
might  meet  in  any  place  to  which  the  power  of  the  Tribunes  extended ;  that 
is,  any  place  within  a  mile  of  the  city  walls,  and  therefore  in  the  Campus  Mar- 
tins, the  regular  meeting-place  of  the  Centuriate  Assembly. 

X  These  ages  were  probably  fixed  by  the  Lex  Annalis  of  L.  ViUius  (b.c.  1 80). 
The  age  of  27  for  the  quaestorship  is  inferred  from  the  age  at  which  the  Grac- 
chi and  others  are  known  to  have  held  it.  The  other  ages  follow  from  a  well- 
known  passage  of  Cicero  {de  Lege  Agraria^  ii.  37),  in  which  he  says  that  h' 
held  each  of  his  curule  offices  at  the  earliest  age  permitted  by  the  law.  Com- 
pare De  Officiis,  ii.  17. 


372  ROME  AND  CARTHAGE.  Book  IV. 

favour  of  particular  men.  The  younger  Scipio  was  elected  Consul, 
though  he  was  but  candidate  for  the  ^dileship  :  Marius  and  Sylla 
both  avoided  the  ^dileship. 

§  5.  There  can  be  little  doubt  that  this  last-named  office  was 
the  least  acceptable  to  an  active  and  ambitious  man.  The  chief 
duties  of  the  ^diles  related  to  the  care  of  the  Public  Buildings 
(whence  their  name),  the  celebration  of  the  Games  and  Festivals, 
the  order  of  the  streets,  and  other  matters  belonging  to  the  depart- 
Xjient  of  Police.  But  the  Quaestors  were  charged  with  business  of 
a  more  important  character.  They  were  attached  to  the  Consuls 
and  Praetors  as  Treasurers  and  Paymasters.  The  Tax-gatherers 
(Publican!)  paid  into  their  hands  all  moneys  received  on  account 
of  the  State,  and  out  of  these  funds  they  disbursed  all  sums 
lequired  for  the  use  of  the  Army,  the  Fleet,  or  the  Civil  Adminis- 
tration. They  were  originally  two  in  number,  one  for  each  Con- 
sul ;  but  very  soon  they  were  doubled,  and  at  the  conquest  of 
Italy  they  were  increased  to  eight.  Two  always  remained  at 
home  to  conduct  the  business  of  the  Treasury,  the  rest  accompa- 
nied the  Consuls,  and  Praitors,  and  Proconsuls  to  the  most  impor- 
tant provinces. 

The  office  of  Praetor  was  supplementary  to  that  of  the  Con- 
suls. The  time  of  its  first  creation  was  that  important  crisis 
when  the  Consulate  was  half  surrendered  to  the  Plebeians.* 
The  judicial  functions  hitherto  discharged  by  the  Consuls  were 
then  transferred  to  a  special  Magistrate,  who  assumed  the  name  of 
Praetor,  originally  borne  by  the  Consuls  themselves,  and  the 
Patricians  retained  exclusive  possession  of  this  magistracy  longer 
than  of  any  other;  it  was  not  till  337  b.c,  that  the  first  Plebeian 
obtained  access  to  it.  This  original  Praetor  was  called  Praetor 
Urbanus,  or  President  of  the  City  Courts.  A  second  was  added 
about  the  time  when  Sicily  became  subject  to  Rome,  and  a  new 
court  was  erected  for  the  decision  of  cases  in  which  foreigners 
were  concerned  :  hence  the  new  magistrate  was  called  Praetor 
Peregrinus.  For  the  government  of  the  two  first  provinces, 
Sicily  and  Sardinia,  two  more  Praetors  were  created,  and  when 
Spain  was  constituted  as  a  double  province,  two  more,  so  that 
the  whole  number  amounted  to  six.  In  the  absence  of  the 
Consuls  the  Praetors  presided  in  the  Senate  and  at  the  great 
assembly  of  the  Centuries.  They  often  commanded  reserve 
armies  in  the  field,  but  they  were  always  subordinate  to  the 
Consul  ;  and  to  mark  this  subordinate  position  they  were 
allowed  only  six  Lictors,f  whereas  each  Consul  was  attended  by 
twelve. 

Of  the   Consuls  it  is  needless  to  speak  in  this  place.     Their 

*  Cbapt.  xy,  §  X"^,  |  Penpe  their  Greek  naipe  of  tfffTreAf/cwf, 


Chap.  XXXV.   GOVERNMENT  AT  CLOSE  OF  PUNIC  WARS.       37 a 

position  as  the  supreme  executive  officers  of  the  State  is  sufficientlj 
indicated  in  every  page  of  the  History. 

§  6.  To  obtain  each  of  these  high  offices  the  Roman  was  obliged 
to  seek  the  suffrages  of  his  fellow-citizens.  They  were  open  to  the 
ambition  of  every  one  whose  name  had  been  entered  by  the  Cen- 
sors on  the  Register  of  Citizens,  provided  he  had  reached  the 
required  age.  No  office,  except  the  Censorship,  was  held  for  a 
longer  period  than  twelve  months  :  no  officer  received  any  pay  or 
salary  for  his  services.  To  defray  expenses  certain  allowances  were 
made  from  the  Treasury  by  order  of  the  Senate.  To  discharge 
routine  duties  and  to  conduct  their  correspondence,  each  magistrate 
had  a  certain  number  of  clerks  (Scribse),  who  formed  what  we 
should  call  the  Civil  Service,  and  who  had  before  this  assumed  an 
important  position  in  the  State.* 

But  though  the  highest  offices  seemed  thus  absolutely  open  to 
every  candidate,  they  were  not  so  in  practice.  About  the  time 
of  the  First  Punic  War  an  alteration  was  made  which,  in  effect, 
confined  the  Curule  offices  to  the  wealthy  families.  The  ^diles, 
as  has  been  said,  were  charged  with  the  management  of  the  Public 
Games,  and  for  celebrating  them  with  due  splendour  an  allowance 
had  been  made  from  the  Treasury.  At  the  time  just  mentioned 
this  allowance  was  withdrawn.  Yet  the  Curule  ^diles  were  still 
expected  to  maintain  the  honour  of  Rome  by  costly  spectacles  at 
the  Great  Roman  Games,  the  Megalesian  Festival,  and  others  of 
less  consequence.  A  great  change  was  wrought  by  this  law,  which, 
under  a  popular  aspect,  limited  the  choice  of  the  people  to  those 
who  could  buy  their  favour. 

§  1.  That  which  strikes  the  mind  as  most  remarkable  in  the 
Executive  Government  of  Rome  is  the  short  period  for  which 
each  magistrate  held  his  office,  and  the  seeming  danger  of  leaving 
appointments  so  important  to  the  suffrages  of  the  people  at  large. 
And  this  is  still  more  striking  when  we  remember  that  the 
same  system  was  extended  to  the  army  itself  as  well  as  to  its 
generals.  The  Romans  had  no  standing  army.  Every  Roman 
citizen  between  the  complete  ages  of  seventeen  and  forty -five, 
and  possessing  property  worth  at  least  4000  pounds  of  coppei-, 
was  placed  on  the  Military  Roll.  From  this  Roll  four  Legions, 
two  for  each  Consul,  were  enlisted  every  year,  and  in  cases  of 
necessity  additional  Legions  were  raised.  But  at  the  close  of 
the  year's  campaign  these  legionary  soldiers  had  a  right  to  re- 
turn home  and  be  relieved  by  others.  Nor  were  there  any  fixed 
officers.  Each  Legion  had  six  Tribunes  and  sixty  Centurions  ; 
but  these  were  appointed,  like  the    Consuls    and   soldiers,  fresh 

*  See  the  history  of  Appius  the  Censor,  and  Cn.  Flavins,  Chapt.  xxxv.  §  10. 


3*74  ROME  AND  CARTHAGE.  Book  ly. 

every  year.  The  majority  of  the  Tribunes  were  elected  by  the 
people  at  the  Comitia  of  the  Tribes,  and  the  remainder  were  nomi- 
nated by  the  Consuls  of  the  year,  the  only  limitation  to  such  choice 
being  that  those  elected  or  nominated  should  have  served  in  the 
Legions  at  least  five  campaigns.  The  Centurions  were  then  nomi- 
nated by  the  Tribunes,  subject  to  the  approval  of  the  Consuls.  No 
doubt  the  Tribunes  and  Consuls,  for  their  own  sake,  would  nomi- 
nate effective  men  :  and  therefore  we  should  conclude,  what  we 
find  to  be  the  fact,  that  the  Roman  armies  depended  chiefly  on 
their  Centurions,  and  on  those  Tribunes  who  were  nominated  by 
the  Consuls. 

§  8.  This  brief  statement  will  sufficiently  show  that  the  Roman 
system,  both  in  Army  and  State,  was  strictly  Republican,  that  is, 
calculated  to  distl'iKute  public  offices  to  asmany  citizens  as  possible, 
and  to  prevent  power  being  absorbed  by  any  single  man  or  classes 
of  men.  There  were  no  professed  statesmen  or  officers,  but  there 
was  a  large  number  of  men  who  had  served  for  a  time  in  each  ca- 
pacity. There  was  no  standing  Army,  but  there  was  a  good 
Militia.  There  was  no  regularly  trained  soldiery,  but  every  citizen 
had  served  in  his  time  several  campaigns,  and  every  one  was  some- 
thing of  a  soldier. 

It  has  often  been  objected  that  this  system  was  hurtful  on  the 
one  hand  to  the  successful  management  of  war  and  foreign  aff"airs ; 
on  the  other  hand  destructive  of  that  liberty  which  is  necessary 
to  trade  and  commerce.  As  to  the  latter  point  it  may  be 
admitted  at  once  :  the  Roman  institutions  were  not  framed  for 
the  purpose  of  encouraging  commercial  pursuits.  But  military 
and  political  success  would  seem  likely  to  be  thwarted  no  less 
effectually  by  this  fleeting  tenure  of  office.  If  a  Consul  was 
pursuing  his  operations  ever  so  successfully,  he  was  liable  to  be 
superseded  at  the  year's  close  by  his  successor  in  the  Consul- 
ship :  and  this  successor  brought  with  him  new  soldiers  and 
new  officers ;  everything,  it  would  seem,  had  to  be  done  over 
again.  This  was  always  felt  in  times  of  difficulty,  and  the  con- 
stitutional usages  were  practically  suspended.  No  Republic, 
hov/ever  jealous,  can  rigidly  carry  out  such  a  system:  necessity 
will  modify  it  in  practice.  During  the  Samnite  Wars  we  find 
the  same  eminent  men  repeatedly  elected  to  the  Consulship, 
notwithstanding  the  provision  that  no  man  should  hold  this  high 
office  except  at  intervals  of  ten  years.  Valerius  Corvus  was 
first  chosen  Consul  at  three-and-twenty ;  he  held  the  office  four 
times  in  fourteen  years ;  and,  besides  tliis,  he  often  served  as 
Dictator,  as  Praetor,  and  as  Tribune  of  the  Legions.  The  same 
remark,  with  slight  alteration,  may  be  made  of  Papirius  Cursor, 
Publilius  Philo,  Fabius  Maximus,  Marcius  Rex,  and  others,  who 


Chap.  XXXV     SENATE  AT  CLOSE  OF  PUNIC  WARS.  375 

held  the  same  sovereign  office  repeatedly  at  short  intervals.  It 
was  not  till  after  300  b.c.  that  the  ten  years'  law  seems  to  have 
been  enforced ;  and  before  this  time  another  plan  had  been 
devised  to  leave  the  conduct  of  any  doubtful  war  in  the  hands 
of  a  General  who  had  shown  himself  equal  to  the  task.  In  the 
year  328  b.c.  the  Senate  first  assumed  the  power  of  decreeing 
that  a  Consul  or  Praetor  might  be  continued  in  his  command 
for  several  successive  years,  with  the  title  of  Proconsul  or  Pro- 
praetor, the  power  of  these  officers  being,  within  their  own  dis- 
trict, equal  to  the  power  of  the  Consul  or  Praetor  himself.  The 
Proconsul  also  was  allowed  to  keep  part  of  his  old  army,  and 
would  of  course  continue  his  Tribunes  and  Centurions  in  office. 
The  hope  of  booty  and  the  desire  to  serve  out  their  campaigns  (foi 
after  a  certain  number  of  campaigns  served  the  legionary  was 
exempt,  even  though  he  was  much  under  forty-five  years*)  kept 
many  soldiers  in  the  field  ;  and  thus  the  nucleus  of  a  standing 
army  was  formed  by  each  commander.  In  the  Punic  Wars  the 
ten  years'  law  was  suspended  altogether,  and  Proconsuls  were 
ordered  to  remain  in  office  for  years  together :  almost  all  the 
great  successes  of  Marcellus  and  Scipio  were  gained  in  Proconsular 
commands. 

§  9.  But  though  the  chief  officers  both  in  State  and  Army  were 
continually  changing  at  the  popular  will,  there  was  a  mighty  power 
behind  them,  on  which  they  were  all  dependent,  which  did  not 
change.     This  was  the  Senate. 

The  importance  of  this  body  can  hardly  be  overstated.  All  the 
acts  of  the  Roman  Republic  jfan  in  the  name  of  the  Senate  and 
People,  as  if  the  Senate  were  half  the  state,  though  its  number 
seems  still  to  have  been  limited  to  Three  Hundred  members. 

The  Senate  of  Rome  was  perhaps  the  most  remarkable  assem- 
bly that  the  world  has  ever  seen.  Its  members  held  their  seats 
for  life  ;  once  Senators  always  Senators,  unless  they  were  degraded 
for  some  dishonourable  cause.  But  the  Senatorial  Peerage  was 
not  hereditary.  No  father  could  transmit  the  honour  to  his  son. 
Each  man  must  win  it  for  himself. 

The  manner  in  which  seats  in  the  Senate  were  obtained  is 
tolerably  well  ascertained.  Many  persons  will  be  surprised  to 
learn  that  the  members  of  this  august  body,  all — or  nearly  all — 
owed  their  places  to  the  votes  of  the  people.  In  theory,  indeed, 
the  Censors  still  possessed  the  power  really  exercised  by  the 
Kings  and  early  Consuls,  of  choosing. the  Senators  at  their  own 
will  and  pleasure.     But  official  powers,  however  arbitrary,  are 

*  Such  exempts  were  called  Emeriti, — qui  stipendia  legitima  fecissent.  The 
number  of  campaigns  required  was  20  for  the  infantry,  10  for  the  cavalry. 


376  ROME  AND  CARTHAGE.  Book  IY. 

always  limited  in  practice ;  and  the  Censors  followed  rules 
established  by  ancient  precedent.  A  notable  example  of  the 
rule  by  which  the  list  of  the  Senate  was  made,  occurs  at  a 
period  when,  if  ever,  there  was  wide  room  for  the  exercise  of 
discretion.  After  the  fatal  days  of  Thrasymene  and  Canna?,  it  was 
found  that  to  complete  the  just  number  of  Senators,  no  less  than 
one  hundred  and  seventy  were  wanting.  Two  years  were  yet  to 
pass  before  new  Censors  would  be  in  office ;  and  to  provide  an 
extraordinary  remedy  for  an  extraordinary  case,  M.  Fabius  Buteo, 
an  old  Senator  of  high  character,  was  named  Dictator  for  the 
sole  purpose  of  recruiting  the  vacant  ranks  of  his  Order.  He 
thus  discharged  his  duty.  "  After  reciting  the  names  of  all  sur- 
viving Senators,  he  chose  as  new  members,  first,  those  who  had 
held  Curule  offices  since  the  last  Censorship,  according  to  the 
order  of  their  election ;  then  those  who  had  served  as  ^diles, 
Tribunes,  or  Quaestors ;  then,  of  those  who  had  not  held  office, 
such  as  had  decorated  their  houses  with  spoils  taken  from  the 
enemy,  or  with  crowns  bestowed  for  saving  the  lives  of  fellow- 
citizens."* 

In  the  interval  between  two  Censorships,  that  is  in  the  course 
of  five  years,  the  number  of  Ex-Qusestors  alone  must  have 
amounted  to  at  least  forty,  and  this  was  more  than  sufficient 
to  fill  the  number  of  vacancies  which  would  have  occurred  in 
ordinary  times.  The  first  qualification  for  a  seat  in  the  Senate 
then  was  that  of  Office.  It  is  probable  that  to  the  qualification 
of  office  there  was  added  a  second,  of  Property.  Such  was 
certainly  the  case  in  later  times.  The  Emperor  Augustus  fixed 
the  property  qualification  of  Senators  at  double  that  required 
of  the  Equestrian  Order.  And  so  early  as  the  Hannibalic  War, 
we  have  seen  that  Avhen  all  orders  were  required  to  contribute  to- 
wards a  fleet,  the  Senators  were  called  upon  to  equip  a  larger 
number  of  seamen  than  the  citizens  of  the  First  Class  ;f  a  requisi- 
tion which  seems  absurd,  unless  Senators  had  been  the  wealthiest 
men  in  the  State.  A  third  limitation,  that  of  Age,  followed  from 
the  rule  that  the  Senate  was  recruited  from  the  lists  of  official  per- 
sons. No  one  could  be  a  Senator  till  he  was  about  thirty  years  of 
age. 

Such  is  a  sketch  of  the  constitution  of  this  great  Council  during 
the  best  times  of  the  Republic.  It  formed  a  true  Aristocracy. 
Its  members,  almost  all,  possessed  the  knowledge  derived  from 
the  discharge  of  public  office  and  from  mature  age.  They  were 
recommended  to  their  places   by  popular  election,   and  yet  se- 

*  WTien  Appius  the  Censor  transgressed  the  rule,  new  Censors  were  ap- 
pointed, to  make  out  a  list  according  to  old  custom.     Y.  Chapt.  xxiv.  §  15. 
f  Chapt.  xxxiii.  §  5. 


Chap.  XXXV.     SENATE  AT  CLOSE  OF  PUNIC  WARS.  377 

cured  from  subserviency  to  popular  will  by  the  amount  of  their 
property.  Forty  or  fifty  Consulars  at  least,  ten  or  twelve  men  to 
whom  had  been  committed  the  delicate  trusts  belonging  to  the 
office  of  Censor,  with  a  number  of  younger  aspirants  to  these  high 
objects  of  ambition,  were  to  be  counted  in  its  ranks.  It  was  not 
by  a  mere  figure  of  speech  that  the  minister  of  Pyrrhus  called 
the  Roman  Senate  "  an  Assembly  of  Kings."  Many  of  its  mem- 
bers had  exercised  Sovereign  power;  many  were  preparing  to 
exercise  it. 

I  §  10.  The  power  of  the  Senate  was  equal  to  its  dignity.  It 
absorbed  into  its  ranks  a  large  proportion  of  the  practical  ability 
of  the  community.  It  was  a  standing  Council,  where  all  official 
functions  were  annual.  And  thus  it  is  but  natural  that  it  should 
engross  the  chief  business  of  the  State. 

First,  in  regard  to  Legislation,  they  exercised  an  absolute  con- 
trol over  the  Centuriate  Assembly,  because  no  law  could  be  sub- 
mitted to  its  votes  which  had  not  originated  in  the  Senate ;  and 
thus  the  vote  of  the  Centuries  could  not  do  more  than  place  a  veto 
on  a  Senatorial  Decree.  In  respect  to  the  Legislation  of  the  Tribe 
Assembly,  their  control  was  less  authoritative  ;  but  of  this  we  will 
speak  presently. 

In  respect  to  Foreign  Affairs,  the  power  of  the  Senate  was 
absolute,  except  in  declaring  war  or  concluding  treaties  of 
peace,  —  matters  which  were  submitted  to  the  votes  of  the 
People.*  They  assigned  to  the  Consuls  and  Praetors  their 
respective  provinces  of  administration  and  command ;  they 
fixed  the  amount  of  the  troops  to  be  levied  every  year  from  the 
list  of  Roman  citizens,  and  of  the  contingents  to  be  furnished 
by  the  Italian  allies.  They  prolonged  the  command  of  a  general 
or  superseded  him  at  pleasure.  They  estimated  the  sums  neces- 
sary for  the  military  chest ;  nor  could  a  sesterce  be  paid  to  the 
General  without  their  order.  If  a  Consul  proved  refractory,  they 
could  transfer  his  power  for  the  time  to  a  Dictator ;  even  if  his 
success  had  been  great,  they  could  refuse  him  the  honour  of  a 
Triumph.  Ambassadors  to  foreign  states  were  chosen  by  them 
and  from  them ;  so  were  the  frequent  Commissions  appointed  for 
transacting  business  abroad,  either  in  treating  with  foreign  po- 
tentates, or  settling  the  government  of  conquered  countries.  All 
disputes  in  Italy  or  beyond  seas  were  referred  to  their  sovereign 
arbitrement. 

In  the  administration  of  Home  Affairs,  all  the  regulation  of 

*  Declarations  of  "War  were  submitted  to  the  Centuriate  Assembly,  treaties 
of  Peace  to  the  Tribes.  See  the  commencement  of  the  First  Punic  and  Mace, 
donian  wars  (Chapt.  xxviii.  §  7,  xxxix.  §  12),  and  the  treaties  at  the  close  of 
the  First  Punic  and  HannibaUc  wars  (Chapt.  xxix.  §  23,  xxxiv.  §  26). 


378  ROME  AND  CARTHAGE.  Book  IV. 

religious  matters  was  in  their  hands ;  they  exercised  superinten- 
dence over  the  Pontiffs  and  other  ministers  of  public  worship. 
They  appointed  days  for  extraordinary  festivals,  for  thanksgiving 
after  victory,  for  humiliation  after  defeat.  But,  which  was  of 
highest  importance,  all  the  Financial  arrangements  of  the  State 
were  left  to  their  discretion.  The  Censors,  at  periods  usually  not 
exceeding  five  years  in  duration,  formed  estimates  of  annual  out- 
lay, and  provided  ways  and  means  for  meeting  these  estimates; 
but  always  under  the  direction  of  the  Senate. 

In  all  these  matters,  both  of  Home  and  Foreign  administra- 
tion, their  Decrees  had  the  power  of  law.  In  times  of  difficulty 
they  had  the  power  of  suspending  all  rules  of  law,  by  the  appoint- 
ment of  a  Dictator,  or  by  investing  the  Consuls  with  Dictatorial 
power. 

Besides  these  Administrative  functions,  they  might  resolve  them- 
selves into  a  High  Court  of  Justice  for  the  trial  of  extraordinary 
offences.  But  in  this  matter  they  obtained  far  more  definite 
authority  by  the  Calpurnian  Law,  which  about  fifty  years  later 
established  High  Courts  of  Justice,  in  which  Praetors  acted  as  pre- 
siding judges,  but  the  Senators  were  the  Jury. 

It  appears,  then,  that  the  Senate  of  Rome  was  not,  like  our  Par- 
liament, a  merely  deliberative  and  legislative  body,  but  a  great 
Sovereign  Council,  controlling  every  branch  of  administration,  and 
nearly  all  matters  of  legislation  also.  The  Consuls  and  Praetors 
were  its  Ministers  of  Foreign  and  Home  Affairs ;  the  Censors  its 
Ministers  of  Finance ;  the  Quaestors  its  Treasurers  and  Paymasters; 
the  ^diles  its  Superintendents  of  Police  and  Public  Works.  It 
was  at  the  present  time,  and  for  many  years  later,  the  main-spring 
of  the  Roman  Constitution. 

§  11.  Our  attention  must  now  be  directed  to  the  two  great 
Legislative  Assemblies  of  the  Roman  People,  well  known  respec- 
tively under  the  names  af  the  Assembly  of  the  Classes  and  Cen- 
turies, and  the  Assembly  of  the  Tribes,  which  had  now  entirely 
superseded  the  ancient  Patrician  Assembly  of  the  Curies. 

A  description  was  given  in  a  former  page  of  the  manner  in 
which  King  Servius  so  organised  the  great  Centuriate  Assem- 
bly as  to  give  the  privilege  of  a  vote  to  every  citizen,  yet  so  as 
to  leave  all  real  power  in  the  hands  of  the  wealthier  classes.  But 
at  some  time  between  the  Decemvirate  and  the  Second  Punic 
War,  a  complete  reform  had  been  made  in  the  organisation  of 
Servius.     When  this  was  we  know  not.*     Nor  do  we  know  the 

*  Niebuhr  and  many  others  attribute  the  reform  to  the  Censorship  of  Fabius 
and  Decius  (Chapt.  xxiv.  §  15).  Others  place  it  as  late  as  the  Censorship  of 
C.  Flaminius,  only  two  years  before  Hannibal  crossed  the  Alps.  The~e  is  no 
evidence  to  justify  pnjr  positive  conclusion. 


Chap.  XXXY.  POPULAR  ASSEMBLIES.  379 

precise  nature  of  the  reform.  This  only  is  certain,  that  the 
distribution  of  the  whole  people  into  Tribes  was  taken  as  the 
basis  of  division  in  the  Centuriate  Assembly  as  well  as  in  the 
Assembly  of  the  Tribes,  and  yet  that  the  division  into  Classes 
and  Centuries  was  still  retained,  as  well  as  the  division  into 
Seniores  and  Juniores.  The  maintenance  of  this  last  division 
preserved  the  military  character  of  this  great  Assembly  ;  the  in^ 
Production  of  the  Tribes  as  a  basis  of  division  gave  it  a  more 
democratic  character  than  before ;  while  the  preservation  of 
the  Class  system  made  it  more  aristocratic  than  the  Tribe 
Assembly. 

In  the  absence  of  positive  evidence,  we  may  here  give  what 
is  the  most  probable  constitution  of  the  Reformed  Centuriate 
Assembly.  It  is  assumed  then,  that  the  whole  People  was  con- 
vened according  to  its  division  into  thirty-five  Tribes  ;  that  in 
each  Tribe,  account  was  taken  of  the  five  Classes,  arranged  ac- 
cording to  an  ascending  scale  of  property,  which,  however,  had 
been  greatly  altered  from  that  attributed  to  Servius ;  and  that 
in  each  Tribe  each  of  the  five  Classes  was  subdivided  into  two 
Centuries,  one  of  Seniores,  or  men  between  forty-five  and  sixty, 
one  of  Juniores,  or  men  between  eighteen  and  forty-five.  On 
the  whole,  then,  with  the  addition  of  eighteen  Centuries  of 
Knights,  there  would  be  368  Centuries.  This  plan,  though  it 
allowed  far  less  influence  to  wealth  than  the  plan  of  Servius, 
would  yet  leave  a  considerable  advantage  to  the  richer  classes. 
For  it  is  plain  that  the  two  Centuries  of  the  First  Class  in  each 
Tribe  would  contain  far  fewer  members  than  the  two  Centuries 
of  the  Second  Class,  those  of  the  Second  fewer  than  those  of 
the  Third,  and  all  those  of  the  first  four  together,  probably,  fewer 
than  those  of  the  Fifth.  Yet  these  four  Tribes  having  in  all 
240,  or  (with  the  Knights)  258  Centuries,  would  command  an 
absolute  majority;  for  the  question  was  still  decided  not  by  the 
majority  of  persons,  but  by  the  majority  of  Centuries. 

§  12.  While  the  Centuriate  Assembly  was  becoming  more 
popular  in  its  constitution,  a  still  more  democratic  body  had 
come  into  existence,  namely,  the  Assembly  of  the  Tribes.  . 

There  can  be  no  doubt  that  when  the  Centuriate  Assembly 
was  restored  by  the  Patricians  after  the  expulsion  of  Tarquin,  it 
was  intended  to  be  the  sole  Legislative  body.  The  more  recent 
Legislative  Assembly  of  the  Tribes  was  a  spontaneous  growth  of 
popular  will,  not  contemplated  by  statesmen.  The  Tribe  As- 
sembly, originally  intended  to  conduct  the  business  of  the  Ple- 
beian Order,  gradually  extended  its  power  over  the  whole  Body 
politic ;  and  its  ordinances  (Plebiscita)  obtained  all  the  force  of 
laws. 


380  ROME  AND  CARTHAGE.  Book  IT. 

It  is  in  the  history  of  the  Tribunate  that  we  trace  the  course 
of  the  insensible  revolution  which  made  the  Assembly  of  Tribes 
the  chief  Legislative  body  in  the  State. 

The  Tribunes  were,  as  their  name  denotes,  the  Presidents  and 
Ministers  of  the  Tribes.  They  were  originally  invested  with 
political  authority  for  the  purpose  of  protecting  the  persons  of 
the  Plebeians  from  the  arbitrary  punishments  inflicted  by  the 
Patrician  Magistrates.  It  was  no  doubt  intended  that  this  au- 
thority should  be  only  suspensive,  so  as  to  prevent  sudden  acts 
of  violence.  But  the  Tribunes  soon  assumed  the  licence  of 
standing  between  Plebeians  and  the  law.  Thus  they  established 
the  celebrated  right  of  Intercession,  which  in  course  of  time  they 
extended  to  all  matters.  They  forbade  trials,  stopped  elections, 
put  a  veto  on  the  passing  of  laws.  So  far,  however,  their  power 
was  only  negative.  But  when  the  Tribe  Assembly  obtained 
legislative  rights,  the  Tribunes  obtained  a  positive  authority.  The 
power  of  the  Tribunes  and  of  the  Tribes  implied  each  other.  The 
Plebeian  Assembly  was  dead  without  able  and  resolute  Tribunes; 
the  Tribunes  were  impotent  without  the  democracy  at  their  back. 

This  relation  was  at  once  established  when  the  election  of  the 
Tribunes  was  committed  to  the  Tribes  themselves.  The  Tribunes 
soon  began  to  summon  the  Tribes  to  discuss  political  questions; 
and  the  formidable  authority  which  they  now  wielded  appeared 
in  the  overthrow  of  the  Decemvirate  and  the  recognition  of  the 
Tribe  Assembly  as  a  Legislative  body.  The  political  powers 
then  gained  by  the  Valerio-Horatian  laws  were  confirmed  and 
extended  by  the  popular  Dictators,  Q.  Publilius  Philo  and  Q. 
Hortensius.*  It  is  impossible  to  estimate  the  amount  of  con- 
cession made  by  each  of  these  laws.  All  that  can  be  determined 
is,  that  by  these  laws — all  of  them  passed  at  the  Centuriate 
Assembly — the  Tribes  were  constituted  by  the  side  of  the  other 
Assembly  as  a  complete  and  independent  Legislative  body,  and 
that  no  person  except  a  Tribune  could  introduce  a  measure  for 
their  approval.  Before  the  first  of  these  laws  was  passed,  the 
votes  of  the  Tribe  Assembly  were  merely  like  the  rules  of  a 
parish  meeting,  having  no  reference  to  the  community  at  large. 
After  these  laws  were  conceded,  the  Plebiscita  obtained  the 
authority  of  law,  and  were  binding  on  the  whole  community. 
For  a  long  period,  however,  only  the  measures  of  the  Centuriate 
Assembly  were  dignified  with  the  name  of  Leges ;  but  in  later 
times  the  name  Lex  was  applied  indiscriminately  to  the  measures 
passed  by  both  Assemblies. 

§  13.  Thus  the  Roman  Constitution  presents  us  with  the  ap' 

*  See  Chapters  x.  §  22 ;  xx.  §  11 ;  xxv.  §  2. 


Ohap.XXXY,  popular  ASSEMBLIES.  381 

parent  anomaly  of  two  distinct  Legislative  Assemblies,  each 
independent  of  the  other;  for  laws  passed  in  the  one  did  not 
require  the  sanction  of  the  other,  as  is  the  case  with  our  Houses 
of  Parliament.  Nor  were  any  distinct  provinces  of  action 
assigned  respectively  to  each .  This  being  so,  we  should  expect 
to  find  the  one  clashing  with  the  other ;  to  hear  of  popular  laws 
emanating  from  the  one  body  met  with  a  counter-project  from 
the  other.  But  no  such  struggles  are  recorded.  The  only  way 
in  which  it  can  be  known  that  a  particular  law  is  due  to  the 
more  popular  or  to  the  more  aristocratic  Assembly  is  by  looking 
to  the  name  of  the  mover,  by  which  every  law  was  designated. 
If  the  name  be  that  of  a  Tribune,  the  law  must  be  referred  to  the 
Tribe  Assembly.  If  the  name  be  that  of  a  Consul,  Praetor,  or 
Dictator,  the  law  must  be  referred  to  the  Centuriate  Assembly. 
What,  then,  were  the  causes  which  prevented  collisions  which 
appear  inevitable  ? 

§  14.  First,  it  must  be  remembered  that,  though  the  Centuriate 
Assembly  had  been  made  more  democratic,  yet  the  Tribe  As- 
sembly was  very  far  indeed  from  a  purely  democratic  body.  In 
the  latter,  the  suffrages  were  taken  by  the  head  in  each  of  the 
thirty -five  Tribes,  and  if  eighteen  Tribes  voted  one  way,  and 
seventeen  another,  the  question  was  decided  by  the  votes  of  the 
eighteen.  But  the  eighteen  rarely,  if  ever,  contained  an  abso- 
lute majority  of  citizens.  For  the  whole  population  of  Rome, 
with  all  the  Freedmen,  were  thrown  into  four  Tribes  only,*  and 
if  these  four  Tribes  were  in  the  minority,  there  can  be  no 
doubt  that  the  minority  of  Tribes  represented  a  majority  of 
voters.  Thus  even  in  the  more  popular  Assembly,  there  was 
not  wanting  a  counterpoise  to  the  will  of  the  mere  majority. 

§  15.  A  still  more  eflPective  check  to  collision  is  to  be  found  in 
the  fact  that  all  measures  proposed  to  the  Tribe  Assembly  by  the 
Tribes,  as  well  as  the  Centuriate  Laws  proposed  by  the  Consuls 
or  other  Ministers  of  the  Senate,  must  first  receive  the  sanction 
of  the  Senate  itself  The  few  exceptions  which  occur  are  where 
Tribunes  propose  a  Resolution  granting  to  a  popular  Consul  the 
Triumph  refused  by  the  Senate.  But  these  exceptions  only 
serve  to  prove  the  rule. 

§  16.  Our  surprise  that  no  collision  is  heard  of  between  the 
two  Assemblies  now  takes  another  form,  and  we  are  led  to  ask 
how  it  came  that,  if  all  measures  must  be  first  approved  by  the 
Senate,  any  substantial  power  at  all  could  belong  to  the  Tribes  ? 
It  would  seem  that  they  also,  like  the  Centuriate  Assembly, 
could  at  most  exercise  only  a  veto  on  measures  emanating  from 
the  great  Council. 

*  See  Chapt.  xxiv.  §  15. 


382  ROME  AND  CARTHAGE.  Book  IY. 

That  tliis  result  did  not  follow,  is  due  to  the  rude  but  formid- 
able counter-check  provided  bj  the  Tribunate.  The  persons  of 
the  Tribunes  were  inviolable  ;  but  the  Tribunes  had  power  to 
place  even  Consuls  under  arrest.  By  the  advance  of  their  inter- 
cessory prerogative  they  gradually  built  up  an  authority  capable 
of  overriding  all  other  powers  in  the  State. 

It  is  plain  that  if  the  Senate  and  the  Tribunes  had  both  in- 
sisted on  their  respective  rights  of  initiation  and  intercession, 
Legislation  must  have  come  to  a  standstill.  But  it  was  to  the 
credit  of  all  orders  at  Rome,  that  hitherto  they  had  always 
agreed  to  a  peaceful  compromise.  The  Senate,  by  its  very 
composition,  contained  men  of  widely  different  sentiments ;  the 
Plebeians,  as  we  have  seen,  obtained  access  to  its  ranks  at  an 
early  period.*  Its  members  were  taken  from  the  official  lists, 
and  official  personages  are  never  disposed  to  push  matters  to 
extremity.  Old  soldiers  will  maintain  a  position  while  it  is 
defensible  :  when  it  ceases  to  be  so,  they  make  an  honourable 
retreat.  As  in  early  times  we  find  the  Senate  far  more  moderate 
than  the  hot  Patrician  party,  who  would  have  resisted  the 
demands  of  the  Plebeians  at  all  hazards,  so  in  a  later  age  we 
shall  see  this  experienced  Council  taking  a  middle  course 
between  the  stiff  conservative  policy  of  the  Nobility  and  the 
violence  of  the  Democratic  Leaders.  On  the  other  hand,  the 
College  of  Tribunes,  consisting  of  Ten  Members,  were  seldom 
so  unanimous  as  to  be  able  to  thwart  the  Senate  with  effect. 
We  shall  find  that  it  was  by  divisions  in  the  College  that  their 
formidable  power  was  often  broken. 

§  17.  We  are  now  better  able  to  appreciate  the  position  of  the 
two  Assemblies  as  Legislative  Bodies.  The  Tribe  Assembly  was 
presided  over  by  officers  of  its  own  choice,  invested  with  autho- 
rity generally  sufficient  to  extort  from  the  Senate  leave  to  bring 
in  Laws  of  a  popular  character.  No  such  power  resided  in  the 
Presidents  of  the  Centuriate  Assembly  :  for  the  Consuls  were 
little  more  than  Ministers  of  the  Senate.  It  was  natural  that 
the  more  energetic  will  of  the  popular  leaders  should  exalt  their 
own  Assemblies ;  and  as  two  Legislative  Assemblies  could  not 
coexist  with  full  and  independent  powers,  it  was  no  less  natural 
that  the  more  aristocratic  body  should  suffer  decay.  Between 
the  time  when  the  Tribes  gained  legislative  power  and  the  close 
of  the  Hannibalic  War,  there  are  recorded  but  eleven  Centuriate 
Laws,  and  more  than  thirty  which  emanated  from  the  Tribes. 
Even  of  these  eleven,  five  were  measures  of  compromise,  which 
served  to  advance  the  authority  of  the  Tribes.     The  Centuriate 

»  Chapt.  xii.  §  8. 


OhaP.  XXXV.  POPULAR  ASSEMBLIES.  383 

Assembly  more  and  more  became  a  passive  instrument  in  the 
hands  of  the  Senate.  The  Tribe  Assembly  rose  to  be  the  real 
and  sole  organ  of  popular  opinion. 

§  18.  In  other  matters,  the  powers  of  the  two  Assemblies  were 
more  definitely  marked  and  the  limits  better  observed. 

In  -Elections,  the  Centuriate  Assembly  always  retained  the 
right  of  choosing  the  chief  Officers  of  State,  the  Consuls,  the 
Praetors,  and  the  Censors.  The  Tribe  Assembly,  originally, 
elected  only  their  own  Tribunes  and  the  Plebeian  JEdiles.  But' 
in  no  long  time  they  obtained  the  right  of  choosing  also  the 
Curule  ^diles,  the  Quaestors,  the  great  majority  of  the  Legionary 
Tribunes,  and  all  inferior  Officers  of  State.  But  as  the  Centuries 
were,  generally,  obliged  to  elect  their  Praetors  and  Consuls  out 
of  those  who  had  already  been  elected  Qusestors  and  ^diles  by 
the  Tribes,  it  is  manifest  that  the  elective  power  of  the  former 
was  controlled  and  over-ridden  by  the  latter.  In  conferring 
extraordinary  commands,  such  as  that  of  Scipio  in  Spain,  the 
Tribes  were  always  consulted,  not  the  Centuries. 

§  19.  In  regard  to  Jurisdiction,  it  has  before  been  noticed  that 
Rome  was  tender  of  the  personal  liberties  of  her  citizens.  Various 
Laws  of  x\ppeal  provided  for  an  open  trial  before  his  peers  of 
Any  one  charged  with  grave  off'ences,  such  as  would  subject  him 
to  stripes,  imprisonment,  or  death.*  Now  the  Centuries  alone 
formed  a  High  Court  of  Justice  for  the  trial  of  citizens ;  the 
Tribe  Assembly  never  achieved  this  dangerous  privilege.  But 
the  peculiar  nature  of  the  Tribunician  power  ofi"ered  to  the  chief 
officers  of  the  Tribes  a  ready  means  of  interference.  They  used 
their  right  of  intercession,  occasionally,  to  prevent  any  trial  from 
taking  place,  and  thus  screened  real  off'enders  from  justice.  But 
more  frequently  they  acted  on  the  off'ensive.  There  was  a 
merciful  provision  of  the  law  of  Rome,  by  which  a  person  liable 
to  a  state-prosecution  might  withdraw  from  Italian  soil  at  any 
time  before  his  trial,  and  become  the  citizen  of  some  allied  city, 
such  as  Syracuse  or  Pergamus.  But  the  Tribunes  sometimes 
threw  culprits  into  prison  before  trial,  as  in  the  case  of  App. 
Claudius  the  Decemvir  and  his  father.  Or,  after  a  culprit  had 
sought  safety  in  voluntary  exile,  they  proposed  a*  Bill  of  Outlawry, 
by  which  he  was  "  interdicted  from  fire  and  water"  on  Italiau 
soil,  and  all  his  goods  were  confiscated.  Offending  Magistrates 
were  also  fined  heavily,  without  trial,  by  special  Plebiscita,  which 
rasembled  the  Bills  of  Attainder  so  familiar  to  the  reader  of 
English  history. 

These  encroachments  of  the  Tribunes  were  met  by  other  iin- 

*  Chapt.  xi.  §  4. 


^t^  ROME  AND  CARTHAGE.  3ook  IT. 

constitutional  measures  on  the  part  of  the  Senate.  To  bar  the 
action  of  the  Tribunes  and  to  suspend  the  Laws  of  Appeal,  they 
at  one  time  had  constant  recourse  to  Dictatorial  appointments. 
Ten  years  after  the  nomination  of  Dictators  had  been  solemnly 
prohibited  by  the  Valerio-Horatian  Laws  (449  b.c.)  Cincinnatus 
approved  the  act  of  Ahala,  who  had  struck  down  the  popular 
champion  Q.  Mselius  in  the  Forum.  In  the  following  237  years 
the  Fasti  supply  the  names  of  65  Dictators,  of  whom  no  fewer 
than  37  appear  in  the  67  years  next  after  the  Licinian  Laws. 
Three  of  these  are  expressly  said  to  ha\e  been  named  for  the 
purpose  of  quelling  sedition.*  But  it  must  be  remembered 
that  of  those  appointed  for  special  military  service,f  many  used 
their  power  to  overawe  the  Plebeian  leaders.  It  is  a  complaint 
constantly  put  by  Livy  into  the  mouths  of  the  Tribunes,  that 
Dictators  were  appointed  nominally  to  carry  on  war,  but  really 
for  a  very  different  purpose  ;  nor  indeed  is  it  conceivable  that  so 
many  emergencies  should  have  occurred  requiring  the  special 
action  of  an  irresponsible  magistrate.  But  these  contests  slackened 
at  the  time  of  the  Samnite  Wars.  Dictators  were  ?\gain  named, 
hilt  for  real  service,  in  the  desperate  conflict  of  thft  Punic  Wars. 
After  that  none  are  heard  of  till  the  time  of  Sylla. 

We  shall  find,  however,  that  in  critical  times  the  Senate  as-r 
suraed  the  right  of  investing  the  Consuls  with  dictatorial  power. 
And  the  dispute  about  jurisdiction  over  the  persons  of  citizens 
assum^^d  a  new  form  when  the  Calpurnian  I  aw,  already  noticed, 
transferred  the  power  of  trying  all  grave  offences  from  the 
Centuries  to  Juries  of  the  Senate  under  the  presidency  of  the 
Prsetor. 

§  20.  It  must  not  here  be  forgotten  that  of  late  years  circum- 
stances had  greatly  exalted  the  power  of  the  Senate  and  propor- 
tionally diminished  the  power  of  the  Tribunes.  In  great  wars, 
especially  such  as  threaten  the  existence  of  a  community,  the 
voice  of  popular  leaders  is  little  heard.  Reforms  are  forgotten. 
Agitation  ceases.  Each  man  applies  his  energies  to  avert  present 
danger,  rather  than  to  achieve  future  improvements.  During 
the  Samnite  Wars,  scarcely  one  Tribunician  law  is  recorded  in 
the  Annals  :  but  no  sooner  is  the  peril  overpast  than  the  Ogulnian 
Law  opens  the  Augurate  to  the  Plebeians.  During  the  first  Punic 
War,  the  Forum  is  silent :  but  no  sooner  is  it  ended  than  we 
are  struck  by  the  appearance  of  a  leader  of  the  Commons,  bold, 
resolute,  and    accomplished.      This  was   C.  Flaminius.      In    232 

*  Sedandce  seditionis  causa. 

\  Rei  gerendce  causa.  The  third  cause  for  appointing  Dictators  was  clavi 
figendi  caitsd^ — to  drive  a  nail  into  the  door-post  of  the  Temple  of  Jupiter,  as  a 
rude  way  of  keeping  count  of  the  years. 


Chap.  XXXV.       INCREAgEB  POWER  OF  SENATE.  385 

B.C.,  being  Tribune,  he  proposed  an  Agrarian  Law  to  distribute 
the  lands  taken  from  the  Boians  and  Insubrians  to  a  large  number 
of  Colonists;  and  notwithstanding  the  opposition  of  the  Senate, 
the  colonies  of  Placentia  and  Cremona  were  founded.  In  the 
memorable  year  in  which  Hannibal  crossed  the  Alps,  Flaminius 
was  Consul-elect,  and  under  his  auspices  the  Tribune  Claudius 
obliged  the  Senate  to  consent  to  a  law  by  which  Senators  were 
prohibited  from  engaging  in  commercial  pursuits.  Nor  did  the 
popular  spirit  evoked  by  this  man  die  till  after  the  great  battle 
of  Cannse.  His  own  election  and  that  of  Terentius  Varro  were 
directly  contrary  to  the  wisher  of  the  Senate ;  and  the  measure 
by  which  Fabius  was  obliged  to  share  his  imperial  power  with 
Minucius  his  Master  of  the  Horse,  was  a  Plebiscitum  proposed 
by  a  Tribune.  Even  after  Cannae,  the  Tribune  Oppius  forced 
the  Senate  to  consent  to  a  sumptuary  law.  But  after  this,  the 
Senate  under  the  leading  of  old  Fabius  Cunctator  ruled  abso- 
lutely for  several  years.  Even  elections  to  the  Consulate,  which 
he  deemed  inopportune,  were  set  aside, — a  thing  without  pre- 
cedent in  Roman  constitutional  history.  Fabius  was  at  length 
superseded  by  young  Scipio,  who  in  his  turn  became  absolute, 
and  at  the  close  of  the  war  might  have  made  himself  Dictator, 
had  he  been  so  pleased.  At  present,  popular  spirit  had  fallen 
asleep.  Constitutional  opposition  there  was  none.  The  Senate 
seemed  likely  to  retain  in  peace  the  power  which  war  had  neces- 
sarily thrown  into  their  hands. 


H  MifiFiTiliTiTiTiTifiMililiMillfiTI! 


Temple  of  Saturn. 


CHAPTER    XXXYI. 


THE  PROVINCES  AND  FINANCES. 


§  1.  Provincial  and  Italian  Communities.  §  2.  Our  knowledge  chiefly  drawn 
from  Sicily.  §  3.  Condition  of  the  Sicilian  Cities  after  the  Second  Punic 
"War.  §  4.  General  principles  of  Provincial  Government :  sLmilarity  of 
Provincial  Towns  to  Italian.  §  5.  Difference,  chiefly  consisting  in  Taxa- 
tion :  Jus  Italicum.  §  6.  Treasury.  §  T.  Ordinary  Revenues.  §  8. 
Extraordinary  Tax  on  Property  levied  for  war  expenses.  §  9.  Not  suffi- 
cient for  expenses  of  Second  Punic  War :  Loans,  Contracts  paid  in  paper- 
money:  nature  of  these  advances:  soon  repaid.  §  10.  The  War  Tax 
itself  repaid:  finally  abolished.  §  11.  How  far  Italians  contributed  to 
war  expenses :  reasons  for  their  patience.  §  1 2.  System  of  Taxation  and 
Tax-gathering  in  the  Provinces.  §  13.  Corrupt  adrhinistration  of  Pro- 
vincial Grovernment. 

§  1.  After  this  general  view  of  the  manner  in  which  the  dif- 
ferent elements  of  the  Roman  Constitution  were  roughly  welded 
into  a  sort  of  unity,  we  must  give  some  account  of  the  Imperial 
relations  subsisting   between  Rome   and  her  subjects  at  the  be- 


Chap.  XXXVI.  PROVINCIAL  GOVERNMENT.  387 

ginning  of  the  second  century  before  the  Christian  Era,  and 
especially  of  the  way  in  which  the  expenses  of  government  were 
defrayed.  In  speaking  of  the  subjects  of  the  great  Republic, 
the  Latin  and  Italian  Allies  are  not  included.  What  has  been 
said  of  them  in  a  former  Chapter  will  show  the  justice  of  this 
distinction.  It  is  true,  indeed,  that  all  the  ItaHans  were  not 
Allies;  for  the  Prefectures  and  some  small  communities  were 
strictly  subject.  Nor  were  all  the  Provincial  communities  sub- 
ject ;  for  a  favoured  few  were  left  in  a  condition  as  independent 
as  any  Italian  city.  But,  as  a  general  rule,  the  Italian  Com- 
munities were  allied,  the  Provincial  communities  were  subject. 

§  2.  At  the  close  of  the  Hannibalic  War,  Rome  was  in  pos- 
session, nominally,  of  five  Provinces,  Sicily,  Sardinia,  the  Gallic 
coast  of  Umbria  (then  called  the  Province  of  Ariminum),  with 
Hither  and  Further  Spain.  But  of  these,  Sardinia  and  the 
Spains  were  almost  to  be  conquered  again  ;  and  Gallic  Umbria 
was  shortly  after  absorbed  into  Italy,  while  the  magnificent  dis- 
trict between  the  Alps  and  the  Gulf  of  Genoa  became  the  Pro- 
vince of  Gaul.  Sicily  was  the  only  Province  as  yet  constituted 
on  a  solid  foundation.  To  Sicily,  therefore,  we  will  confine  our 
remarks ;  a  course  which  is  further  recommended  by  the  fact 
that  we  are  better  informed  with  regard  to  Sicily  than  with 
regard  to  any  other  of  the  foreign  possessions  of  the  Republic. 

§  o.  We  must  call  to  mind  that,  in  speaking  of  Sicily  as  of 
Italy,  we  are  not  to  think  of  the  country  as  a  whole,  but  as 
broken  up  into  a  number  of  Civic  Communities,  each  being  more 
or  less  isolated  from  the  rest.  It  was  Roman  policy  to  en- 
courage this  isolation,  but  in  Sicily  no  encouragement  was 
needed.  Sicily,  like  Greece  Proper,  had  long  been  divided  into 
numerous  small  States,  sometimes  Republican,  sometimes  subject 
to  Tyrants,  but  always  full  of  jealousy  towards  each  other,  and 
often  in  a  state  of  war.  Strong  rulers,  like  Dionysius  the  Elder, 
might  for  a  season  unite  the  greater  part  of  the  island  under  the 
supremacy  of  Syracuse;  but  as  soon  as  the  coercive  force  of 
military  despotism  was  removed,  disruption  followed.  At  tho 
close  of  the  First  Punic  War,  when  the  Romans  had  expelled  tho 
Carthaginians  from  the  island,  the  greater  part  of  "  t  was  formea 
into  a  Province ;  while  the  kingdom  of  Hiero,  consisting  of  Syra- 
cuse with  six  dependent  communities,*  was  received  into  free 
alliance  with  Rome.  But  in  the  Second  Punic  War,  Syracuse 
and  all  Sicily  was  reconquered  by  Marcellus  and  Laevinus,  and 
the  form  of  the  Provincial  Communities  was  altered.  The  cities 
of  Sicily  were  now  divided  into  three  classes.     First,  there  were 

*  Acrae,  Leontini,  Megara,  Helorum,  Netum,  Tauromenium. 


388  EOME  AND  GARTH  AGE.  Book  IT. 

those  cities  whicli  had  been  taken  by  siege :  these,  twenty -six  in 
number,  were  mulcted  of  their  territory,  which  became  part  of 
the  public  land  of  Rome  ;*  their  former  citizens  had  perished 
in  war,  or  had  been  sold  as  slaves,  or  were  living  as  serfs  on  the 
soil  which  they  had  formerly  owned.  Secondly,  there  were  a 
large  number  of  Communities,  thirty-four  in  all,  which  retained 
the  fee-simple  of  their  land,  but  were  burthened  with  payment 
of  a  tithe  of  corn,  wine,  oil,  and  other  produce,  according  to 
a  rule  established  by  Hiero  in  the  district  subject  to  Syracuse.f 
Thirdly,  there  were  eight  Communities  left  independent,  which 
were,  like  the  Italians,  free  from  all  imposts,  except  certain 
military  services. 

These  states  were  all  left  in  possession  of  what  we  should  call 
Municipal  institutions  ;  they  had  the  right  of  self-government  in 
all  local  matters,  with  popular  assemblies  and  councils,  such  as 
were  common  in  Greek  communities.  But  all  were  subject  to 
the  authority  of  a  governor,  sent  from  Rome,  with  the  title  of 
Praetor,  whose  business  it  was  to  adjudicate  in  all  matters  where 
the  interests  of  Rome  or  of  Roman  citizens  were  concerned,  and, 
above  all,  to  provide  for  the  regular  payment  of  the  imposts. 
In  Sicily,  which  in  those  days  was  a  well-cultivated  and  produc- 
tive country,  this  department  was  so  important,  that  the  Praetor 
was  assisted  by  two  Quaestors,  one  stationed  at  Syracuse,  the 
other  at  Lilybseum. 

§  4.  This  brief  statement  will  show  the  principles  of  Roman 
Provincial  government.  Communities  which,  during  the  War 
of  Conquest,  had  joined  the  invaders  at  once  or  at  a  critical  point 
in  the  war,  were  left  free  from  all  ordinary  and  annual  imposts. 
Cities  that  were  taken  by  force  became,  with  their  territory,  the 
absolute  property  of  Rome.  Between  these  extremes  there  was 
a  large  class,  which  retained  full  possession  of  their  lands,  and 
complete  local  independence,  but  were  subject  to  the  payment 
of  yearly  imposts  to  the  imperial  treasury,  which  were  levied  on 
the  produce  of  their  land.  All  alike  were  obliged  to  contribute 
towards  the  expenses  of  the  Praetor's  court  and  government. 

In  the  formation  of  the  numerous  Provinces  which  were  con- 
quered in  the  next  eighty  years,  the  same  principles  were  fol- 
lowed. But  it  is  probable  that  there  was  a  greater  uniformity 
in  the  condition  of  the  various  communities.  In  many  of  the 
^Provinces  there  seem  to  have  been  no  large  portions  of  public 
land,  as  in  Sicily  :    while,  on  the  other  hand,  the  States  both 

*  Therefore  called  Civitates  Censor  ice. 

f  Of  these,  three  were  allied  cities,  Civitates  Federates,  Messana,  Tauro 
meniura,  Netum, ;  five  were  free  without  any  special  treaty  of  alliance. 
Civitates  Liheroe  ei  immunes,  Centuripa,  Alesa,  Segesta,  Panormus,  Halicyae, 


Chap.  XXXVI.  REVENUES  OF  ROME.  389 

in  independence  and  alliance  seem  also  to  have  been  less  nume- 
rous. In  a  general  way,  the  administration  of  each  Province 
much  resembled  that  of  Italy  itself.  The  Prefectures,  Municipia, 
and  allied  States  of  Italy  correspond  very  nearly  to  the  three 
conditions  of  Provincial  Communities  above  noticed ;  the  prin- 
ciple of  administration  was,  generally,  internal  independence 
under  the  control  of  the  central  government  of  the  Senate.  In 
Italy,  the  Senate  acted  through  the  Consuls  or  Praetor  resident 
at  Rome ;  in  the  Provinces,  through  the  Praetors  or  Proconsuls 
deputed  to  conduct  the  government  there. 

§  5.  There  were,  however,  some  important  particulars,  in  which 
the  constitution  of  Italy  differed  from  the  constitution  of  the  Pro- 
vinces. In  the  Provinces,  as  we  have  said,  the  free  and  allied 
Communities  formed  the  exceptions.  Nor  was  it,  till  long  after 
the  present  time,  the  practice  to  found  Colonies  out  of  Italy. 

But  there  was  one  yet  more  important  distinction.  It  was  a 
general  rule  that  all  Italian  land  was  tax-free ;  and  that  all  Pro- 
vincial land,  except  such  as  was  specified  in  treaties  or  in  Decrees 
of  the  Senate,  was  subject  to  tax.  This  rule  was  so  absolute,  that 
the  exemption  of  land  from  taxation  was  known  by  the  technical 
name  of  Jus  Italicum  or  the  Right  of  Italy. 

This  last  distinction  implies  that  the  Imperial  revenues  were 
raised  chiefly  from  the  Provinces.  In  the  course  of  little  more 
than  thirty  years  from  the  close  of  the  Hannibalic  War,  this  was 
actually  the  case.  We  will  take  this  opportunity  of  giving  a  brief 
account  of  the  different  sources  from  which  the  revenues  of  Rome 
were  raised. 

§  6.  The  Imperial  Treasury  of  Rome  was  in  the  ancient  Temple 
of  Saturn,  situated  at  the  end  of  the  Forum  beneath  the  Capitol, 
of  which  three  stately  columns  still  remain  to  attest  the  magni- 
ficence with  which  it  was  restored  by  the  Emperor  Severus. 
Here  the  two  Quaestors  of  the  city  deposited  all  the  moneys  re- 
ceived on  account  of  the  State.  No  disbursements  could  be  made 
without  an  order  from  an  officer  duly  authorised  by  the  Senate. 
For  the  moneys  received,  the  Quaestors  also  had  to  account  to 
the  Senate.  The  sources  of  receipt  were  two-fold,  ordinary  and 
extraordinary. 

§  7.  The  Ordinary  Revenues  consisted  of  the  proceeds  and  rent 
of  public  property,  custom-duties,  tolls,  and  the  like,  and  the  tax 
levied  on  Provincial  lands. 

The  property  of  the  State  was,  as  has  often  been  noticed,  very 
large.  Much  of  the  public  land,  however,  had  been  distributed 
to  colonies,  and  the  rent  received  for  the  rest  seems  to  have  been 
small.  Yet  the  quantity  of  undistributed  land  in  Italy  and 
Sicily  was  so  great,  that  it  must  have  yielded  a  considerable  re- 


390  ROME  AND  CARTHAGE.  Book  ir. 

venue.  Besides  this,  the  fisheries,  with  all  mines  and  quarries, 
were  considered  public  property.  Even  the  manufacture  of  salt 
was  a  State  monopoly  from  the  Censorship  of  M.  Livius,  who 
thenceforth  bore  the  name  of  Salinator,  or  the  Salt-maker.  It  is 
fair  to  state,  however,  that  this  monopoly  was  intended  to  keep 
salt  at  a  lower  price  than  it  could  be  manufactured  by  private 
enterprise,  and  therefore,  though  it  might  be  a  mistake,  the 
Senate  is  not  properly  chargeable  with  the  odium  of  raising  re- 
venue from  one  of  the  first  necessaries  of  life,  as  was  the  practice 
in  France  before  the  Revolution,  and  as  has  remained  the  practice 
in  India  to  the  present  day. 

Besides  these  rents  and  monopolies,  custom-duties  were  levied 
on  certain  kinds  of  goods,  both  exports  and  imports,  and  tolls 
were  demanded  for  passengers'  and  goods  carried  by  canals  or 
across  bridges  and  ferries.* 

There  was  also  an  ad  valorem  duty  of  five  per  cent,  imposed  on 
the  manumission  of  slaves.  This  was  not  carried  to  the  account 
of  the  year,  but  laid  by  as  a  reserve-fund,  not  to  be  used  except  in 
great  emergencies. 

The  revenue  derived  from  the  Provincial  Land-tax  was  only 
beginning  to  be  productive,  but  in  a  few  years  it  formed  the  chief 
income  of  the  Republic. 

§  8.  It  appears  that  for  the  Civil  government  of  the  Republic 
the  Ordinary  Revenues  were  found  sufficient.  The  current  ex- 
penses, indeed,  were  small.  The  Italian  and  Provincial  Commu- 
nities defrayed  the  expenses  of  their  own  administration.  Rome 
herself,  as  we  have  said,  claimed  the  services  of  her  statesmen  and 
administrators  without  paying  them  any  public  salaries. 

In  time  of  war,  however,  the  Ordinary  Revenues  failed,  and  to 
meet  the  expenses  of  each  year's  campaign  an  Extraordinary  Tax 
was  levied  as  required.  This  was  the  Tributum  or  Property- 
tax.  Its  mode  of  assessment  marks  its  close  association  with 
war-expenses.  We  have  seen  above  that  the  whole  arrangement 
of  the  Centuriate  Assembly  was  military.  Not  the  least  im- 
portant of  these  was  the  Census  or  Register  of  all  citizens, 
arrangad  according  to  their  age  and  property.  It  was  made  out 
by  the  Censors  at  intervals  of  five  years,  and  served  during  the 
succeeding  period  as  the  basis  of  taxation.  The  necessities  of 
each  year  determined  the  amount  to  be  levied.  It  was  usually 
one  in  a  thousand,  or  one-tenth   per  cent.f     The  Senate  had  the 

*  These  dues  {portoria,  as  they  were  called)  were  extended  to  each  Pro- 
vince as  it  was  formed,  and  were  abolished  in  Italy  in  the  year  60  B.C. 

f  This  was  the  simplex  tributum.  The  word  tributum  was  used  because 
this  war-tax  was  collected  in  each  tribe,  according  to  the  assessment  of  tha 
Censors.     The  tribe-ofi&cers  who  collected  it  were  the  Tribuni  Aerarii 


Chap.  XXXYL  TAXES  AND  LOANS.  391 

power  of  calling  for  this  payment.  It  was  this  "  power  of  the 
purse"  which,  in  time  of  war,  enabled  them  to  play  so  great  a 
part.  No  people  can  control  its  government  effectually,  unless  it 
has  the  right  of  taxing  itself. 

§  9.  In  the  Second  Punic  War  this  tax  was  quite  insufficient  to 
meet  the  expenses.  Once  it  was  doubled.*  But  at  length  it 
became  necessary  to  call  on  wealthy  individuals  to  furnish  sea- 
men, and  to  advance  money  by  way  of  loan  ;  and  contracts  were 
formed  with  commercial  companies  to  furnish  stores  and  clothing 
for  the  army,  in  return  for  which  they  received  orders  on  the 
Treasury  payable  at  some  future  time.f  The  obligations  thus 
contracted  were  not  left  as  a  national  debt ;  though  the  Hanni- 
balic  War  was  so  entirely  a  struggle  for  existence,  that  it  might 
well  have  justified  the  Senate  in  laying  part  of  the  load  upon 
posterity  by  the  expedient  Avhich  has  been  so  much  abused  in 
modern  times.  But  probably  this  expedient  was  not  thought 
of.  Those  who  made  advances  to  the  State  without  prospect 
of  immediate  payment,  did  so  on  speculation.  If  Rome  pre- 
vailed, they  were  sure  not  to  lose.  If  she  fell,  the  practice  of 
ancient  warfare  made  it  certain  that  they  would  lose  all  they 
had.  The  advancement  of  money  or  goods,  therefore,  was  rather 
an  act  of  prudent  policy,  than  of  extraordinary  patriotism. 
The  first  and  chief  contributors  were  the  Senators,  who  had 
much  to  lose  and  all  to  gain.  No  doubt,  those  who  gave  freely 
and  without  interest  deserved  well  of  their  country.  But,  in 
serving  the  State  they  also  served  themselves.  The  whole  con- 
cerns of  the  State,  formed  a  great  joint-stock  company :  every 
man  had  an  interest  in  success  and  failure.  We  find,  accord- 
ingly, that  the  first  instalment  of  repayment  was  made  in  the  year 
204  B.C.,  immediately  after  the  submission  of  Carthage ;  the 
second  and  third  at  successive  intervals  of  four  years.J; 

§  10.  But  here  it  must  be  observed  that  the  w^ar-tax  itself  in 
some  degree  resembled  a  compulsory  loan.  It  was  a  forced  con- 
tribution to  the  necessities  of  the  State ;  but  it  was  repaid,  in 
whole  or  in  part,  on  the  successful  completion  of  the  war.  The 
soldiers  who  survived  battles  won  or  towns  captured,  seldom 
failed  to  gain  a  large  share  of  booty.  The  greater  portion,  how- 
ever, was  sold,  and  the  money  received  paid  into  the  Treasury, 
while  the  expenses  of  the  war  were  in  whole  or  in  part  charged 
upon  the  conquered  people.  From  these  funds  which  may  be 
"considered  as  another  source  of  extraordinary  revenue,  it  seems 
to  have  been  the  practice  to  repay  the  sums  raised  by  way  of 

*  Duplex  tributum  imperatum  (Liv.  xxiii.  31). 

f  Chapt.  xxxiii.  §  4.  |  Liv.  xxix.  15;  xxxL  13;   xxxiil  42. 


392  ROME  AND  CARTHAGE.  Book  TV. 

property-tax  during  the  war.*  At  length,  in  the  year  16*7  b.c, 
we  shall  find  that  the  payments  exacted  from  the  Provincials 
became  so  large  that  the  Senate  was  enabled  to  dispense  with 
extraordinary  taxes  altogether ;  and  thus  the  ordinary  revenues 
sufficed  for  the  expenses  of  all  future  wars,  as  well  as  for  the  civil 
administration. 

§  11.  When  it  is  said  that  the  Italian  allies  were  free  from 
Land-tax,  it  must  not  be  supposed  that  they  escaped  all  taxation. 
Roman  land  was  free  from  direct  taxation  except  when  the  Tri- 
butum  or  war-tax  was  levied.  So,  also,  the  allied  Communities 
of  Italy,  the  Municipia  and  Colonies,  were  free  from  all  direct 
burthens,  except  in  time  of  war.  Then  each  Community  was 
required,  according  to  a  scale  furnished  by  its  own  Censor,  to 
supply  contingents  of  soldiery  to  the  Roman  army,  such  contin- 
gents bearing  a  proportion  to  the  number  of  legions  levied  by 
the  Romans  themselves  in  any  given  year.  The  Italian  soldiery 
were  fed  by  Rome ;  but  their  equipments  and  pay  were  provided 
at  the  expense  of  their  own  States  :  and  therefore  it  is  plain  that 
every  Italian  Community  was  indirectly  subject  to  a  war-tax. 
But  though  these  Communities  suffered  the  burthens  of  war  like 
Rome,  they  did  not  like  Rome  profit  by  war.  The  Roman  Trea- 
sury repaid  taxes  raised  for  the  conduct  of  war.  But  such  re- 
payment was  confined  to  Romans.  The  soldiers  of  the  Latin  and 
Italian  towns  might  obtain  ""heir  share  of  booty ;  but  their  citi- 
zens at  home  had  no  hope  of  repayment.  Moneys  paid  into  the 
Roman  1'reasury  were  applicable  to  Roman  purposes  only.  The 
Italians,  though  they  shared  the  danger  and  the  expense,  were 
not  allowed  to  share  the  profit.  Here  was  a  fertile  field  for  dis- 
content, which  afterwards  bore  fatal  fruits. 

In  the  Hannibalic  War  Italians,  as  well  as  Romans,  were 
fighting  for  house  and  home ;  and  if,  in  the  last  years,  the 
genius  of  Scipio  enriched  the  Treasury  by  conquest,  the  Italians 
were  too  thankful  for  deliverance  from  the  invader  to  think 
of  claiming  equality  with  Rome.  But  in  the  wars  which  fol- 
lowed, when  their  citizens  were  carried  beyond  seas  and  detained 
for  years  far  from  home,  when  their  blood  and  treasure,  poured 
out  as  profusely  as  the  blood  and  treasure  of  Roman  citizens, 
only  served  to  bring  glory  and  profit  to  Rome,  it  is  less  won- 
derful that  disaftection  should  have  arisen,  than  that  it  should 
have  been  delayed  so  long.  It  was  more  than  a  century  from 
the    close  of  the  Hannibalic  War  before   the    Italians   in   arm^ 

*  Says  Livy  (xxxix.  *7)  "  A  decree  was  made  that  from  the  moneys  paid 
into  the  Treasury  after  the  triumph  (of  187  B.C.),  repayment  should  be  made 
of  that  portion  of  the  soldiers'  pay  contributed  by  the  people  which  had  not 
been  repaid  already. " 


Chap.  XXXYI.        MODE  OF  COLLECTING  TAXES.  393 

demanded  to  be  placed  on  an  equal  footing  with  the  citizens  of 
Rome. 

§  12.  In  the  Provinces,  on  the  other  hand,  little  military  service 
was  required ;  but  direct  imposts  were  levied  instead. 

This  system  was  itself  galling  and  onerous.  It  was  as  if  Eng- 
land were  to  defray  the  expenses  of  her  own  administration  from 
the  proceeds  of  a  tax  levied  upon  her  Indian  Empire.  But  the 
system  was  made  much  worse  by  the  way  in  which  the  taxes  were 
collected.  This  was  done  by  contract.  Every  five  years  the  taxes 
of  the  Provinces  were  put  up  to  public  auction ;  and  that  company 
of  contractors  which  outbade  the  rest  would  receive  the  contract. 
The  Farmers  of  the  Taxes,  therefore,  oftered  to  pay  a  certain 
sum  to  the  Imperial  Treasury  for  the  right  of  collecting  the  taxes 
and  imposts  of  Sicily,  gave  security  for  payment,  and  then  made 
what  profit  they  could  out  of  the  taxes  collected.  The  members 
of  these  companies  were  called  Publicani,  and  the  Farmers-general, 
or  chiefs  of  the  companies,  bore  the  name  of  Mancipes.  It 
is  manifest  that  this  system  off'ered  a  premium  on  extortion  ;  for 
the  more  the  tax-collectors  could  wring  from  the  Provincials,  the 
more  they  would  have  for  themselves.  The  extortions  incident 
to  this  system  form  a  principal  topic  in  the  Provincial  history  of 
Rome. 

§  13.  If  the  Roman  Governors  had  done  their  duty,  it  is  pro- 
bable that  the  extortions  of  the  Tax-gatherers  might  have  been 
prevented,  or  limited  within  a  narrow  circle.  The  system  of  Pro- 
vincial governments,  as  above  stated,  sounds  fair.  Local  indepen- 
dence, subject  to  the  general  control  of  a  central  authority,  is  the 
ideal  of  government.  But,  unfortunately,  the  fairness  of  the  sys- 
tem was  more  in  the  sound  than  the  reality.  The  Proconsuls  and 
Praetors  exercised  an  authority  virtually  despotic.  They  were  Sena- 
tors, and  were  responsible  to  the  Senate  alone.  It  may  too  surely 
be  anticipated  what  degree  of  severity  a  close  corporation,  like  the 
Senate,  would  exercise  towards  its  own  members  in  times  when 
communication  with  the  Provinces  was  uncertain  and  diflScult, 
when  no  one  cared  for  the  fate  of  foreigners,  when  there  was  no 
press  to  give  tongue  to  public  opinion,  and,  indeed,  no  force  of 
public  opinion  at  all.  Very  soon,  the  Senatorial  Proconsuls  found 
it  their  interests  to  support  the  tax-gatherers  in  their  extortions, 
on  condition  of  sharing  in  the  plunder ;  and  one  party  played  into 
the  hand  of  the  other.  Thus,  the  Provincial  government  of  the 
Republic  became  in  practice  an  organised  system  of  oppression, 
calculated  to  enrich  fortunate  Senators,  and  to  provide  them  with 
the  means  of  buying  the  sufi'rages  of  the  people  or  of  discharging 
the  debts  incurred  in  buying  them.  The  name  of  Proconsul  be- 
came  identified  with  tyranny  and  greed. 

17* 


of  Aqueduct  at  Rome. 


CHAPTER    XXXVII 


SOCIAL    AND    INTELLECTUAL    CONDITION    OF    THE  PEOPLE. 
MANNERS RELIGION LITERATURE ART. 


§  1.  The  Third  Century  before  Christ  the  Golden  Age  of  Rome.  §  2.  The 
Towns  chiefly  peopled  by  the  Nobles  and  their  dependents :  §  3,  the 
Country  by  the  Yeomen :  their  condition  in  these  times.  §  4.  Excess  of 
population  relieved  by  Home  Colonies.  §  5.  Increase  in  the  number  of 
Slaves  by  conquest:  their  social  condition.  §  6.  Common  practice  of 
setting  Slaves  free.  §  V.  Condition  of  the  Freedmen:  Rustic  and  Civic 
Tribes.  §  8.  Family  Hfe  of  Romans :  Marriage :  paternal  authority.  §  9 
Religion:  its  influence  on  morality.  §  10.  Superstitious  practices.  §  11. 
No  faith  or  humanity  towards  Foreigners.  §  12.  The  Language  of 
Rome  quite  formed  aft;er  First  Punic  "War:  versification.  §  13.  Native 
Literature  of  Rome  Hellenized  by  the  conquest  of  Magna  Grsecia.  §  14. 
M.  Livus  Andronicus  the  first  HeUenizing  writer.  §  15.  Cn.  Naevius: 
his  opposition  to  Hellenism.  §  16.  Q.  Ennius  secures  the  ascendency  of 
HeUenizing  Literature.  §  17.  Prose  "Writers.  §  18.  Early  specimens  of 
Roman  Art:  due  to  the  Grseco-Etruscan  artists.  §19-  P"re  Greek  Art 
"introduced  aft;er  conquest  of  Magna  Graecia.  §  20.  Slow  progress  in  the 
mechanical  Arts,     §  21,  l^udeuess   of  bouses,  agriculture,  &Ci     §  22, 


Chap.  IXKYlt  GOLDEN  AGJE  OP  flOMjE.  3^5 

Architecture:  greatness  of  the  Komans  as  engineers  and  builders.  §  23. 
Use  of  the  Arch.  §  24.  Attention  to  sanatory  rules  at  Rome.  §  25. 
Tunnels.     §  26.  Conclusion  with  respect  to  Roman  Character. 

§  1.  The  age  of  which  we  have  been  treating,  from  the  Samnite 
War  to  the  close  of  the  Punic  Wars,  was  always  considered  by  the 
Romans,  and  is  still  considered  by  their  admirers,  to  have  been 
the  golden  age  of  the  Republic.  There  is  a  tendency  in  every 
nation  to  look  back  with  fond  regret  to  the  "  good  old  times." 
Frenchmen,  after  all  their  revolutions,  still  love  the  gallantry 
and  popular  sympathies  of  their  Fourth  Henry;  and  English- 
men, perhaps  with  better  reason,  are  still  proud  of  the  age  of 
"  good  Queen  Bess."  Modern  historians  have  laboured  to  dispel 
illusions,  by  holding  up  a  dark  picture  of  the  social  condition  of 
such  times,  and  by  contrasting  the  comforts  and  luxuries  which 
we  enjoy  with  the  rudeness  and  filth  in  which  former  generations 
were  content  to  live.  Reasonings  of  this  kind  are  more  appli- 
cable to  people  dwelling  in  a  climate  like  our  own  than  to  those 
who  live  under  the  sky  of  Italy.  In  Italy,  so  great  a  part  of 
life  is  spent  in  the  open  air,  that  many  of  our  comforts  or 
necessaries  are  to  her  people  superfluous.  On  the  other  hand, 
in  many  countries  and  ages  which  we  call  uncivilised,  there  is 
found  a  genuine  simplicity  of  thought  and  manners,  which 
give  them  some  unquestionable  advantages.  This  simplicity, 
which  Horace,  no  depredator  of  cultivated  life,  found  and  loved 
in  his  Sabine  valley,  when  Rome  was  in  the  depth  of  corruption, 
still  lingers  in  retired  parts  of  Italy,  and  was  at  that  time  to  be 
found  within  sight  of  the  walls  of  Rome.  A  people  which  handed 
down  the  legends  of  Cincinnatus,  Curius,  Fabricius,  Regulus,  can 
hardly  not  have  practised  the  thrift  and  honesty  which  they 
admired.  The  characters  are  no  doubt  idealised  ;  but  they  may 
be  taken  as  types  of  their  times.  In  the  Roman  country  dis- 
tricts, and  still  more  in  the  Apennine  valleys,  the  habits  of  life 
were  no  doubt  simple,  honest,  and  perhaps  rude,  of  Sabine  rather 
than  of  Hellenic  character,  the  life  of  countrymen  rather  than  of 
dwellers  in  the  town 

§  2.  It  has  been  remarked  that  the  Italians,  like  the  Greeks, 
must  be  regarded  as  members  of  Cities  or  Civic  Communities. 
But  the  walled  towns  which  were  the  centres  of  each  com- 
munity were  mostly  the  residence  of  the  chief  men  and  their 
dependents  and  slaves,  while  the  mass  of  the  free  citizens  were 
dispersed  over  the  adjoining  country  district,  dwelling  on  their 
own  farms,  and  resorting  to  the  town  only  to  bring  their  produce 
to  market  or  to  take  their  part  in  the  political  business  transacted 
at  the  general  assemblies.     Such  was  the  case  at  Rome  in  early 


396  ROME  AND  CARTHAGE.  Book  IV. 

times.  The  great  patrician  lords  with  their  families  dwelt  in 
strong  houses  or  castles  on  the  Capitoiine,  Palatine,  and  Quirinal 
Hills,  while  their  clients  thronged  the  lower  parts  adjacent.  As 
the  Plebeians  increased  in  wealth  and  power,  their  great  men 
established  themselves  at  first  upon  the  Cselian  and  Aventine, 
and  afterwards  indiscriminately  on  all  the  Hills.  We  may  judge 
of  the  importance  attached  to  these  castle-like  mansions  by  the 
fact,  that  when  a  man  became  too  powerful  or  incurred  the 
suspicion  of  the  ruling  party,  one  chief  part  of  his  punishment 
was  that  his  house  should  be  levelled  with  the  ground.  Such 
was  the  sentence  laid  upon  the  popular  leaders  Sp.  Mselius  and 
M.  Manlius  by  the  aristocratic  Tribunals.  And  this  was  the 
reason  which  induced  Valerius  Publicola  to  avert  jealousy  by 
shifting  the  situation  of  his  new  house  from  the  Velian  ridge  to 
lower  ground.  Suspicion  prevailed  on  both  sides.  The  Pa-  . 
tricians  could  not  brook  to  see  fortresses  in  the  hands  of  popular 
leaders ;  the  Plebeians  dreaded  the  Patrician  mansions  as  the 
strongholds  of  oppression,  and  the  prisons  of  unhappy  debtors. 

§  3.  In  the  country  districts  of  Rome  the  greater  part  of  the 
land  was  still  in  the  hands  of  small  proprietors,  who  tilled  their 
own  lands  by  the  aid  of  their  sons  and  sons-in-law.  In  the 
earliest  times  the  dimensions  of  these  Plebeian  holdings  were 
incredibly  small, — an  allotment  being  computed  at  not  more  than 
2  jugera  (about  1^^  acres).  Even  with  very  fertile  soil  and  unre- 
mitting labour,  such  a  piece  of  land  could  barely  maintain  a 
family.  But  to  eke  out  the  produce  of  their  tilled  lands,  every 
free  citizen  had  a  right  to  feed  a  certain  number  of  cattle  on  the 
common  pastures  at  the  expense  of  a  small  payment  to  the 
State ;  and  in  this  way  even  a  large  family  might  live  in  rude 
abundance.  In  no  long  time,  however,  the  plebeian  allotments 
were  increased  to  7  jugera  (about  4^  acres) ;  and  this  increase  of 
tilled  lands  indicates  a  corresponding  improvement  in  the  habits 
and  comforts  of  the  people,-— an  improvement  attributed,  as  all 
benefits  conferred  on  the  Plebeians  in  early  times  were  attributed, 
to  King  Sarvius.  And  this  long  remained  the  normal  size  of  the 
small  properties  then  so  common  in  the  Roman  district.* 

As  long  as  the  border  wars  with  the  ^quians  and  Volscians 
lasted,  tillage  must  have  been  constantly  interrupted.  The  yeo- 
manry of  the  Roman  district  must  have  been  much  in  the 
condition  of  the  English  and  Scottish  borderers  a  century  ago*, 
their  hands  must  have  been  as  well  used  to  the  sword  and 
spear  as  to  the  spade  or  hoe.  And  even  when  war  was  re- 
moved to  a  distance  from  Rome,  the  farmer  and  his  sons  must 

*  See  Chapt.  xxv.  §  2. 


Chap.  XXXVII.     PROSPERITY  AFTER  SAMNITE  WARS.  397 

have  been  often  summoned  from  their  field  labours  to  serve  in  the 
militia  called  out  for  service  in  the  year.  Yet  the  inconvenience 
cannot  have  been  great.  The  allotments  were  still  small :  the 
severe  labours  of  digging  or  ploughing  were  over  before  the 
year's  campaign  opened  :  and  the  lighter  toils  of  hoeing  and 
weeding,  and  even  of  reaping,  could  be  performed  by  the  sturdy 
wife  and  boys  whom  the  soldier  left  behind  ;  or,  if  the  sons  were 
ripening  to  manhood,  one  of  them  would  take  the  place  of  the 
good  man  in  the  legions.  The  cattle  on  the  public  pastures 
only  needed  a  boy  to  drive  them  afield  and  bring  them  home. 
In  the  times  that  followed  the  Samnite  Wars,  it  may  be  assumed 
that  the  Romans  and  Italians  generally  enjoyed  a  condition  of 
great  material  prosperity.  The  farm  and  public  pasture  pro- 
duced all  that  the  family  required, — not  only  food,  but  flax  and 
wool,  which  the  matron  and  her  daughters  dressed  and  spun  and 
wove,  wood  and  stone  for  building  and  farm  implements,  every- 
thing except  metals  and  salt,  which  were  (as  we  have  seen)  state 
monopolies. 

§  4.  But  a  golden  age  generally  comes  to  an  end  with  increase 
of  population.  Mouths  to  be  fed  multiply ;  the  yeomen  sell 
their  little  farms  and  emigrate,  or  become  satisfied  with  a  lower 
scale  of  living  as  hired  labourers.  The  Swiss  have  long  poured  a 
tide  of  emigrants  into  various  parts  of  the  world.  The  French 
are  beginning  to  feel  the  evil  of  excessive  division  of  land.  But 
the  Romans  had  a  remedy  for  these  evils  in  a  home  colonisation. 
The  immense  quantity  of  public  land  in  the  hands  of  the  State, 
with  the  necessity  of  securing  newly-conquered  districts  of  Italy, 
led  to  the  foundation  of  numerous  Colonies  between  the  Samnite 
and  Punic  Wars,  and  extended  the  means  of  material  wellbeing  to 
every  one  who  was  willing  and  able  to  work ;  and  this  not  only 
for  Romans,  but  for  Latins  and  others  who  were  invited  to 
become  citizens  of  the  colony. 

§  5.  If,  however,  the  superfluous  sons  of  families  settled  on 
lands  in  Samnium,  or  Apulia,  or  Cisalpine  Gaul,  others  musLhave 
lost  these  lands ;  and  the  question  naturally  occurs, — What  had 
become  of  these  people  ?  This  question  brings  us  to  the  worst 
point  in  ancient  society, — that  is.  Slavery. 

It  was  the  practice  of  ancient  nations  to  regard  all  conquered 
persons  as  completely  in  the  light  of  booty  as  cattle  or  lifelesc 
goods.  If  indeed  the  enemy  surrendered  without  a  blow,  they 
became  subjects.  But  those  who  were  taken  after  a  struggle 
were  for  the  most  part  sold  into  slavery.  Barbarians  were  con- 
sidered even  by  philosophers  as  only  created  to  be  slaves  to 
civilised  people. 

In  early  times  this  evil  was  small.     Nor  was  it  to  be  expected 


398  ROME  AND  CARTHAGE.  Book  IT. 

that  the  small  proprietors  could  afford  either  to  buy  or  to  main- 
tain slaves.  They  were  acquired  by  the  rich  Patricians  and 
Plebeians,  who  held  large  tracts  of  public  land,  or  who  had 
acquired  large  estates  of  their  own.  Before  the  Decemvirate, 
their  debtors  were  their  slaves.  But  this  custom  had  been  long- 
abolished,  and  it  was  conquest  which  supplied  slaves  to  the  rich. 
After  the  conquest  of  Samnium,  36,000  persons  are  said  to  have 
been  sold.  After  the  reduction  of  Cisalpine  Gaul  and  Sicily,  still 
larger  numbers  were  brought  to  the  hammer.  These  were  the 
wretches  on  whose  lands  the  poorer  sort  of  Roman  citizens 
settled.  The  slaves  may  generally  be  divided  into  two  great 
classes,  the  Urban  or  City  Slaves,  and  those  of  the  Country. 
They  had  no  civil  rights;  they  could  not  contract  legal  marriage^ 
they  had  no  power  over  their  own  children;  they  could  hold  nopi-o- 
perty  in  their  own  name  ;  their  very  savings  were  not  their  own, 
but  held  by  consent  of  their  master;*  all  law  proceedings  ran  in 
the  name  of  their  masters.  For  crimes  committed,  they  were 
tried  by  the  public  courts ;  and  the  masters  were  held  liable  for 
the  damage  done,  but  only  to  the  extent  of  the  slave's  value. 
To  kill,  maim,  or  maltreat  a  slave,  was  considered  as  damage  to 
his  master,  and  could  only  be  treated  as  such.  No  pain  or 
suffering  inflicted  on  a  slave  was  punishable,  unless  loss  had 
thereby  accrued  to  the  owner. 

But  human  nature  is  too  strong  always  to  fulfil  conditions  so 
cruel.  There  is  no  doubt  that  the  slaves  of  the  household  were 
often  treated  with  kindness ;  often  they  became  the  confidential 
advisers  of  their  masters.  The  steward  or  bailiff  of  a  rich  man's 
estate,  his  Villicus,  was  a  person  of  considerable  power.  Still 
the  mass  of  the  slaves,  especially  the  agricultural  slaves,  were 
treated  as  mere  cattle.  Some  poor  drudges  were  the  slaves  of 
other  slaves,  such  ownership  being  allowed  by  the  masters. 
Cato  recommends  to  sell  off  old  and  infirm  slaves,  so  as  to  save 
the  expense  of  keeping  live  lumber.  Englishmen  feel  a  pang 
at  seeing  a  fine  horse  consigned  in  his  old  age  to  the  drivers 
of  public  carriages;  but  Romans  wasted  no  such  sympathy 
on  slaves  who  had  spent  their  lives  and  strength  in  culti- 
vating their  lands.  Notwithstanding  the  better  treatment  of 
the  house-slaves,  the  humane  Cicero  reproached  himself  with 
feeling  too  much  sorrow  for  one  who  had  been  for  years  his 
tried  and  faithful  servant.  It  was  in  the  next  half-century, 
however,  that  slaves  increased  so  much  in  Italy  as  to  produce 
great  effect  upon  the  social  condition  of  the  people.  At  present 
the  evil  was  only  in  its  beginning. 

*  PecuUum  (i.  e.  pecuniolum)  was  the  name  of  such  savings. 


Chap.  XXXVIL  SLAVES  AND  FREEDMEN.  399 

§  6.  Here  it  must  be  remarked  that,  in  the  times  of  the  Re- 
public, the  practice  of  giving  liberty  to  slaves  was  very  common. 
Whether  it  was  that  the  Romans  made  the  discovery  that  slave- 
labour  is  less  profitable  than  the  labour  of  free  men  working  for 
wages,  it  is  certain  that  Freedmen  became  so  numerous  that 
restrictions  were  placed  upon  manumission  by  law.  The  pros- 
pect of  freedom  as  a  reward  for  good  conduct  must  have  done 
much  to  prevent  Roman  bondsmen  from  sinking  into  that  state 
of  animal  contentment  and  listless  indiff'erence  which  marks  the 
negro  slaves  of  our  own  times. 

§  7.  We  have  seen  that,  before  the  close  of  the  Samnite  Wars, 
the  proud  Patrician,  App.  Claudius,  had  conceived  the  plan  of 
forming  out  of  the  Freedmen  a  political  body  devoted  to  himself,* 
and  that  his  scheme  was  frustrated  by  the  succeeding  Censors, 
Fabius  and  Decius,  who  threw  them  into  the  Four  City  Tribes, 
so  that  after  the  Tribes  had  reached  their  highest  number  of 
Thirty-five  (in  241  b.c),  the  votes  of  the  Freedmen  only  availed 
in  the  proportion  of  four  to  thirty-one. 

These  Freedmen,  however,  filled  no  mean  space  in  Roman 
society.  Among  them  were  to  be  found  able  and  well-educated 
men,  who  had  held  a  high  station  in  their  native  country,  and 
often  obtained  great  influence  over  the  minds  of  their  masters. 
Freedmen  exercised  most  branches  of  retail  trade,  and  formed 
the  shopkeepers  and  petty  traders  and  artizans  of  Rome :  for 
Roman  citizens,  however  poor,  could  in  early  times  condescend 
to  no  business  except  that  of  agriculture.  Rich  men  carried  on 
trades  by  means  of  their  slaves  and  freedmen;  in  later  times 
Freedmen  often  worked  as  artists  under  some  Patrician  roof,  and 
many  of  the  early  poets  were  Freedmen. 

Here  then  we  trace  the  beginning  of  a  great  distinction,  that 
afterwards  was  more  strongly  fnarked,  between  the  population 
of  the  city  and  the  population  of  the  country, — between  the 
Rustic  and  the  Civic  Tribes. 

§  8.  At  the  time  of  which  we  write,  a  patriarchal  rule  prevailed 
in  the  family.  In  early  ages  the  refusal  of  the  Patricians  to 
recognise  any  right  of  legal  marriage  between  themselves  and  the 
Plebeians  must  have  frequently  led  to  illicit  connexions.  But 
this  unnatural  severance  between  the  Orders  was  the  first  to  give 
way;  and  after  the  Canuleian  Law,  the  simple  marriage-rite  of 
the  Plebeians  was  held  equally  binding  upon  all  as  the  more 
solemn   vows  of  the  Patrician  form.f     It  is  a  noteworthy  fact, 

*  Chapt.  xxiv.  §  6-15. 

f  If  two  Plebeians  lived  together  for  a  year,  this  was  enough  to  constitute 
Matrimonium.  But  the  union  of  Patricians  required  certain  religious  rites, 
called  Confarreatio. 


400  ROME  AND  CARTHAGE.  Book  IV. 

that  Sp.  Carvilius  was  the  first  person  who  put  away  his  wife, 
and  that  the  first  example  of  divorce  occurs  as  late  as  the  year 
231  B.C.  This  observance  of  marriage  as  a  sacred  bond  is  striking. 
From  it  was  derived  the  pure  and  lofty  character  of  the  ancient 
Roman  Matron.  At  Rome  it  was  not  by  clever  and  fascinating 
courtesans,  such  as  Aspasia  and  Thais,  but  by  wives  and  mothers, 
such  as  Lucretia  and  Volumnia  of  the  legends,  such  as  Cornelia 
the  mother  of  the  Gracchi  in  actual  history,  that  noble  wishes 
nnd  heroic  thoughts  were  inspired  into  the  hearts  of  the  men. 
The  chastity  and  frugality  of  the  women  found  an  answer  in  the 
temperance  and  self-devotion  of  the  men.  This  is  the  more 
remarkable,  since  by  the  Roman  law  married  women  had  no 
personal  rights :  they  were  subject  to  their  husbands  as  absolutely 
as  if  they  had  been  slaves. 

The  same  patriarchal  power  belonged  to  the  father  over  his 
children,  unless  he  thought  fit  to  emancipate  them,  a  process 
which  was  conducted  with  the  same  forms  as  the  manumission 
of  a  slave.  It  was  a  terrible  power ;  yet  we  seldom  hear  of  its 
being  abused.  Such  a  system  no  doubt  prevented  all  gentleness 
of  filial  love.  The  old  Romans  had  but  one  word — pietas — to  ex- 
press the  veneration  due  from  children  to  parents  and  from  men 
to  gods.  But  the  sterner  exercise  of  parental  authority,  with  the 
general  purity  of  morals,  preserved  youth  from  that  wild  intem- 
perance, both  of  action  and  thought,  which  has  often  injured 
nations.  It  is  impossible  to  read  without  admiration  Cicero's 
description  of  the  house  of  old  Appius  the  Censor.  "  Blind  and 
old  as  he  was,  he  held  dominion  over  four  strong  sons,  five 
daughters,  and  a  crowd  of  clients.  His  mind  was  always  ready 
strung,  like  a  bow  :  nor  did  he  give  way  to  the  feebleness  of  age. 
He  ruled  his  dependents  with  sovereign  power,  feared  by  his 
slaves,  respected  by  his  children,  beloved  by  all.  Such,  in  his 
house,  was  the  power  of  ancient  custom  and  ancient  discipline." 
If  this  could  be  said  of  the  house  of  Appius,  how  much  more 
shall  we  believe  it  of  Fabius  and  Decius,  of  Curius  and  Fabricius ! 

But  if  in  his  own  house  the  father  was  sovereign,  the  son 
when  invested  with  the  power  of  the  State  was  not  only  allowed, 
but  expected,  to  act  as  if  there  were  no  relation  between  them. 
All  must  remember  the  story  of  old  Fabius  Cunctator,  who 
rode  into  the  camp  of  the  Consul,  his  son,  and  was  overjoyed  at 
receiving  a  stern  rebuke  for  his  apparent  want  of  deference  to  the 
representative  of  the  Senate  and  People  of  Rome. 

§  9.  There  can  be  little  doubt  that  the  simple  morality  of  the 
times,  maintained  by  habitual  deference  to  authority,  was  con- 
firmed by  the  higher  sanction  of  Religion. 

The  Religion  of  Rome  was,  as   the  legends  show,  of  Sabine 


Chap.  XXXYII.  RELIGION  OF  ROME.  401 

origin,  much  of  its  ceremonial,  the  names  of  many  of  its  gods, 
were  Etruscan  :  and  Hellenic  mythology  began,  at  an  early  time, 
to  mingle  itself  in  the  simple  religious  faith  of  the  Sabine 
countrymen.  The  important  question  in  the  history  of  all  reli- 
gions, is  how  far  they  exert  power  over  the  lives  of  their  pro- 
fessors. That  the  old  faith  of  Rome  was  not  without  such 
power  in  the  times  of  which  we  speak  is  unquestionable.  The 
simple  Roman  husbandman  lived  and  died,  like  his  Sabine  ances- 
tors, in  the  fear  of  the  gods ;  he  believed  that  there  was  some- 
thing in  the  universe  higher  and  better  than  himself;  that  by 
these  higher  powers  his  life  and  actions  were  watched ;  that  to 
these  powers  good  deeds  and  an  honest  life  were  pleasing,  evil 
deeds  and  bad  faith  hateful.  Many  modern  historians  represent 
Roman  Religion  as  but  a  piece  of  statecraft,  devised  to  make  the 
people  more  easy  to  be  led.  But  the  cases  quoted  prove  the  con- 
trary. Papirius  Cursor  the  younger  spoke  like  a  rough  humour- 
ist, but  not  irreverently,  when  he  vowed  the  cup  of  honied  wine  to 
Jove.  Regulus  and  Claudius,  when  they  neglected  the  omens  in 
the  first  Punic  War,  shocked  all  men.  Scipio  won  his  early  pop- 
ularity in  a  great  measure  by  his  religious  fervour.  And  the 
weighty  testimony  of  Polybius,  delivered  with  reference  to  a  later 
and  more  corrupt  age,  proves  the  conclusion.  "  If,"  says  he,  "  you 
lend  a  single  talent  to  a  Greek,  binding  him  by  all  possible  securi- 
ties, yet  he  will  break  faith.  Biit  Roman  magistrates,  accustomed 
to  have  immense  sums  of  money  pass  through  their  hands,  are 
restrained  from  fraud  simply  by  respect  for  the  sanctity  of  an 
oath."  If  this  was  true  in  the  days  of  Cato  and  the  younger  Scipio, 
how  much  more  so  in  those  of  Fabius  and  Africanus,  of  Regulus, 
Fabricius,  and  Curius ! 

The  Religion  of  Rome  was  wholly  subject  to  the  State.  It 
had  no  clergy  set  apart  and  paid  by  special  funds.  The  Pontiffs, 
Augurs,  and  Flamens,  indeed,  at  this  time  formed  close  corpo- 
rations, which  their  own  vacancies  filled  up,  like  the  fellows 
of  a  college  ;  but  in  later  times  they  were  elected  at  the  Comitia, 
in  the  same  manner,  though  by  a  different  rule,  as  the  officers  of 
state. 

§  10.  No  doubt,  in  Cicero's  time,  educated  persons  looked  with 
contempt  on  the  Roman  ceremonial,  with  its  omens  and  its 
auguries.  At  that  time,  formalism  had  taken  the  place  of  reli- 
gion ;  but,  at  that  time,  morality  also  was  little  respected  at  Rome. 
No  doubt,  also,  the  Religion  of  Rome  lent  countenance  to  gross 
superstition  and  inhuman  practices.  The  ominous  circumstances 
constantly  recorded  by  Livy,  of  oxen  speaking,  of  stones  falling 
like  rain,  show  the  former ;  and  for  the  latter,  we  are  shocked  to 
read  that  two  Greeks  and  two  Gauls,  one  of  each  sex,  were  buried 


40^  ROME  AND  CARTHAGEl.  Book  IV 

alive  in  the  Forum  on  two  different  occasions,  because  it  was  fore- 
told in  the  Sibylline  Books  that  these  people  should  at  some  time 
occupy  the  soil  of  that  famous  place ;  and  that  human  sacrifices 
were  occasionally  offered — once  even  in  the  time  of  the  Dictator 
Caesar — though  they  had  been  abolished  by  a  special  edict  more 
than  a  century  before.  But  these  horrors  may,  as  the  mention 
of  the  Sibylline  Books  shows,  be  referred  rather  to  Etruscan 
formularies  than  to  the  old  Sabine  religion  of  Rome.  Nor  ought 
those  to  be  too  forward  in  censuring  the  senseless  modes  adopte^ 
by  heathen  nations,  in  times  of  darkness  and  danger,  to  ascerta.in 
the  will  or  avert  the  wrath  of  the  gods,  who  remember  what  a 
history  of  superstitious  practices  and  inhuman  cruelties  might 
be  drawn  up  from  the  Annals  of  Christianity  itself.  The  main 
point  is,  and  this  is  indisputable,  that  the  old  Romans  were  in 
fact  more  pure  in  morals,  more  honest,  more  self-denying  than 
their  neighbours ;  and  we  have  found  a  clear-sighted  Greek  ac- 
counting for  the  difference  by  their  stronger  sense  of  the  obliga- 
tions of  religion. 

§  11.  But  while  morality,  good  faith,  and  self-denial  prevailed 
among  themselves,  it  is  clear  that  the  Romans  laid  no  such  re- 
strictions upon  their  dealings  with  other  nations.  This  great 
defect  is  common  to  Rome  with  all  antiquity.  The  calmest  Greek 
philosopher,  Aristotle,  regarded  barbarians  as  naturally  the  slaves 
of  Greeks.  International  Law  was  unknown,  except  in  certain 
formalities  observed  in  declaring  war  and  making  peace,  and  in 
the  respect  paid  to  the  persons  of  Ambassadors.  This  absence  of 
common  humanity  and  generosity  to  foreigners  appears  in  many 
pages  of  this  History,  in  none  more  strongly  than  in  that  which 
records  the  treatment  of  the  Samnite  leader  C.  Pontius.  Gleams 
of  better  feeling  appear  in  the  war  with  Pyrrhus :  the  chivalric 
character  of  the  King  awakened  something  of  a  kindred  spirit 
in  the  stern  and  rigid  Romans.  But  nothing  could  be  more 
ungenerous  than  the  conduct  of  Rome  to  Carthage,  after  the 
Mercenary  War :  and  still  baser  pieces  of  diplomacy  occur  in  the 
subsequent  dealings  of  the  Senate  with  the  Achaeans  and  with 
Carthage. 

§  12.  We  have  now  to  speak  of  the  intellectual  condition  of  the 
people.  i  - 

In  the  period  between  the  conquest  of  Italy  and  the  close  of 
the  First  Punic  War  a  great  change  had  taken  place  in  the  lan- 
guage of  the  Romans.  The  heterogeneous  compound  of  Pelas- 
gian,  Oscan,  and   Sabine    elements*  had  already  been  moulded 

*  Introduction,  Sect,  il  §  13. 


Chap.  XXXYII.    CHANGE  IN  THE  LATIN  LANGUAGE.  403 

into  a  clear,  uniform,  and  nervous  instrument  of  thought.  The 
oldest  specimen  extant  of  the  Latin  tongue  is  a  Hymn  of  the  Fra- 
tres  Arvales,  a  rural  priesthood,  who  used  to  go  round  the  fields  in 
spring,  praying  the  earth  to  yield  her  increase.  Its  language  is  as 
different  from  the  Latin  of  Horace  as  the  English  of  WiclifPs  Bible 
is  from  that  of  Dryden.*  Its  antiquated  forms  recur  in  Inscriptions 
and  Laws  down  to  a  late  period  ;  for  the  Romans,  like  ourselves, 
did  not  easily  relinquish  old  forms.  But  fragments  remain,  which 
w  jre  written  between  the  First  and  Second  Punic  Wars;  and  these, 
if  the  ancient  forms  of  spelling  are  altered,  exhibit  Latin  in  its  com- 
plete form. 

A  change  also  had  taken  place  in  the  versification.  The  metre 
of  the  ancient  Hymn  just  quoted  is  Saturnian,  a  kind  of  verse 
which  much  resembled  our  own  ballad-metre,  being  regulated  by 
accent  or  cadence  solely,  without  regard  to  the  laws  of  quantity  so 
strictly  observed  by  all  Greek  and  by  later  Latin  writers.f  But  at 
the  time  of  the  Punic  Wars  we  find  the  forms  of  Greek  metres 
already  established. 

§  13.  The  revolution  here  indicated  is  no  doubt  due  to  the 
Hellenic  influences  which  began  to  prevail  at  Rome  after  the 
conquest  of  Lower  Italy  and  Sicily.  If  the  compound  structure 
of  Latin  may  be  compared  to  that  of  our  own  tongue,  its  destiny 
has  been  far  diff'erent.  While  English  can  boast  of  a  more  vig- 
orous native  literature  than  any  language,  except  Greek,  Latin 
is  perhaps  of  all  the  most  destitute  of  originality.  The  germs 
of  a  rude  literature  existed  in  the  ancient  Lays,  of  which  we  have 
spoken  in  our  16th  chapter.  The  Romans,  also,  from  the  earliest 
times,  seem  to  have  been  fond  of  dramatic  representations.  The 
Atellane  Fables  or  Exodia  of  the  Oscan  tribes  were  a  kind  of 
pantomimic  performance,  which  perhaps  still  survives  in  the 
Policinello  of  modern  Italy.  They  were  kept  up  to  a  late  time 
even  at  Rome,  and  were  extemporaneous  pieces,  in  which  it  was 
*  Here  it  is,  with  a  modern  version : — 

Enos,  Lase,  juvate  I 

Neve  luerve,  Marmar,      sins  incurrer  in  pleores. 

Satur  fufere,  Mars ;  limen  sali  sta,  Berber. 

Semunes  alternei  innocapit  cunctos. 

Enos,  Marmar,  juvato !    Triumpe,  Triumpe  I  ) 

Nos,  Lares,  juvate  ! 

Neve  luem,  Mamers,  sinas  incurrere  inflores. 

Satur  Jueris,  Mars ;  pestem  (?.oifxdv)  maris  siste,  Mavors. 

Semi-homines  (demigods)  alterni  invocate  cunctos. 

Nos,  ATamers,  juvato !     Triumphe,  Triumphe  ! 
f  Exam}.ies  of  the  Latin  Saturnium  occur  below  in  §  15.     As  an  English 
example,  take  this: 

Go  fetch  my  sword  Excalibar,  Go  saddle  me  my  steed, 

J^ow,  by  my  fajrej  that  grim  baron    Shall  rue  this  rutbful  de^'i, 


404  ROME  i\ND  CARTHAGE.  Book  IV. 

not  disgraceful  for  the  noblest  youths  to  play  a  part.  The  Fes- 
cennine  verses  were  no  doubt  the  original  of  the  only  kind  of 
literature  which  the  Romans  claim  as  their  own, — that  is,  the 
Satura  or  Satire,  a  lively  and  caustic  criticism  of  the  foibles  and 
follies  of  the  day.  Dramatic  exhibitions  are  said  to  have  been 
first  borrowed  from  the  Etruscans  in  the  year  363  b.c,  when  a 
pestilence  was  raging  at  Rome ;  but  at  this  time  the  drama  was 
a  mere  name, — the  story  being  told  by  means  of  dancing  anc" 
gesticulation,  with  music,  but  without  words.  The  Roman  draina, 
such  as  we  know  it,  was  not  so  much  borrowed  or  imitated 
as  translated  from  the  Greek  originals.  It  arose  in  the  period 
of  tranquillity  after  the  First  Punic  War,  when  the  Temple 
of  Janus  was  shut  for  a  brief  period.  The  vast  increase  of  terri- 
tory and  wealth  which  the  Romans  had  lately  won  was  of  itself 
sufficient  to  give  a  stimulus  to  intellectual  exertion  as  great  as  the 
Athenians  received  from  their  triumphs  over  the  Persians.  But 
in  the  conquered  cities  of  Tarentum  and  Syracuse  the  Romans 
found  a  literature  of  unrivalled  excellence,  and  it  was  not  their  na- 
ture to  pursue  with  labour  what  they  could  adopt  ready  made. 
From  this  time  dates  the  growth  of  the  Grgeco-Roman  literature. 
In  the  well-known  words  of  Horace,  "  captive  Greece  took  captive 
her  rude  conqueror." 

§  14.  The  first  author  of  whom  we  hear  as  presenting  a  finished 
drama  to  a  Roman  audience  was  a  Greek  named  Andronicus. 
He  was  taken  prisoner  at  the  capture  of  Tarentum  in  272  b.c, 
and  became  the  slave  of  M.  Livius  Salinator.  Afterwards  he  was 
set  free,  when  (according  to  custom)  he  adopted  the  two  first 
names  of  his  late  master,  adding  his  own  name  as  a  family  appel- 
lation. Thus  he  became  known  as  M.  Livius  Andronicus.  His 
first  piece  was  represented  about  thirty  years  later,  in  which 
time  he  had  mastered  Latin  completely,  and  added  to  it  the 
polish  of  his  native  Greek.  His  plays  continued  to  be  read  in 
the  times  of  Cicero  and  Horace ;  and  though  these  authors  speak 
of  them  with  little  respect,  the  fact  that  they  were  used  as  a 
text-book  for  boys  at  the  school  of  Orbilius,  when  Horace  him- 
self was  there,  shows  that  they  must  have  been  written  in  a  cleai 
and  grammatical  style.  Their  titles — ^gisthus,  Ajax,  Helena, 
and  the  like — sufficiently  show  from  what  source  they  were  bor- 
rowed. 

§  15.  A  brave  stand  against  the  new  Hellenizing  fashion  was 
made  by  Cn.  Najvius,  a  Campanian  by  birth.  His  name  shows 
that  he  was  not  a  Greek  :  the  fact  that  he  served  in  the  Roman 
armies  during  the  First  Punic  War  proves  that  he  was  a  free 
citizen.  In  his  earlier  days  he  followed  ihj  example  set  by  An- 
dronicus, 60  far  as  to  translate  Greek  Dramas.     The  names  pre- 


Chap.  XXXVII.    LITERATURE  AFTER  FIRST  PUNIC  WAR.        405 

served  show  that,  among  the  masters  of  Attic  Tragedy,  Euripides 
was  his  favourite.  Naevius,  however,  was  of  comic  rather  than  of 
tragic  vein,  and  he  maintained  the  licence  of  the  old  Fescennine 
songs  in  attacking  the  foibles  of  the  great  men  of  his  day.  He 
lampooned  the  conqueror  of  Hannibal  for  licentious  practices 
in  early  youth.  Scipio  laughed  at  the  libel.  But  soon  after 
the  poet  ventured  to  assail  the  powerful  family  of  the  Metelli, 
saying  that 

Fato  Metelli  fiunt  Romse  Consules. 

(The  Metelli  gain  their  honours  not  by  merit,  but  by  destiny.) 

The  Metelli,  or  their  family  bard,  retorted  in  Saturnian  verse : 

Et  Naevio  poetse,  quum  saepe  Isederentur, 

Dabunt  malum  Metelli,     dabunt  malum  Metelli. 

And  they  were  as  good  as  their  word.  He  was  thrown  into 
prison,  and  remained  there  long  enough  to  compose  two  come- 
dies. He  was  set  free  by  a  Tribune  on  condition  of  his  abstaining 
from  personal  libels.  But  he  could  not  refrain  from  fresh  attacks 
on  the  Senatorial  nobility,  which  at  the  close  of  the  Second  Punic 
War  had  become  so  powerful ;  and  he  was  obliged  to  flee  to  Utica, 
where  he  died  about  203  b.c.  He  employed  his  latter  days  in  the 
work  which  made  his  name  most  famous,  namely,  in  a  sort  of  Epic 
Poem  on  the  First  Punic  War,  with  accounts  of  early  Roman  his- 
tory introduced. 

In  narrative  or  epic  poetry  Greek  thought  and  metre  had  not 
yet  established  themselves.  Even  Livius,  when  he  translated  the 
Odyssey,  kept  to  the  old  Saturnian  verse,  and  Naevius  of  course 
did  likewise.  His  poem  no  doubt  incorporated  the  ancient  Lays. 
It  was  written  in  forcible  language  and  lively  imagery.  Cicero  de- 
clared that  he  derived  from  it  a  pleasure  as  great  as  from  the  con- 
templation of  Mycon's  finest  statues.  Many  of  the  mythological 
incidents  were  borrowed  by  Ennius  and  Virgil.  The  loss  of  this 
poem  of  Naevius  may  be  considered  as  the  greatest  loss  which  Latin 
literature  has  sustained.* 

The  bold  and  independent  character  of  Naevius  appears  from  the 
epitaph  he  composed  for  himself.  It  is  in  Saturnian  verse,  and 
mournfully  complains  of  the  predominance  which  Greeks  were 
daily  gaining  over  the  ancient  Latin  poetry : 

Mortales  immortales  flere  si  foret  fas, 

Flerent  Divse  Camense  Naevium  poetam. 

Itaque,  postquam  est  Orcino     traditua  thesauro, 
Oblitei  sunt  Romae  loqui-  er  Latina  lingud. 

§  16.  But  at  the  very  time  when  Naevius,  with  the  ardour  of 

*  What  Scaliger  said  of  Ennius  would  be  more  justly  said  of  Nsevins : 
"  Utinam  hunc  haberemus  integrum,  et  amississemus  Lucanum,  Silium  Itali- 
cura,  et  tons  ces  gargons  IdT 


406  ROME  AND  CARTHAGE.  Book  IY. 

youth,  was  beginning  first  to  imitate  and  then  to  oppose  the  Greek 
models  introduced  by  Livius  Andronicus,  was  born  the  man  who 
fixed  the  Greek  metres  and  forms  of  poetry  irrevocably  in  Latin 
usage,  and  crushed  for  ever  the  old  Roman  Lays.  This  was  Q. 
Ennius,  a  native  of  Rudiae  in  Campania,  an  Oscan  probably  ^ 
blood,  a  Greek  by  education,  whose  birth-year  is  fixed  at  2^8  b.c. 
In  early  youth  he  settled,  we  know  not  why,  in  Sardinia,  and  from 
this  island  he  was  brought  to  Rome  by  Cato  in  204,  when  he  was 
now  in  his  thirty-fifth  year,  just  before  the  death  of  Nsevius.  Here 
he  settled  in  a  small  house  on  the  Aventine,  and  earned  a  frugal 
living  for  fourteen  years  by  teaching  Greek  to  the  young  nobles. 
In  this  period  he  must  have  acquired  that  mastery  over  the  Latin 
tongue  which  is  so  plainly  marked  in  the  fragments  of  his  poems 
which  remain.  He  died  in  the  year  before  the  battle  of  Pydna 
(168)  at  the  age  of  seventy.  In  his  later  years  he  suffered  both  from 
poverty  and  disease,  which  he  bore  with  fortitude  ;  the  disease  was 
caused  by  his  too  great  fondness  for  jovial  living.  He  fulfilled  the 
forebodings  of  Nsevius :  after  him  the  Camenae,  or  Latin  Muses, 
forgot  their  descent,  and  strove  in  all  things  to  be  Greek.  The 
epitaph  he  wrote,  to  be  placed  under  his  bust,  marks  consciousness 
of  his  triumph : 

Aspicite,  o  cives,  senis  Enni  imagiui'  fonnam : 

Hie  vestr<!lm  panxit  maxuma  facta  patrum. 
Nemo  me  lacrumis  decoret,  nee  fimera  fietu 

Faxit.     Cur  ?     Yolito  vivu'  per  ora  virflm. 

As  his  works  belong  entirely  to  the  age  which  forms  the  subject 
of  the  next  Book,  we  will  reserve  our  notice  of  them. 

§  17.  The  first  writers  of  Latin  prose  were  the  Chroniclers  Q. 
Fabius  Pictor  and  L.  Cincius  Alimentus,  who  were  both  in  their 
manhood  before  the  invasion  of  Hannibal.  Fabius  served  in  the 
Gallic  War  of  225,  rose  to  be  a  senator,  and  was  sent  on  an  em- 
bassy to  consult  the  Delphic  Oracle  after  the  disaster  of  Cannae. 
Cincius  was  somewhat  younger ;  he  also  became  a  senator.  At 
one  time  he  fell  into  the  hands  of  Hannibal,  and  some  of  his  state- 
ments with  regard  to  the  war  were  derived  from  the  lips  of  the 
great  Carthaginian  himself.  The  principal  matter  treated  of  by 
both  'ihese  writers  was  that  which  then  absorbed  all  interest;  they 
>vrote  Chronicles  of  the  Secon  \  Punic  War ;  and  both  of  them 
prefixed  a  summary  of  early  Roman  History.  Cincius  seems  to 
have  been  the  most  trustworthy :  family  partialities  often  misled 
Fabius.  It  is  particularly  to  be  noted  that  they  both  wrote  in 
Greek,  which  seems  then  to  have  established  itself  as  the  language 
of  the  learned,  just  as  Latin  was  used  by  all  European  writers 
during  the  Middle  Ages. 

§  18.  If  Hellenic  forms  of  thought  and  speech  invaded  the  do- 


Uhap.  XXXVIL     GR^CO-ETRUSCAN  art  at  ROME.  407 

main  of  Literature,  much  more  was  this  the  case  with  the  Arts 
of  Design.  There  are  not  wanting  examples  to  show  that  before 
this  time  Sculpture  and  Painting  were  held  in  honour  at  Rome. 
The  Consul  Carvilius  (in  293  b.c.)  employed  part  of  the  spoils 
taken  from  the  Samnites  in  setting  up  a  colossal  bronze  statue 
on  the  Capitoline.  A  Quadriga,  executed  in  terra  cotta  by  an 
Etruscan  artist,  is  ascribed  to  the  same  date.  Statues  were  erected 
in  the  Forum  to  honour  divers  great  men  of  olden  time.  Mary 
temples  were  built  in  thanksgiving  for  victories,  most  of  which 
were  adorned  by  Etruscan  or  Greek  artists.  The  Temple  of  Salus 
was  ornamented  about  305  b.c.  by  paintings  from  the  hand  of  0. 
Fabius,  who  thenceforward  adopted  the  name  of  Pictor  and  trans- 
mitted it  as  an  honour  to  his  family.  The  Ogulnii,  in  their 
^dileship  (296  b.c.)  set  up  in  the  Capitol  a  bronze  group  repre- 
senting the  Wolf  suckling  the  Twins.  A  painting  of  the  battle 
in  which  the  Romans  defeated  Hiero  in  263  adorned  the  walls  of 
the  Senate-House. 

Of  these  works,  and  others  not  recorded  by  history,  no  trace 
remains  except  the  famous  AVolf  now  preserved  in  the  Capitoline 
Museum.*  The  Twins  are  a  later  addition,  but  the  animal  is 
probably  the  original  work  noticed  by  Cicero  and  Livy.  It 
bears  the  well-known  marks  of  the  archaic  Greek  art  in  the 
sharp,  rigid  forms  of  the  limbs  and  muscles,  the  peculiar  ex- 
pression of  the  face,  and  the  regular  knots  of  hair  abouo  the 
neck  and  head.  Here,  then,  we  trace  Hellenic  artists  at  Rome. 
Others  of  the  works  mentioned  are  expressly  assigned  to  Etrus- 
can artists,  and  it  may  be  remarked  that  Fabius,  the  only  native 
artist  of  whom  we  hear,  belonged  to  a  family  always  associated  in 
history  with  Etruscans.f 

Now  the  Art  of  the  Etruscans  was  probably  much  modified 
by  Greek  artists  and  Greek  models  at  an  early  period.  Their 
tombs,  we  are  told,  are  always  national  in  character,  but  their 
painted  vases  are  Hellenic,  not  only  in  shape  and  pattern,  but  in 
the  mythical  subjects  with  which  they  are  decorated.  Indeed, 
when  the  vases  discovered  in  the  old  Etruscan  city  of  Vulci — a 
city  of  winch  history  preserves  no  trace — are  placed  by  the  side 
of  others  known  to  be  of  Hellenic  workmanship,  it  is  only  a 
practised  eye  that  can  detect  the  distinguishing  characteristics 
of  each.J;  Many  of  the  Etruscan  works  of  art  bear  a  striking 
resemblance  to  the  archaic  forms  of  Greek  art.     Even  the  ancient 

*  See  woodcut  to  Chapt.  i. 

f  The  settlement  of  the  Fabii  on  the  Cremera  shows  this.  When  the  great 
Fabius  first  crossed  the  Ciminian  Hills,  he  sent  his  brother  to  explore,  be- 
cause he  could  speak  Etruscan.     See  Chapt.  xxii.  §  13. 

X  See  Dennis's  Etruria,  vol.  i.  p.  425. 


408  ROME  AND  CARTHAGE.  Book  IT. 

style  of  building  called  Cyclopean  appears  to  have  been  as  much 
Etruscan  as  Pelasgian  or  Hellenic.  It  may  be  assumed,  then,  that 
the  earliest  school  of  Roman  art  was  derived  from  the  Greeks 
through  the  medium  of  Etruscan  artists. 

§  19.  But  when  Rome  had  conquered  Southern  Italy,  she  was 
brought  at  once  in  contact  with  works  of  the  finest  Greeks 
No  coins  of  old  Greece  are  so  beautiful  as  those  of  her  colonial 
settlements  in  the  West ;  and  it  is  in  the  coins  of  Rome  that  wo 
first  trace  the  indisputable  eff'ect  of  Greek  art. 

Up  to  the  time  when  Italy  was  conquered,  the  Romans  had 
used  only  copper  money  of  a  most  clumsy  and  inconvenient 
kind.  A  pound  of  this  metal  by  weight  was  stamped  with  the 
rude  effigy  of  a  ship's  prow,  and  this  was  the  original  As  or 
Libra.  Gradually  the  As  was  reduced  in  weight  till,  in  the 
necessities  of  the  Second  Punic  War,  it  became  only  l-6th  of 
the  Libra  by  weight;  yet  it  retained  its  ancient  name,  just  as 
our  pound  sterling  of  silver,  originally  equivalent  to  a  pound 
Troy-weight,  is  now  not  more  than  l-3rd,  or  as  the  French  livre 
is  not  above  1-2 4th  part  of  that  weight.*  But  even  this  dimi- 
nished coin  was  clumsy  for  use,  as  trade  increased  with  in- 
creasing empire.  After  the  conquest  of  Southern  Italy  the 
precious  metals  became  more  plentiful,  and  the  coinage  of  the 
conquered  cities  supplied  beautiful  models.  The  first  denarius,  or 
silver  piece  of  ten  ases,  was  struck  in  the  year  269  b.c,  and 
is  evidently  imitated  from  the  coins  of  Magna  Graecia.  The 
Roman  Generals  who  commanded  in  these  districts  stamped 
money  for  the  use  of  their  armies  with  the  old  insignia  of  the 
conquered  cities.  The  workmanship  is,  indeed,  inferior  to  the 
best  specimens  of  Hellenic  coins,  but  far  superior  to  anything 
Roman,  before  or  after.  Gold  coins  of  similar  model  were  not 
struck  till  near  the  close  of  the  Hannibalic  War  (205  b.c).  The 
great  mass  of  Roman  coins  which  we  possess  belong  to  the  last 
century  of  the  Republic.  They  usually  bear  the  family  emblems 
of  the  person  who  presided  over  the  mint,  or  of  the  Consuls  for 
wlios3  use  they  were  struck,  but  the  execution  always  remained 
rude  and  unattractive. 

Afterwards,  Roman  conquest  gave  the  means  of  supplying 
works  of  art  by  the  easier  mode  of  appropriation.  In  the  con- 
quest of  Etruria,  years  before,  the  practice  had  been  begun : 
from  Volsinii  alone  we  read  that  2000  statues  were  brought  to 
Rome.  In  following  years  Agrigentum,  Syracuse,  Corinth,  and 
other  famous  cities,   sent  the   finest   works   of   Hellenic   Art   to 

*  When  the  pound  of  weight  ceased  to  be  the  same  with  the  pound  of  cnu^ 
rency,  the  former  was  usually  designated  ces  grave. 


Chap.  XXXYII.  PROGRESS  IN  THE  ARTS.  409 

decorate  the  public  buildings  and  public  places  of  the  barbarous 
City  of  the  Tiber,  or  in  many  cases  to  ornament  the  villas  of  the 
rapacious  generals. 

§  20.  In  the  more  intellectual  even  of  the  Useful  Arts  the 
Romans  made  no  great  progress.  The  contrivances  of  Archi- 
medes for  the  defence  of  Syracuse  struck  them  with  amazement. 
In  Cicero's  time  they  usually  carried  the  sciences  of  Quantity  and 
Magnitude  no  further  than  was  necessary  for  practical  arithmetic 
and  mensuration.  In  293  b.c.  L.  Papirius  Cursor  the  younger 
set  up  a  sun-dial  at  Rome,  and  thirty  years  later  another  was 
brought  from  Sicily  by  the  Consul  M.  Valerius  Messala ;  but  no 
one  knew  how  to  place  them,  so  as  to  make  the  shadow  of  the 
gnomon  an  index  of  time.  A  water-clock,  resembling  our  sand- 
glass, was  not  introduced  till  159  b.c. 

§  21.  Nor  were  the  common  conveniences  of  life  in  an  advanced 
state.  Up  to  the  year  264  the  houses  were  commonly  roofed 
with  shingles  of  wood,  like  the  Alpine  cottages  of  our  days ;  then 
first  earthen  tiles  began  to  supersede  this  rude  material.  Agri- 
culture must  have  been  roughly  carried  on  by  men  who  were  as 
much  soldiers  as  countrymen.  The  wine  of  Latium  was  so  bad 
that  Cineas,  when  he  tasted  it,  said — and  the  witticism  was  re- 
membered— "  he  did  not  wonder  that  the  mother  of  such  wine  was 
hung  so  high ;"  alluding  to  the  Italian  custom,  still  retained,  of 
training  the  vine  up  elms  and  poplars,  while  in  Greece  it  was 
trained  (as  in  France  and  Germany)  on  short  poles  and  exposed  to 
all  the  heat  of  the  sun. 

§  22.  A  form  of  architecture  called  the  Tuscan  was  mostly 
used,  which  bore  an  imperfect  resemblance  to  that  early  Greek 
style  usually  called  the  Doric.  But  the  existing  remains  of  the 
Republican  period  are  too  scanty  to  allow  of  any  precise  state- 
ments. The  true  Arts  of  Rome  were,  then  and  always,  the  Arts 
of  the  Builder  and  Engineer.  It  would  not  be  wrong  to  call  the 
Romans  the  greatest  Builders  in  the  world.  Some  of  their 
mighty  works,  works  combining  solidity  of  structure  with  beauty 
of  form  and  utility  of  purpose,  still  remain  for  our  admiration, 
having  survived  the  decay  of  ages  and  the  more  destructive 
hands  of  barbarian  conquerors.  In  every  country  subject  to 
their  sway,  roads  and  bridges  and  aqueducts  remain  in  sufficient 
number  and  perfection  to  justify  all  praise.  We  class  the  roads 
among  the  buildings,  according  to  their  own  phraseology,*  and 
their  construction  deserves  the  name  as  justly  as  the  works  upon 
our  own  railways.  The  first  great  military  road  and  the  first 
aqueduct  are  due  to  the   old   Censor  Appius   Caecus,    and   thev 

*  Munire  viam,  was  their  phrase. 

18  .;    , 


410  ROME  AND  CARTHAGE.  Book  IV. 


both  remain  to  preserve  the  memory  of  the  man,  often  self- 
willed  and  presumptuous,  but  resolute,  firm  of  purpose,  noble  in 
conception,  and  audacious  in  execution.  Other  aqueducts  and 
other  roads  rapidly  followed ;  and  the  spade  and  trowel  were  as 
much  the  instruments  of  Roman  dominion  as  the  sword  and  spear. 
By  the  close  of  the  Punic  Wars  solid  roads,  carried  by  the  en- 
gineer's art  over  broad  and  rapid  streams,  through  difficult  moun- 
tain-passes, across  quaking  morasses,  had  already  linked  Rome  with 
Capua  in  the  South,  with  Placentia  and  Cremona  in  the  North. 
Such  were  the  proud  monuments  of  the  Appii,  the  ^milii,  the 
Flaminii. 

§  23.  It  may  be  said  that  these  magnificent  works,  as  well  as 
the  vast  Amphitheatres  and  Baths  which  afterwards  decorated 
Rome  and  every  petty  city  in  her  provinces,  were  due  to  the  in- 
vention of  the  Arch.  This  simple  piece  of  mechanism,  so  wonder- 
ful in  its  results,  first  appears  in  the  great  Cloaca.  It  was  unknown 
to  the  Greeks,  or  at  least  not  used  by  them.*  It  may  be  that 
the  Romans  borrowed  it  from  the  Etruscans;  the  Cloaca  is 
attributed  to  an  Etruscan  king,  and  similar  works  are  discovered 
in  ruined  cities  of  Etruria.f  But  if  they  borrowed  the  principle 
they  used  it  nobly,  as  witness  the  noble  bridges  still  remaining, 
the  copious  streams  carried  over  the  plain  for  miles  at  the  height 
of  sixty  or  seventy  feet  from  the  level  of  the  soil.  If  they  had 
little  feeling  for  beauty  and  delicacy  in  the  use  of  the  pencil  or 
the  chisel,  their  buildings  are  stamped  with  a  greatness  which  ex- 
alted the  power  of  the  State  while  it  disregarded  the  pleasure  of 
the  individual. 

§  24.  Their  attention  to  practical  utility  in  draining  and  water- 
ing their  city  is  especially  noted  by  Strabo  in  contrast  with  the 
indiff"erence  shown  by  the  Greeks  in  these  matters.  To  the  facts 
already  stated  may  be  added  their  rule,  established  so  early  as  the 
year  260  e.g.,  that  no  one  should  be  buried  within  the 'city, — a 
rule  scarcely  yet  adopted  in  London.  From  this  time  dates  the 
beginning  of  those  rows  of  sepulchral  monuments  which  the 
traveller  beheld  on  either  side  of  the  road  as  he  entered  the 
Eternal  City.  It  was  a  gloomy  custom,  but  better  at  least  than 
leaving  graveyards  in  the  heart  of  crowded  cities. 

§  25.  A  striking  proof  of  engineering  skill  is  shown  in  the 
tunnels  cut  through  solid  rock  for  the  purpose  of  draining  off 
Tolcanic  lakes :  this  art  we  may  also  believe  to  have  been  ori- 
ginally borrowed  from  the  Etruscans.  The  first  tunnel  of  which 
we  hear  was  that  by  which  the  Alban  Lake  was  partially  let  off 

*  The  arch  is  said  to  have  been  invented  by  Democritus,  Posidon  ap.  Senec, 
Ep.  80.     But  it  had  long  existed  in  Etruria. 
f  See  Chapt   iii.  §  11. 


Chap.  XXXVIl.  PROGRESS  IK  THE  ARTS.  411 

during  the  siege  of  Veii,  a  work  which  was  suggested  by  an 
Etruscan  soothsayer.*  Other  works  of  like  kind  still  remain, 
though  the  time  of  their  execution  is  not  always  known.  Here 
shall  be  added  the  notice  of  one  work  of  kindred  sort,  which 
happens  by  a  rare  coincidence  to  combine  great  utility  with 
rarest  beauty.  The  famous  M'  Curius  Dentatus,  when  Censor 
in  272,  cut  a  passage  through  the  rock,  by  which  the  waters  of 
Lake  Velinus  were  precipitated  into  the  Nar.  By  this  means  he 
recovered  for  his  newly-conquered  Sabine  Clients  a  large  portion 
of  fertile  land,  and  left  behind  the  most  lovely,  if  not  the  most 
sublime,  of  all  waterfalls.  The  Falls  of  Terni,  such  is  the  famous 
name  they  now  bear,  were  wrought  by  the  hand  of  man.  "  Thou- 
sands of  travellers  visit  them,"  says  Niebuhr ;  "  how  few  knOw 
that  they  are  not  the  work  of  Nature !" 

§  26.  It  will  be  something  gained  if  from  these  imperfect 
chapters  the  young  student  shall  have  learned  to  look  upon  the 
early  Romans  as  they  were — men  of  strong  wills  and  rigid  morals, 
who  cared  little  for  the  elegancies  of  life,  but  much  for  its  free- 
dom and  order ;  who  scorned  the  credit  to  be  derived  from  ori- 
ginality compared  with  the  practical  uses  of  an  invention ;  who 
were  trained  by  education  and  discipline  to  rule  themselves; 
and  were  thus  carried  on  from  conquest  to  conquest  by  an  in- 
satiable desire  to  rule  others.  The  Roman  of  this  time  has  his 
own  virtues — simplicity  and  good  morals,  joined  indeed  with 
roughness  and  want  of  feeling.  In  a  later  age  he  lost  the  virtues 
without  losing  the  defects.  The  Roman,  as  we  shall  find  him  at 
the  end  of  his  career  of  conquest,  without  simplicity  of  man- 
ners and  morality  of  life,  corrupted  by  wealth  and  luxury,  yet 
coarse  and  unfeeling  as  ever,  is  a  being  who  does  little  honour  to 
humanity. 

*  See  Chapt.  xiii  §  6,  with  the  note. 


Coin  of  Ptolemy  Philadelphus. 


BOOK  Y. 
ROME  AND  THE  CONQUEST  OF  THE  WORLD. 

(B.C.  201—132.) 


CHAPTER    XXXVIII. 

INTRODUCTORY  :    STATE    OF    THE    EASTERN    WORLD. 

§  1.  Tlie  East  and  West.  §  2.  The  East  from  the  death  of  Alexander  to  the 
Battle  of  Ipsus,  §  3.  Egypt  at  the  present  time.  §  4.  Syria.  §  5.  Per- 
gamus.  §  6.  Rhodes,  g  7.  Macedon.  §  8.  Athens.  §  9.  Sparta.  §  10. 
Commencement  of  the  i^chsBan  League:  its  rapid  rise  under  Aratus: 
unable  to  conquer  Sparta,  he  makes  the  League  subject  to  Macedon. 
§  11.  The  ^tolians.  §  12.  War  between  the  ^tolians  andAchseans: 
Philip  y.  of  Macedon  assists  the  latter:  his  successes.  §  13.  His  imagi- 
nation fired  by  the  news  of  Trasimene  and  Cannae :  Demetrius  of  Pharos : 
§  14.  Philip's  treaty  with  Hannibal. 

§  1.  So  far,  the  countries  round  the  Mediterranean  had  been 
divided,  as  it  were,  into  two  worlds,  the  Western  and  the 
Eastern :  the  Western,  in  which  Rome  and  Carthage  were  strug- 
gling for  mastery ;  the  Eastern,  in  which  the  Macedonian  suc- 
cessors of  Alexander  the  Great  were  wasting  their  strength  in 
wars.  But  from  the  moment  that  Philip  V.  of  Macedon  entered 
into  alliance  with  Hannibal,  the  line  of  separation  had  been 
broken ;  and  Rome  only  waited  her  time  to  break  in  upon  the 
enervated  nations  of  the  East.  That  time  came  when  the  battle 
«f  Zama  had  delivered  her  from  the  fear  of  Hannibal. 

§  2.  At  the  death  of  Alexander  in  323  b.c,  his  vast  Empire 
fell  into  distinct  portions.  The  Generals  of  the  Great  King  at 
first  governed  these  provinces  as  Viceroys  of  Alexander's  infant 
son.     But  this  child  was  set  aside ;  and  within  twenty  years  of 


Chap.  XXXVIII.     STATE  OF  THE  EASTERN  WORLD.  413 

the  King's  death  these  Imperial  Governors  assumed  the  title  of 
Sovereigns.  Ptolemy  became  King  of  Egypt;  Seleucus,  of  Baby- 
lonia and  the  East;  Antigonus,  with  his  son  Demetrius,  of 
Syria  and  Asia  Minor;  Lysimachus,  of  Thrace;  Cassander,  of 
Macedonia,  with  authority  over  the  whole  of  Greece. 

Of  these  soldier- kings,  the  most  ambitious  of  all  were  the 
Kings  of  Syria,  Antigonus  and  Demetrius;  and  the  year  305  b.c. 
sa  V  the  other  sovereigns  combined  against  these  two.  A  general 
war  followed;  and  in  301  b.c,  the  battle  of  Ipsus  made  a  con- 
siderable change  in  these  Macedonian  monarchies.  Seleucus 
became  master  of  the  greater  part  of  Asia  Minor  and  of  northern 
Syria ;  Phoenicia  and  Coele-Syria  fell  into  the  hands  of  the  King 
of  Egypt. 

We  must  add  a  brief  account  of  these  kingdoms  down  to  the 
period  of  the  second  Punic  War. 

§  3.  Egypt  enjoyed  long  tranquillity.  In  the  course  of  the 
eighty  years  which  followed  the  battle  of  Ipsus,  the  Kings  of 
Egypt  quietly  extended  their  sway  over  parts  of  Arabia  and 
Libya,  as  well  as  Lower  Syria,  and  became  Masters  of  Lycia  and 
Caria,  of  .Cyprus  and  the  Cyclades.  The  flourishing  Republic  of 
Rhodes  was  their  ally.  Trade  flourished ;  art  and  literature 
reached  a  height  unknown  since  the  best  days  of  Athens :  the 
natural  sciences  were  cultivated  with  unexampled  success. 
Alexandria  increased  daily  in  wealth  and  population,  and  became 
(as  its  great  founder  intended)  the  chief  seat  of  trade  between 
the  East  and  Wost.  Yet  this  prosperity  was  not  long-lived^ 
The  decline  of  the  monarchy  may  be  dated  from  the  accession  of , 
the  fourth  Ptolemy,  surnamed  Philopator;  and  so  rapid  was  it, 
that  whea  ue  died,  towards  tho  close  of  the  Second  Punic  War* 
(205  B.6.),  the  ministers  of  iiis  infant  son  Epiphanes  were  obliged 
to  look  around  for  some  poweful  patron  to  defend  the  inherit- 
ance of  their  master  irom  the  -Kings  of  Macedon  and  Syria,  who 
had  impudently  agreed  to  divide  it  between  them. 

In  the  year  273  b.c,  Philadelphus  formed  an  alliance  with 
Rome  (chapt.  xxiii.  §  3);  and  her  attitude  of  superiority  after  the 
struo^orle  with  Carthao-e  attracted  the  notice  of  all  the  Mediter- 
ranean  nations.  The  Senate,  therefore,  were  requested  to  become 
guardians  of  the  boy-king,  and  they  accepted  the  office. 

§  4.  After  the  death  of  Seleucus,  the  monarchy  of  Syria  fell  into 
decay.  His  son,  Antiochus  I.,  shifted  the  seat  of  the  monarchy 
from  Babylon  to  his  new  city  of  Antiocheia  (Antioch)  on  th(^ 
Orontes,  and  thus  the  Eastern  Provinces  were  left  open  to  the 
inroads  of  the  Parthians.  ^  Asia  Minor  was  lost  t5  the  monarchy. 
The  kings  of  Macedon  gained  a  footing  in  Mysia  and  Ionia; 
Caria  and  Lycia  fell  into  the  hands  of  the  Egyptian  sovereigns; 


414  CONQUEST  OF  THE  WORLD.  BookY. 

Bithynia,  Cappadocia,  and  Pontus  became  independent  princi- 
palities; Northern  Phrygia  was  occupied  by  hosts  of  vagrant 
Gauls,  who  gave  name  to  the  district  called  Galatia;  a  Greek 
eunuch,  named  Philetaerus,  Treasurer  of  Lysimachus,  King  of 
Thrace,  gained  possession  of  the  city  of  Pergamus.  He  trans- 
mitted his  principality  to  his  nephew  Eumenes,  and  Attains, 
another  nephew,  succeeding  to  Eumenes,  took  the  title  of  King. 
Most  of  the  Greek  cities  on  the  coast,  with  the  islands  of  Lesbos, 
Chios,  and  Samos,  became  independent.  Such  was  the  con- 
dition of  things  in  223  e.g.,  when  Antiochus  III.  ascended  the 
throne,  and  turned  his  arms  against  the  Parthians  with  so  much 
success  that  he  assumed  the  title  of  the  Great. 

§  5.  Attains,  King  of  Pergamus,  saw  his  advantage  in  siding 
with  Rome.  Threatened  by  the  King  of  Macedonia  on  the  north, 
and  by  the  King  of  Syria  on  the  south,  he  at  once  threw  Jiimseif 
into  the  arms  of  this  powerful  ally,  and  was  of  no  small  use  to 
the  Roman  commanders. 

§  6.  The  Republic  of  Rhodes  rapidly  recovered  from  the  ter- 
rible siege  which  it  had  sustained  from  Demetrius  Poliorcetes.* 
After  Alexandria,  Rhodes  was  the  chief  commercial  place  irr 
the  Eastern  part  of  the  Mediterranean.  The  government  was 
conducted^. on  upright  principles;  her  citizens  commanded  the 
respect  of  all  who  had  dealings  with  them.  They  would  gladly 
have  stood  aloof  from  the  Roman  wars.  But  their  old  ally, 
the  King  of  Egypt,  was  too  weak  to  support  them ;  and  the 
brutal  conduct  of  the  King  of  Macedonia  forced  them  into 
alliance  with  Rome.  ^ 

§  7.  It  remains  to  take  a  view  of  Macedon  itself. 

A  very  short  time  after  Demetrius  the  Besieger  fled  from  the 
field  of  Ipsus,  discrowned  and  helpless,  we  are  surprised  to  find 
him  in  possession  of  the  sceptre  of  Macedon  and  lord  of  Greece. 
After  reiging  at  Pella  for  seven  years,  he  was  expelled  from  his 
new  kingdom  by  a  second  coalition,  headed  by  Lysimachus,  the 
veteran  King  of  Thrace,  and  Pyrrhus,  the  young  King  of  Epirus. 
He  made  one  more  desperate  attempt  to  recover  his  Asiatic  domi- 
nions, when  he  fell  into  the  hands  of  Seleucus,  and  died  in  captivity 
in  the  year  283  b.c.  Soon  after,  died  Ptolemy  and  Lysimachus. 
Seleucus,  the  only  survivor  of  Alexander's  generals, '  would  have 
won  Macedon  also,  but  in  the  moment  of  conquest  he  fell  by  th3 
knife  of  an  assassin.  This  assassin  was  Ptolemy  Ceraunus, 
eldest  son  of  the  deceased  King  of  Egypt.  For  a  brief  period, 
this  savage  became  King,  and  lent  aid  to  Pyrrhus  in  his  Italian 
campaigns.     But  Ceraunus  did  not  long  enjoy  his  ill-gotten  spoil. 

*  Dr.  Smith's  Greece,  p.  562. 


Chap.  XXXYIIL     STATE  OF  THE  EASTERN  WORLD.  415 

He  lost  his  life  in  endeavouring  to  stay  the  course  of  the  Gauls 
who  barnt  Delphi. 

A  period  of  confusion  followed.  The  Gauls,  expelled  from 
Europe,  settled  in  Asia  Minor;  and  when  Pyrrhus  returned 
from  Italy  in  274  B.C.,  he  found  that  the  sceptre  of  Macedon  had 
fallen  into  the  hands  of  Antigonas  Gonatas,  son  of  Demetrius, 
who  transmitted  the  sceptre  of  Macedon  to  his  son  Demetrius 
II.  When  this  prince  died,  he  left  his  son  Philip,  a  child  of 
eight  years  old,  to  the  charge  of  his  cousin  Antigonus  Doson,* 
who  took  possession  of  the  throne  for  himself,  but  in  other 
respects  acted  with  honour  and  good  faith  towards  his  young 
charge.  He  gave  him  a  good  education  ;  and  at  his  death,  in 
221  B.C.,  he  took  care  that  Philip  should  be  proclaimed  King  to 
the  exclusion  of  his  own  children.  Such  an  example  of  good  faith 
deserves  notice  in  this  age  of  selfishness  and  corruption. 

When  Philip  succeeded  to  the  throne,  he  found  the  kingdom 
in  a  flourishing  state.  No  foreign  enemy  threatened  his  shores  ; 
and  unhappy  Greece,  torn  by  discord,  was  ready  to  welcome  him 
as  a  protector. 

§  8.  The  mere  mention  of  the  name  of  Greece  excites  some 
interest  in  the  mind  of  the  most  indifferent  reader;  and  when 
Greece  is  mentioned,  the  first  name  that  memory  recalls  is  that 
of  Athens.  But  there  was  little  left  of  that  glorious  spirit  which 
enabled  Athens  to  throw  back  the  Persian  invader  from  her 
shores.  After  the  last  struggle  for  independence,  when  the  name 
of  Demosthenes  sheds  a  dying  glory  over  Athens,  the  people 
surrendered  itself  quietly  to  the  protection  of  the  Kings  of 
Macedon.  Art,  indeed,  and  literature  still  remained  in  their 
old  abode.  Even  now  the  silken  chains  were  being  woven,  which, 
at  a  later  time  were  to  bind  her  Roman  conquerors.  Zeno  the 
Stoic  and  Epicurus  were  establishing  the  rival  doctrines  which 
afterwards  divided  the  Roman  mind  between  them.  Menander 
and  Philemon  and  Diphilus  were  bringing  on  the  stage  those 
dramas  of  the  New  Comedy,  which  not  long  after  delighted  the 
Romans  in  the  imperfect  versions  of  Plautus  and  Terence.  Yet, 
for  all  this,  Athens,  the  star  of  Greece,  had  lost  her  brightness. 
An  Athenian  and  a  sycophant  became  convertible  terms. 

§  9,  In  Sparta,  the  old  Dorian  nobility  had  dwindled  away  to 
a  few  families,  who  engrossed  the  land,  and  exercised  tyrannical 
rule  over  the  people.  In  the  year  241  b.c,  Agis  IV.,  one  of  the 
Kings,  a  young  man  of  noble  spirit,  endeavoured  to  bring  about 
a  reform  of  the  State,  by  abolishing  all  debts,  and  admitting  to  the 
Spartan  franchise  a  number  of  the  Lacedaemonians,  among  whom 

*  AwCTwv,  intending  to  give;  for  he  did  not  give  up  the  throne  to  Philip  till 
his  death. 


416  CONQUEST  OF  THE  WORLD.  Book  Y. 

all  lands  were  to  be  divided  anew  according  to  the  system  of 
Lycurgus.  But  the  old  burgesses,  led  by  the  Ephors  and  the 
other  King,  opposed  him  vehemently  ;  and  Agis  was  put  to 
death.  Then  followed  a  re-action.  Cleomenes  III.,  son  of  the 
King  who  had  opposed  Agis,  succeeded  to  the  crown  and  re- 
sumed the  projects  of  that  unhappy  prince.  But  he  showed 
more  prudence  in  the  execution  of  them  ;  and  for  a  time  some 
appearance  of  vigour  was  restored  to  the  enfeebled  frame  of  the 
Spartan  constitution. 

§  10.  But  at  that  period  chief  notice  belongs  to  a  people  who 
had  hitherto  played  a  very  subordinate  part  in  the  history  of 
Greece,  the  people  of  Ach^a.  From  the  time  when  the  "long- 
haired Achaeans"  fought  against  Troy,  their  name  had  almost 
vanished  from  the  pages  of  history.  All  we  know  of  them  is, 
that  they  were  a  relic  of  that  ancient  people  who  formerly 
possessed  Peloponnesus,  and  were  driven  by  the  conquering 
Dorians  to  a  narrow  strip  of  land  on  the  sea-coast.  It  was  in  the 
year  280  b.c,  when  the  irruption  of  the  Gauls  filled  all  hearts 
with  fear,  that  four  towns  of  this  obscure  district  united  for 
mutual  defence.  Such  was  the  beginning  of  that  Confederation, 
which  became  famous  under  the  name  of  the  Achsean  League. 

Yet  it  was  not  to  themselves,  but  to  a  foreigner,  that  this 
fame  was  due.  Aratus  was  born  at  Sicyon  about  the  time  when 
Pyrrhus  came  to  his  ignoble  end.  Scarcely  had  he  reached  the 
age  of  twenty,  when  he  formed  the  plan  of  delivering  his  native 
city  from  the  Tyrant  who  oppressed  her.  Success  justified  his 
audacity  ;  and  Sicyon,  by  the  advice  of  Aratus,  joined  the 
Achaean  League  (251  b.c).  Not  many  'years  after,  he  was 
elected  General-in-chief,  and  formed  the  design  of  uniting  al) 
Peloponnesus  under  the  League.  He  set  Corinth  free  from  her 
Macedonian  garrison,  and  this  important  city  joined  the  Fede- 
ration. Her  example  was  followed  by  Megalopolis  and  by  Argos* 
and'  by  the  year  227  b.c.  the  Achaean  League  had  become  the 
chief  power  of  Peloponnesus.  But  Sparta  still  stood  aloof;  and 
Cleomenes  had  no  mind  to  let  his  country  become  a  province  of 
the  League.  Aratus  endeavoured  to  compel  him.  But  he  was 
an  unskilful  general,  and  Cleomenes  possessed  great  talents  for 
war.  It  soon  appeared  that  Sparta  was  more  likely  to  become 
master  of  the  Achaeans,  than  the  Achaeans  of  Sparta.  In  this 
state  of  things,  Aratus  scrupled  not  to  undo  the  work  which  he 
had  spent  his  best  years  in  executing.  He  called  in  the  aid  of 
Antigonus  Doson,  or,  in  other  words,  he  made  the  Achaean  League 
subject  to  Macedon.  The  army  of  Antigonus,  united  to  the 
forces  of  the  League,  wa§  too  much  for  Cleomenes.  He  was 
utterly  defeated  at  the  battle  of  Sellasia  (222  b.c),  and  died  an 


Chap.  XXXYIII.    STATK  OF  THE  EASTERIT  WORLD.  417 

exile  in  Egypt.  Sparta  fell  into  the  hands  of  bloody  Tyrants', 
and  Aratus  henceforth  appears  as  Lieutenant  of  the  King  of 
Macedon. 

§  11.  There  was  yet  another  warlike  State  always  ready  to  take 
advantage  of  the  weakness  of  its  neighbours. 

In  the  best  times  of  Greece  the  JEtolians  make  little  more 
figure  than  the  Achaeans.  From  the  time  when  "  yellow- 
haired  Meleager"  slew  the  boar  of  Calydon,  we  hear  little  of 
them.  Dwelling  in  a  mountainous  district,  they  were  a  nation 
of  freebooters,  a  sort  of  land-pirates,  caring  for  nothing  but 
plunder.  They  owned  no  king  ;  but  before  this  time  their 
several  tribes  had  formed  a  sort  of  League  ;  and  deputies  met 
every  year  at  Thermon,  their  chief  city,  to  elect  a  Captain- 
General  (aiQuiriyog).  They  had  thriven  on  the  weakness  of  their 
neighbours.  Ambracia,  the  capital  of  Pyrrhus,  was  theirs;  so 
was  Naupactus,  once  the  chief  station  of  the  Athenian  navy  in 
the  Gulf  of  Corinth.  Thermon  rose  to  be  a  splendid  city,  and 
here  the  ^tolian  chiefs  lived  in  great  magnificence.  But  they 
continued  their  marauding  habits  on  a  larger  scale  and  in  a 
Tiore  regular  manner.  It  was  chiefly  by  their  selfish  policy  that 
the  Romans  were  enabled  to  become  masters  of  Greece. 

§  12.  The  ^tolian  chiefs  thought  that  the  death  of  Antigonus 
Doson  presented  a  good  opportunity  for  a  foray^  into  Pelopon- 
nesus. The  time  was  well  chosen.  Philip  was  too  young,  they 
thought,  to  act  with  promptitude  ;  Aratus  was  too  unskilful  a 
general  to  alarm  them.  For  one  year  the  marauders  ravaged 
Arcadia  and  Argolis  at  will.  But  when  they  repeated  their 
inroad  in  the  following  season,  Philip  came  to  aid  the  League,  and 
the  tide  of  war  turned  against  the  ^tolians. 

The  young  King  of  Macedon  showed  great  vigour.  Not  only 
did  he  expel  the  invaders  from  Peloponnesus,  but  broke  into 
their  own  country  and  surprised  Thermon,  where  all  the  trea- 
sures of  the  nation  w^ere  deposited.  Here  he  made  the  fierce 
chiefs  his  enemies  for  ever ;  for  he  carried  off  their  treasure, 
destroyed  their  houses,  and  burnt  down  their  temples.  At  this 
moment,  Philip's  attention  was  attracted  by  events  which  made 
his  successes  in  JEtolia  look  pale  and  trifling.  These  events 
were  Hannibal's  first  victories  in  Italy. 

§  13.  It  was  in  the  winter  of  21*7  b.c,  when  the  Achseans  and 
their  allies  were  assembled  at  Argos  under  Philip's  presidency, 
that  their  deliberations  were  suspended  by  the  tidings  of  the 
battle  of  Trasimene.  The  young  King's  mind  was  fired  with 
eager  desire  to  take  part  in  this  more  splendid  drama.  He  made 
peace  with  the  vEtolians  on  terms  very  favourable  to  the  Achaeans; 
and  thus  ended  what  was  called  the  last  Social  War. 

18* 


418  CONQUEST  OF  THE  WORLD.  Book  Y. 

Nothing  could  be  more  imprudent  than  Philip's  desire  to  take 
part  in  Western  politics.  His  position  at  home  was  most  ad- 
vantageous. His  army  was  well  disciplined,  his  fleet  consider/ 
able  ;  his  finances  in  good  order.  The  King  of  Egypt  was  too 
feeble  to  thwart  him  ;  the  King  of  Syria  and  the  Republic  of 
Rhodes  were  willing  to  be  his  allies  :  the  Greek  states  of  Asia 
and  Europe  were  ready  to  own  him  as  protector ;  the  malcontent 
^Etolians  had  just  felt  his  power.  With  prudence  he  might  have 
formed  an  Eastern  confederation,  which  would  have  ofi'ered  a 
formidable  front  to  Rome. 

But  his  imagination  was  influenced  by  Hannibal's  glory;  in 
sleep  his  dreams  transported  him  to  Italy ;  and  when  the  news 
of  the  great  victory  of  Cannae  followed  that  of  Trasimene,  he  de- 
termined no  longer  to  stand  aloof.  It  must  be  added,  that  his 
natural  ambition  was  urged  on  by  a  person  whom  he  had  just 
admitted  into  his  councils.  This  was  Demetrius  of  Pharos,  who 
by  treachery  had  lost  the  Illyrian  Principality  given  him  by 
Rome.  He  took  refuge  with  Philip,  and  in  the  autumn  which 
followed  the  battle  of  Trasimene,  the  Senate  had  sent  to  demand 
the  surrender  of  his  person.  But  at  that  moment,  to  be  an 
enemy  to  Rome  was  to  be  the  friend  of  Philip ;  and  Demetrius 
became  the  King's  chief  adviser.  His  acquaintance  with  Roman 
politics  recommended  him  ;  his  unscrupulous  advice  suited  the 
temper  of  Philip  better  than  the  cautious  policy  of  Aratus,  who 
ceased  henceforth  to  have  any  weight  in  the  counsels  of  Philip. 

§  14.  It  has  been  above  mentioned  that  as  soon  as  the  news  of 
the  battle  of  Cannae  arrived,  Philip  V.  King  of  Macedon  sent  oflf 
ambassadors  to  offer  terms  of  alliance  to  Hannibal ;  that  the 
messengers  fell  into  the  hands  of  the  Romans,  and  that  conse- 
quently the  treaty  was  not  concluded  till  late  in  the  year  215  b.c. 
In  this  treaty,  it  was  stipulated  that  Philip  should  send  an  army 
to  support  Hannibal  in  Italy ;  and  that,  in  the  event  of  a  suc- 
cessful issue  of  the  war,  Illyria  should  be  given  to  Demetrius, 
while  the  Roman  possessions  in  Epirus  were  handed  over  to 
Philip.     The  result  of  this  treaty  was  the  First  Macedonian  War. 


Coin  of  Philip  V.,  King  of  Macedon. 


CHAPTER    XXXIX. 


FIRST  AND  SECOND  MACEDONIAN  WARS  :    SETTLEMENT  OF  GREECE 
BY  FLAMININUS.       (214 194    B.C.) 

S  \.  Conduct  of  Philip.  §  2.  League  formed  by  Laevinus  with  ^tolians. 
§  3.  Activity  of  Philip:  Laevinus  succeeded  by  Galba:  ^gina  taken, 
§  4.  Danger  of  Philip  in  the  year  208 :  his  vigilance  and  successes. 
§  5.  End  of  the  First  Macedonian  War.  §  6.  Philip  assists  Hannibal  at 
Zama :  Embassy  to  Rome.  §  7.  His  impolitic  conduct  towards  the 
Achaeans.  His  outrages  ua  Asia  Minor.  §  8.  Athens  revolts  from  Philip : 
complaints  laid  before  the  Senate.  §  9.  Difficulty  in  declaring  war  against 
Philip.  §  10.  Conquests  of  PhUip  in  Thrace.  §  11.  The  Romans  burn 
Chalcis:  the  Achaeans  refuse  aid  to  Philip,  §  12.  Galba  enters  Macedonia 
by  the  North-west:  .  his  fruitless  campaign.  §  13.  Second  Campaign  : 
L.  Villius,  Consul,  attempts  to  enter  Thessaly.  §  14.  T.  Quinctius  Fla- 
minius  supersedes  ViUius:  he  forces  the  pass  of  the  Aoiis.  §  15.  His 
operations  inG-reece:  dissensions  in  the  Achaean  League.  §  16.  Conference 
during  winter  between  Philip  and  Flamininus.  §  17.  Third  Campaign: 
Flamininus  continued  in  command  as  Proconsul:  Romans  dominant  in 
Greece.  §  18.  Battle  of  Cynoscephalae :  complete  defeat  of  Philip. 
§  19.  Terms  offered  by  Flamininus  to  Philip:  Peace.  §  20.  Declaration 
of  independence  at  Isthmian  Games.  §  21.  Proceedings  of  Antiochus, 
King  of  Syria.  §  22.  Nabis,  Tyrant  of  Sparta:  siege  of  Sparta.  §  23. 
Policy  of  Flamininus.  §  24.  Address  of  Flamininus  to  the  Greeks  at 
Corinth.     §  25.  His  departure,  and  Triumph. 

§  1.  No  doubt  Philip's  wisest  course  would  have  been  to  abstain 
from  mixing  himself  up  with  the  affairs  of  Italy ;  but,  having  done 
so,  he  ought  to  have  engaged  heartily  in  the  war.  In  212  b.c.  Han- 
nibal became  master  of  Tarentum.  Then,  if  ever,  would  have  been 
the  time  for  the  King  to  have  dispatched  his  Macedonian  phalanx 
to  support  the  Carthaginian  in  Italy.  His  inactivity  is  the  more 
remarkable,  because  about  the  same  time  he  delivered  himself 


420  CONQUEST  OF  THE  WOLRD.  Book  Y. 

so  entirely  to  the  counsels  of  Demetrius  that  he  did  not  hesitate 
to  disembarrass  himself  of  the  troublesome  remonstrances  of 
Aratus  by  poison.  Thus  was  the  patriotic  founder  of  the 
Achaean  League,  so  long  the  faithful  servant  of  the  Kings  of 
Macedon,  requited  for  his  services. 

§  2.  On  discovering  Philip's  negotiations  with  Hannibal,  the 
Senate  dispatched  M.  Valerius  Lsevinus,  with  a  small  squadron, 
to  watch  his  proceedings.  This  enterprising  officer  succeeded 
in  checking  Philip's  feeble  efforts  ;  but  he  took  no  forward  step 
till  the  year  211  b.c,  when  he  entered  into  negotiations  with 
the  ^tolians,  and  soon  found  means  to  induce  their  greedy 
chiefs  to  form  a  treaty  with  Rome  on  terms  that  reveal  their 
selfish  policy.  They  were  to  join  Rome  in  war  upon  Philip :  all 
cities  taken  by  the  confederate  forces  were  to  be  handed  over 
to  the  ^tolians,  but  the  inhabitants  and  moveable  property 
were  to  be  left  to  the  Romans. 

§  3.  The  news  of  this  treaty  roused  Philip  to  something  of  his 
former  activity,  and  he  baffled  the  assault  of  his  enemies  on 
every  side.  Lsevinus,  however,  succeeded  in  taking  the  strong 
city  of  Anticyra  in  Locris,  which  was  treated  in  the  manner 
prescribed  by  treaty. 

His  successor  was  P.  Sulpicius  Galba,  who  was  ordered  to  send 
home  the  legion  which  had  hitherto  been  employed  in  Greece. 
The  Senate  were  of  opinion  that  a  squadron  of  ships,  supported 
by  Attains  at  sea  and  by  the  JEtolians  on  land,  was  sufficient 
to  hold  Philip  in  check.  Galba,  thus  hampered,  was  unable  to 
do  more  than  seize  the  island  of  JEgina.  Here,  as  at  Anticyra, 
the  inhabitants  were  sold  as  slaves  for  the  benefit  of  the  Romans, 
while  the  place  was  left  to  the  JEtolian  chiefs,  who  handed  it 
over  to  Attains  for  30  talents.  This  monarch  had  lately  joined 
the  allies  with  a  squadron  of  35  Pergamese  ships,  and  Jfegina 
henceforth  became  his  head-quarters. 

The  Achseans,  notwithstanding  the  suspicious  death  of  Aratus, 
preferred  maintaining  their  alliance  with  Philip  to  uniting  them- 
selves with  greedy  freebooters  like  the  ^tolians.  But  the  Lace- 
daemonians and  Eleans  joined  the  ^tolian  League. 

§  4.  In  the  next  year  (208  b.c.)  Philip  with  the  Achaiar.s  had 
to  enter  upon  a  conflict  with  the  Romans  and  Attains  at  sea, 
the  ^tolians  and  Lacedaemonians  by  land,  while  the  Illyrians 
threatened  the  northern  frontiers  of  Macedonia,  and  the  Thra- 
cians  broke  into  the  eastern  districts. 

To  meet  these  multiplied  enemies,  Philip  exerted  a  vigour  and 
activity  worthy  of  his  best  days.  Fixing  his  head-quarters  at 
Demetrias  (a  strong  fortress  in  the  south  of  Thessaly,  erected  by 
Demetrius  Poliorcetes  to  commsind  the  passage  from  Macedonia 


Chap.  XXXIX.  SECOND  MACEDONIAN  WAR.  421 

into  Greece),  he  sent  troops  to  defend  his  allies  from  the  attacks 
of  the  ^tolians.  Attains  was  happily  detached  from  the  League 
by  an  incursion  made  by  Prusias  of  Bithynia  into  his  kingdom  of 
Pergamus;  and  Galba,  left  alone  with  a  feeble  squadron,  was 
obliged  to  retire  to  ^gina. 

In  the  two  following  years  fortune  declared  positively  for 
Philip.  In  the  Peloponnesus,  Philopoemen,  the  new  general  of 
the  Achaean  League,  gained  a  decided  superiority  over  Laceda- 
mon.  The  King  invaded  ^tolia,  and  again  committed  Thermon 
to  the  flames. 

§  5.  The  ^tolians  finding  themselves  left  to  bear  the  brunt  of 
the  war,  were  glad  to  conclude  a  peace  on  terms  favourable  to 
Macedon.  Scarcely  was  the  peace  concluded,  when  P.  Sempro- 
nius  Tuditanus  arrived  at  Dyrrhachium,  and  Philip  hastened  over 
the  mountains  to  attack  him.  But  before  any  decisive  action,  the 
Epirotes  offered  their  mediation,  and  a  treaty  of  peace  was  signed 
between  Philip  and  Rome  (205  b.c.) 

Thus  ended  what  is  commonly  called  the  First  Macedonian 
War.  The  object  of  the  Romans  had  been  simply  to  prevent 
Philip  from  assisting  Hannibal  in  Italy,  and  in  this  they  had 
succeeded  at  a  very  small  expense  to  themselves  either  in  men  or 
money. 

§  6.  That  Philip  entertained  few  thoughts  of  a  lasting  peace,  is 
shown  by  the  fact  that  on  Hannibal's  return  to  Africa,  he  sent 
him  4000  men,  commanded  by  Sopater,  a  nobleman  of  the 
highest  rank  at  the  Macedonian  court,  to  assist  in  maintaining 
the  war  against  Scipio.  These  men  took  part  in  the  battle  of 
Zama,  and  their  commander  with  many  of  his  men  became  pri- 
soners. Philip  had  the  impudence  to  send  envoys  to  Rome, 
to  demand  their  liberation.  His  envoys  were  dismissed  with 
the  stern  answer,  that  "if  Philip  wished  for  war,  he  should 
have  it." 

§  v.  Meantime  the  King  of  Macedon  had  been  displaying  a  most 
unfortunate  activity  in  the  East  and  in  Greece. 

On  the  death  of  Ptolemy  Philopator  in  the  very  year  of  the 
Peace  of  Dyr.rhachium,  Philip  made  a  bargain  with  Antiochus 
King  of  Syria  to  divide  the  dominions  that  had  devolved  on  the 
boy-king  of  Egypt,  Ptolemy  Epipli^nes.  This  was  the  unprincipled 
Treaty  of  Partition  which  drove  the  ministers  of  young  Ptolemj 
to  place  him  under  the  guardianship  of  Rome. 

In  Greece  the  tyrannical  disposition,  which  Philip  had  dis- 
closed ever  since  Demetrius  of  Pharos  became  his  chief  counsel- 
lor, exhibited  itself  more  and  more.  This  man  was  killed  in  battle 
soon  after  the  Peace  of  Dyrrhachium,  and  was  succeeded  in  the 
king's  confidence  by  still  more  unscrupulous  knaves,  Heraclides, 


422  CONQUEST  OF  THE  WORLD. 

a  Tarentine  pirate,  and  Dicsearchus,  an  JEtolian  exile.  At  their 
instigation  Philip  now  attempted  to  take  off  Philopoemen  as  he 
had  taken  off  Aratus,  but  without  success;  and  the  Achaean 
patriots,  though  they  dreaded  the  ^tolian  marauders,  yet  would 
not  brook  the  oppressive  tyranny  of  Philip.  It  was  as  yet  uncer- 
tain what  part  they  would  take  in  the  war. 

In  Asia  Minor  his  conduct  was  so  outrageous,  that  the  Rhodian 
fleet  combined  with  that  of  Attains,  took  the  sea,  and  blockaded 
him  in  Caria  so  closely,  that  it  was  not  till  the  spring  of  201  b.c. 
that  he  effected  his  escape  into  Europe. 

§  8.  The  Rhodians  and  Attains  now  passed  over  to  Greece,  and 
promised  the  Athenians  support  if  they  would  throw  off  the  Mace- 
donian yoke.  Philip  dispatched  an  army  to  overawe  Athens,  while 
in  person  he  laid  siege  to  Abydos. 

But,  meantime,  the  injured  powers  had  sent  to  complain  at 
Rome;  and  three  Roman  envoys,  who  were  then  just  starting  to 
assume  the  guardianship  of  the  young  King  of  Egypt,  were 
ordered  to  visit  Philip  on  their  way,  and  remonstrate  on  his  pro- 
ceedings. They  were  all  men  of  note, — Claudius  Nero  the  con- 
queror of  Hasdrubal,  P.  Sempronius  Tuditanus  the  author  of  the 
Peace  of  Dyrrhachium,  and  M.  ^milius  Lepidus  a  young  Senator 
of  high  and  generous  spirit,  who  afterwards  rose  to  be  the  first 
man  at  Rome.  Laevinus  was  dispatched  anew  to  Greece  with  the 
fleet  that  had  during  the  Punic  War  been  employed  on  the  coast 
of  Sicily.  But  no  proposal  to  declare  war  was  made  till  the  next 
year  (200  b.c). 

§  9.  On  the  Ides  of  March,  the  day  on  which  at  that  period  the 
Consuls  entered  upon  office,  these  magistrates  summoned  the 
Senate.  Dispatches  had  just  arrived  from  Laevinus,  detailing  in 
full  the  late  conduct  of  Philip,  and  urging  the  necessity  of  an  im- 
mediate declaration  of  war.  The  three  envoys  had  found  Philip 
at  Abydos,  and  ^milius  had  remonstrated  in  plain  and  open  lan- 
guage. "  You  speak  thus,"  replied  the  King,  "  because  you  are  a 
young  man,  a  handsome  man,  and — a  Roman.  If,"  he  added, 
"  you  wish  for  war,  I  am  ready."  The  Consul  P.  Sulpicius  Galba, 
who  had  before  succeeded  Laevinus,  was  again  appointed  to  con- 
duct the  Macedonian  war,  and  prepared  to  bring  in  a  bill  for  the 
purpose  before  the  Assembly  of  the  Centuries. 

Great  pains  had  been  taken  to  prepare  the  minds  of  the  People 
for  ready  acquiescence.  At  the  conclusion  of  the  Hannibalic 
War,  the  victories  of  Rome  had  been  celebrated  with  games  of 
extraordinary  pomp  by  the  JEdiles,  one  of  whom  was  T.  Quinctius 
Flamininus,  the  future  conqueror  of  Philip.  The  poorer  class 
of  citizens  had  been  invited  to  purchase  at  a  low  rate  the  large 
supplies  of  grain  sent  over  by  Scipio  from  Africa.     Portions  of 


Chap.  XXXIX,  SECOND  MACEDONIAN  WAR.  423 

the  Pablic  Land  in  Apulia  and  Samnium  were  distributed  to  the 
veterans  of  Scipio. 

There  was,  however,  a  general  disinclination  to  make  the  sacri- 
fices required  by  a  new  war.  The  citizens  of  Rome,  as  well  as 
the  Latins  and  Italians,  were  all  liable  to  be  drawn  for  service, 
unless  they  were  past  the  military  age,  or  had  already  served 
their  time.  Every  family  had  for  years  seen  its  best  and 
strongest  males  withdrawn  from  rustic  labour  to  bear  arms 
against  Carthage  ;  all  were  anxious  to  avoid  any  return  of  the 
miseries  which  they  had  endured  during  Hannibal's  occupation 
of  Italy.  The  declaration  of  war  was  rejected  by  the  vote  of 
almost  every  Century. 

But  the  Senate  was  not  to  be  thus  discouraged.  The  Consul 
was  ordered  to  summon  the  Centuries  to  a  second  vote.  Before 
the  question  was  put,  he  addressed  them  in  a  set  speech,  in  which 
he  argued  that  the  point  of  decision  was,  not  whether  they  would 
go  to  war  with  Philip  or  not,  but  whether  they  would  have  that 
war  in  Italy  or  across  the  sea.  The  yeomen  of  the  Tribes,  terri- 
fied at  the  thoughts  of  a  new  invasion,  believed  his  arguments,  and 
reversed  their  vote. 

In  consequence  of  these  delays,  Galba  was  not  able  to  reach 
Apollonia  till  near  the  end  of  the  season ;  but  he  at  once  dis- 
patched C.  Claudius  Centho  to  relieve  Athens. 

§  10.  Meantime  Philip  had  been  pursuing  a  very  successful 
career  in  Thrace.  Abydos  alone  held  out  with  heroic  bravery  : 
rather  than  yield  to  Philip,  they  said  they  would  destroy  every 
living  soul  within  the  city.  "  Well,"  remarked  the  King,  with 
the  reckless  wit  for  which  he  was  famous,  "we  will  suspend  the 
siege,  and  give  them  three  days  to  kill  themselves  in."  At  last 
it  fell ;  and  Philip  heard  that  the  Romans  were  in  Epirus  and  at 
Athens. 

§  11.  At  once  he  crossed  over  to  Demetrias.  While  he  lay 
here,  Claudius  made  an  inroad  into  Euboea,  and  surprised  the 
strong  city  of  Chalcis.  Philip  crossed  the  Euripus;  but,  too 
late  to  save  the  place  from  plunder,  he  resolved  to  take  ven- 
geance upon  Athens.  Claudius  was  not  strong  enough  to  meet 
him  in  the  field,  and  Philip  wreaked  his  barbarous  rage  on  the 
sacred  groves  and  buildings  round  the  city,  which  his  generals 
had  hitherto  spared.  The  Achaeans  were  exasperated  by  this 
conduct,  and  were  still  less  inclined  to  take  part  with  the  reckless 
tyrant. 

§  12.  Early  in  the  next  year  (199  b.c.)  Galba  moved.  Under 
the  guidance  of  Pleuratus,  a  young  Illyrian  chief,  he  advanced 
through  the  rugged  and  woody  districts  to  the  west  of  the  Axius 
(Vardar),   then    called   Eordsea    and    Elymiotis,    but   avoided   a 


424  CONQUEST  OF  THE  WORLD.  Book  V 

descent  into  the  level  plain ;  and  Philip,  not  choosing  to  risk  a 
battle  on  ground  unfavourable  to  the  action  of  the  phalanx,  con- 
tented himself  with  watching  the  enemy.  Galba  at  length  re- 
turned to  Apollonia  by  the  valley  of  the  Apsus.  He  had  effected 
nothing,  and  his  army  suffered  greatly  in  its  bootless  campaign. 
When  he  first  landed  at  Corcyra,  he  wrote  word  to  the  Senate 
that  a  laurel  with  which  his  ship's  stem  was  decked  had  budded 
—a  sure  omen  of  victory ;  but  no  laurel  wreath  adorned  the  Con- 
sul's brow. 

§  13.  Galba's  campaign  took  place  after  his  successor  P.  Villius 
Tappulus  had  entered  upon  office ;  but  the  latter  did  not  arrive 
at  Corcyra  till  late  in  the  season,  and  during  the  winter  he  was 
occupied  with  quelling  a  mutiny.  In  the  spring  of  198  b.c.  he 
took  the  field,  but  did  not  attempt  the  northern  passes  as  Galba 
had  done.  He  had  the  merit  of  perceiving  that  Philip  was  most 
vulnerable  in  Thessaly ;  that  the  army,  supported  by  the  fleet, 
might  by  its  presence  in  that  country  deprive  Philip  of  all  in- 
fluence in  Greece.  With  the  aim  of  penetrating  into  Thessaly, 
therefore,  he  marched  up  the  valley  of  the  Aoiis ;  and  in  a  narrow 
defile  of  this  valley  he  found  Philip  strongly  posted.  While  he 
was  considering  his  next  move,  he  received  news  that  T.  Quinctius 
Flamininus,  the  Consul  of  the  year,  had  arrived  at  Corcyra  to  take 
the  command.  , 

§  14.  Flamininus  is  as  much  the  hero  of  the  Macedonian  war 
as  is  Scipio  of  the  war  with  Hannibal.  He  also  was  a  Patrician, 
and  was  elected  to  the  Consulship  at  the  age  of  thirty.  Unlike 
Galba  and  Villius,  he  left  Rome  soon  after  the  Ides  of  March,  in- 
stead of  allowing  himself  to  be  detained  at  Rome  till  it  was  time 
to  go  into  winter-quarters.  His  brother  Lucius  accompanied  him 
to  take  the  command  of  the  fleet. 

The  position  occupied  by  Philip  was  at  a  point  where  the  valley 
closes  in  to  a  narrow  gorge,  which  the  Macedonians  had  occupied 
so  skilfully  that  Flamininus  hesitated  to  attempt  a  direct 
attack.*  Both  armies  lay  confronting  each  other  for  about  six 
weeks,  when  an  attempt  was  made  to  settle  matters  by  negotia- 
tion. But  Flamininus  demanded  that  "the  King  should  with- 
draw his  garrisons  from  all  Hellenic  cities,  making  restitution  for 
injuries  past,  and  leave  them  independent  for  the  future,"  and 
Philip  broke  oft"  the  conference,  exclaiming  that  "  no  harder 
terms  could  be  asked  if  he  were  beaten."  It  is  probable  that 
the  Romans  might  have  been  altogether  foiled,  had  not  an 
Epirote  chief  named  Charops  betrayed  a  path  by  which  the 
enemy's  position  might  be  turned.      The  Macedonians  beat  off 

*  The  place  seems  to  have  been  a  httle  below  Klissoura,  where  a  ridge 
strikes  across  the  gorge,  and  leaves  a  very  narrow  passage  for  the  stream. 


Chap  XXXIX.  SECOND  MACEDONIAN"  WAR.  425 

the  Roman  assaults  gallantly  till  they  found  themselves  attacked 
in  rear.  Then  they  fled  precipitately  up  the  pass,  past  the 
present  town  of  Metzovo;  and  Philip,  after  throwing  garrisons 
into  the  strongest  fortresses  of  Thessaly,  withdrew  to  Pella. 

§  15.  Flamininus  attempted  not  to  pursue  him,  but  remained 
in  Epirus,  where  he  secured  the  goodwill  of  the  people  by  his 
mild  treatment.  From  Epirus  he  marched  through  Thessaly, 
and  passed  southward  into  Locris,  where  the  seaport  of  Anticyra 
served  as  a  basis  of  operations.  He  then  laid  siege  to  Elateia,  a 
strong  fortress  which  commanded  the  chief  pass  leading  from 
Boeotia  northwards. 

Meanwhile  the  Roman  fleet,  under  the  command  of  the 
general's  brother,  anchored  at  Cenchreae,  the  eastern  haven  of 
Corinth.  The  purpose  of  L.  Flamininus  was  to  influence  the 
Greneral  Assembly  of  the  Achaean  League,  which  had  met  at 
JEgium.  The  question  for  decision  was  whether  they  were  to 
take  part  in  the  war,  and  if  so,  what  part.  Opinion  had  gra- 
dually been  becoming  more  positive  in  favour  of  the  Romans, 
and  the  leader  of  the  Macedonian  party  had  been  banished; 
yet  there  was  a  third  party,  headed  by  Philopoemen,  which 
desired  neutrality.  Great  was  the  perplexity  of  the  Assembly. 
If  they  declared  in  favour  of  the  Romans,  they  would  find 
themselves  leagued  with  the  barbarous  ^tolians;  if  they  re- 
mained neutral,  they  might  find  themselves  left  in  a  perilous 
state  of  isolation.  It  is  probable  that  the  neutral  party  would 
have  carried  the  day,  had  not  Philopoemen  been  absent.  After 
hearing  the  envoys  of  both  powers,  they  sat  a  whole  day  silent 
or  murmuring.  Next  day  a  tumultuous  debate  followed;  on 
the  third  day  the  majority  voted  for  alliance  with  Rome,  but 
the  representatives  of  some  States  withdrew  under  protest ; 
Argos  admitted  a  Macedonian  garrison;  and  Megalopolis  stood 
aloof.  The  League  was  in  fact  broken  up ;  but  the  vote  of  the 
Assembly  enabled  Flamininus  to  declare  himself  Protector  of  the 
liberties  of  Greece. 

§  16.  Daring  the  winter,  both  powers  were  active  in  negotiation, 
Philip  was  alarmed  at  the  success  of  Flamininus.  Flamininus  was 
fearful  of  being  superseded  in  the  command. 

Both  parties  therefore  agreed  to  a  conference,  which  was  held 
near  the  Pass  of  Thermopylae.  The  King  approached  the  ap- 
pointed place  in  his  state  galley,  attended  by  the  banished 
Achaean  leader,  and  two  Macedonian  officers.  Flamininus  stood 
upon  the  shore  surrounded  by  his  allies,  Amynander  Prince  of 
the  Athamanians,  the  envoy  of  Attains,  the  Rhodian  admiral, 
the  chiefs  of  the  Achaean  League,  and  Phaeneas  the  one-eyed 
captain  of  the  ^tolians.     The  Roman  began  by  demanding  ihaX 


426  CONQUEST  OF  THE  WORLD.  Book  V 

"Philip  should  restore  freedom  to  the  cities  of  Greece,  and 
make  restitution  for  injuries."  He  was  followed  by  his  several 
allies,  who  urged  their  own  claims  not  without  vehemence. 
Philip  kept  his  patience  till  the  JEtolian  chief  broke  in  by 
saying,  that  "  this  was  no  question  of  words :  the  long  and  short 
of  it  was  that  Philip  must  conquer  or  obey."  "Ay,"  retorted 
the  King  in  his  sarcastic  vein,  "  one  may  see  that  with  half  an 
eye."  So  closed  the  first  day's  conference.  Next  day  Flamininus 
persuaded  the  allies  to  allow  him  to  conduct  the  negotiations 
alone.  On  the  third  day  proceedings  closed  with  a  proposal  that 
both  parties  should  send  envoys  to  the  Senate  at  Rome. 

When  Philip's  envoy  began  a  set  speech  before  the  Senate  he 
was  cut  short  by  the  question,  "  Whether  the  King  was  prepared 
to  withdraw  the  garrison  from  the  three  fortresses  which  (in  his 
biting  way)  he  used  to  call  the  Fetters  of  Greece — Demetrias, 
Chalcis,  and  Corinth  ?"  The  envoy  had  received  no  instructions 
on  this  point,  and  was  ordered  to  leave  Rome. 

§  17.  Both  parties  therefore  prepared  for  a  decisive  conflict. 
Flamininus  was  continued  in  the  command  as  Proconsul.  All 
Greece  between  Thessaly  and  the  Isthmus  was  with  him,  except 
Acarnania  and  Boeotia.  Acarnania  might  safely  be  neglected, 
but  it  was  of  high  importance  to  secure  Boeotia.  An  assembly 
was  held  at  Thebes  to  discuss  the  propriety  of  submission,  at 
which  Attains,  now  an  old  man,  spoke  with  so  much  warmth 
that  he  fell  down  in  a  fit,  and  died  not  long  after.  During  the 
debate  the  Consul  introduced  a  body  of  soldiers  into  Thebes,  and 
the  Assembly  voted  for  alliance  with  Rome.  Still  more  mortify- 
ing to  Philip  was  it  to  see  Nabis,  Tyrant  of  Lacedasmon,  follow 
the  general  current.  He  had  stooped  to  court  the  favour  of 
this  monster,  and  as  an  earnest  of  goodwill  put  Argos  into  his 
hands.  Nabis  took  the  bribe,  and  then  concluded  an  alliance  with 
Flamininus. 

§  18.  In  197  B.C.,  therefore,  Flamininus  advanced  from  Elateia 
to  Thermopylae  with  all  Greece  at  his  back.  Here  he  pa\ised  till  he 
was  joined  by  a  division  of  JEtolian  cavalry.  Philip  had  alreadv 
passed  through  the  Vale  of  Tempe  into  Thessaly.  Constant  wars 
had  so  drained  the  population  of  Macedonia  that  the  levies  in- 
cluded veterans  past  the  time  of  service,  and  boys  of  the  terder 
age  of  sixteen.  The  phalanx,  as  usual,  consisted  of  two  divisions, 
each  8000  strong;  and  to  this  were  added  about  7000  light  troops 
and  2000  horse.  The  Romans  had  about  the  same  number  of 
foot,  but  the  JEtolian  cavalry  gave  them  a  great  advantage  in  this 
arm.  After  some  manoeuvring,  Philip  fell  back  upon  Scotussa, 
where  plains  of  waving  corn,  then  just  ripe,  supplied  forage. 
Flamininus  followed ;  and  the  two  armies  encamped,  unknowingly, 


Chap.  XXXIX.  SECOND  MACEDONIAN  WAR.  427 

on  opposite  sides  of  the  same  low  range  of  hills,  which  from  their 
appearance  were  called  Cynoscephalse,  or  the  Dogheads.  The 
next  day  was  stormy,  and  the  air  so  darkened  by  mist  and  rain 
that  the  men  could  only  see  a  few  yards  before  them.  Philip, 
however,  detached  a  body  of  light  troops  to  occupy  the  ridge  : 
and  at  the  satoe  time  a  Roman  reconnoitering  party  ascended  the 
opposite  slope.  The  Romans,  being  the  weaker,  were  driven 
down  the  hill  towards  their  camp,  where  they  were  supported 
by  fresh  troops,  and  the  Macedonians  were  obliged  to  retire  to 
the  summit  of  the  ridge.  The  mist  now  cleared  off.  The  Mace- 
donians, reinforced  in  their  turn,  again  forced  the  Romans  down 
the  slope,  and  would  have  cut  them  to  pieces  had  not  the 
^tolian  cavalry  held  them  in  check.  Flamininus  now  drew  out 
the  Legions,  and  advanced  with  his  whole  line  of  battle ;  while 
the  Macedonian  officers  sent  off  message  after  message  to  the 
King,  exaggerating  their  success,  and  urging  him  to  bring  up  the 
Phalanxes  and  secure  the  victory.  Philip  was  a  good  general, 
and  had  no  mind  to  entangle  his  columns  in  uneven  ground,  but 
he  suffered  himself  to  be  persuaded  against  his  better  judgment. 
The  King  himself  led  one  Phalanx  on  the  right,  while  Nicanor 
was  to  follow  with  the  other  on  the  left. 

On  ordinary  occasions  the  Phalanx  was  drawn  up  sixteen  men 
in  file ;  but  on  this  day  Philip  threw  his  division  into  a  much 
deeper  column.  Its  weight  was  thus  much  increased ;  and  as 
it  bore  down  upon  the  Roman  left  with  levelled  lances,  ten 
points  against  each  soldier,  its  charge  was  irresistible.  The 
Legions  gave  way  before  it.  But  while  this  was  taking  place  on 
the  Roman  left,  Flamininus  upon  the  right  observed  Nicanor's 
Phalanx  still  upon  the  brow  of  the  hill,  broken  by  the  rough 
ground.  He  immediately  sent  up  his  elephants,  and  following 
with  his  Legionaries  charged  before  the  enemy  had  time  to  form. 
The  left  Phalanx,  attacked  in  this  helpless  condition,  were  driven 
over  the  hill  in  utter  confusion.  Philip  saw  that  all  was  lost,  and 
left  the  field.  Not  fewer  than  8000  Macedonians  were  killed ; 
VOOO  were  taken  prisoners.     The  army  was  annihilated. 

§  19.  When  the  Romans  reached  the  Macedonian  camp,  they 
found  that  their  light-fingered  allies  the  ^tolians  had  already 
plundered  it.  If  this  disgusted  the  soldiery,  Flamininus  himself 
was  provoked  by  the  arrogance  with  which  their  chiefs  claimed 
the  chief  share  in  the  victory  of  Cynoscephalae.  Their  cavalry 
had  doubtless  done  good  service  ;  but  it  was  too  much  for  Roman 
pride  to  hear  an  epigram  recited,  in  which  it  was  said  that 
"  Philip  had  been  conquered  by  the  ^tolians  and  the  Latins."* 

*  \Itu1C>v  S/iTjOevTeg  vir'  'Apeof  ijdi  AaTLvcov.  The  epigram  was  written 
by  Alcaeus  of  Messene.     See  Plutarch,  Yit.  Flamin.  c.  9. 


428  CONQUEST  OF  THE  WORLD.  Book  V. 

The  ^tolians  had  now  ceased  to  be  useful  to  the  Romans,  and 
from  this  time  forth  we  find  little  harmony  between  them. 
Flamininus  held  a  conference  with  Philip  at  Tempe ;  and  the 
./Etolians  were  furious  to  find  that  the  politic  Roman  oft'ered  Philip 
the  old  conditions  of  peace,  whereas  they  wished  for  nothing  less 
than  to  deprive  him  of  his  crown.  Philip  gladly  accepted  the 
offer  of  the  General :  he  paid  down  200  talents  caution-money, 
and  gave  up  his  son  Demetrius  and  other  hostages,  who  were 
to  be  restored  in  case  the  Senate  refused  their  assent  to  the  treaty. 
Bat  Flamininus  was  at  this  time  completely  trusted ;  and  ten 
Commissioners  were  sent  with  a  Decree  of  the  Senate,  which  pre- 
scribed the  basis  on  which  the  settlement  of  Greece  was  to  be 
made.  All  the  engagements  of  the  Proconsul  were  sanctioned ; 
but  Philip  was  required  to  pay  1000  talents,  half  at  once  and 
half  in  annual  instalments  for  ten  years. 

On  the  arrival  of  the  Commissioners,  rumours  became  rife  of 
the  intentions  of  the  Senate.  The  ^tolians  eagerly  caught  up 
these  rumours,  and  endeavoured  to  raise  the  indignation  of  the 
Greeks.  "  The  freedom  promised  was,"  they  said,  "  an  illusion. 
Greece  would  only  find  a  change  of  masters.  Macedonian  garri- 
sons will  be  replaced  by  Roman.  The  Fetters  of  Greece  would 
only  be  clasped  tighter  by  a  stronger  hand."  Flamininus  exerted 
himself  to  weaken  the  effect  of  these  representations ;  and  the 
Greeks  waited  anxiously  but  quietly  for  the  promulgation  of  the 
Decree. 

§  20.  The  Commissioners  repaired  to  Corinth,  and  it  was 
generally  known  that  their  resolutions  would  be  publicly 
announced  at  the  approaching  Isthmian  Games.  That  city  of 
old  renown  was  thronged  by  the  assembled  Greeks,  who 
came  not  so  much  to  witness  the  national  festival,  as  to  learn 
their  country's  fate  from  the  lips  of  the  conqueror.  The  day 
arrived.  Flamininus  took  his  seat  in  the  Amphitheatre.  Amid 
the  expectation  of  all  men,  a  trumpet  sounded,  and  a  crier 
advanced  into  the  arena,  who  proclaimed  that,  the  Roman  Se- 
nate AND  T.  QuiNCTIUS    THE    GeNERAL,  HAVING    CONQUERED  KiNG 

Philip  and  the  Macedonians,  declared  all  the  Greeks  who 

HAD  been  subject  TO  THE  KiNG  FREE  AND  INDEPENDENT.   The 

glad  news  was  more  than  men  could  believe ;  they  gazed  incre- 
dulously on  each  other;  they  asked  their  neighbours  whether 
they  had  heard  aright.  Then  a  general  cry  arose  that  the  pro- 
clamation should  be  repeated.  And  now,  when  doubt  gave  way 
to  certainty,  a  deafening  shout  of  joy  burst  from  the  assembled 
multitude.  Men's  minds  were  too  much  absorbed  with  serious 
topics  to  be  interested  by  shows ;  the  games  were  hurried  over. 
When  the  Roman  General  rose  to  leave  the  Amphitheatre,  the 


Chap.  XXXIX.  SECOND  MACEDONIAN  WAR.  429 

crowd  pressed  so  closely  round  him,  eager  to  touch  his  hand  and 
wreathe  his  head  with  garlands,  that  he  was  well  nigh  smothered 
under  their  tumultuous  greeting. 

This  memorable  event  took  place  in  the  summer  of  196  b.c, 
about  a  year  after  the  battle  of  Cynoscephalse. 

§  21.  Flamininus  remained  nearly  two  years  in  Greece  after 
the  day  of  the  Proclamation.  Already  the  seeds  of  a  new  war 
were  sown.  Envoys  had  arrived  from  Antiochus,  King  of  Syria, 
a  rash  and  selfish  monarch,  who  had  some  reason  for  alarm.  We 
have  related  how  he  had  proposed  to  divide  with  Philip  the 
possessions  of  the  King  of  Egypt.  But  no  sooner  was  Philip 
engaged  in  a  war  with  Rome  than  Antiochus  seized  the  oppor- 
tunity to  occupy  Asia  Minor,  and  he  was  now  preparing  to  cross 
the  Hellespont. 

Hitherto,  Flamininus  had  abstained  from  every  step  which 
could  irritate  a  new  enemy;  but  now  he  cared  not  any  longer 
to  humour  the  King  of  Syria.  He  dismissed  the  Envoys  with 
peremptory  orders  for  Antiochus  "to  restore  the  Greek  cities 
in  Asia  to  independence,  and  on  no  account  to  set  foot  in 
Europe."  At  the  same  time  he  promised  that  Commissioners 
should  be  sent  to  acquaint  him  more  explicitly  with  the  pleasure 
of  the  Senate. 

§  22.  Some  things  in  Greece  required  the  immediate  attention 
of  the  General.  It  was  necessary  to  secure  the  peace  and  safety 
of  Peloponnesus  by  putting  down  Nabis,  Tyrant  of  Lacedsemon. 
No  peaceful  community  could  subsist  by  the  side  of  this 
barbarian.  How  he  gained  his  power  we  know  not.  He  con- 
firmed himself  in  it  by  a  caricature  of  the  reforms  of  Cleomenes, 
and  distributed  the  lands  among  a  number  of  enfranchised 
Helots.  The  rich  and  respectable  citizens  he  banished  or  put  to 
death ;  those  who  were  suspected  of  wealth  were  put  to  the 
torture.  His  favourite  engine  for  this  purpose  was  a  wooden 
figure  representing  his  wife  Apega,  which  clasped  the  unhappy 
recusant  to  breasts  furnished  with  sharp  spikes  in  place  of  nipples. 
He  maintained  a  considerable  fleet  and  army,  which  were  em- 
ployed in  piracy  and  plunder. 

The  Roman  general  had  no  pretext  for  war  against  him.  He 
had  admitted  him  into  alliance  just  before  the  battle  of  Cynosce- 
phalae,  and  Nabis  had  not  broken  the  terms.  Flamininus,  there- 
fore, resolved  to  act  merely  as  the  agent  of  the  Achseans,  who 
had  abundant  grounds  for  complaint  against  the  Tyrant.  He 
led  the  allies  against  Sparta,  which,  though  formerly  unwalled, 
was  now  strongly  fortified ;  and  the  desperadoes  who  formed  its 
garrison  defended  their  last  hope  bravely.  But  the  Tyrant  must 
have  yielded  at  discretion,  had  not  Flamininus,  whose  departu**? 


430  CONQUEST  OF  THE  WORLD.  Book  V. 

from  Greece  was  now  fast  approacliing,  granted  him  fair  terms. 
The  Achseans  murmured,  but  in  vain.  Nabis  was  deprived  of  the 
southern  portion  of  Laconia,  which  was  declared  free  ;*  and  was 
required  to  give  up  his  fleet  and  disband  his  army. 

§  23.  Flamininus  employed  the  few  months  that  remained 
before  his  departure  in  making  a  tour  of  Greece,  and  settling 
the  government  in  Thessaly  and  other  newly-emancipated  places. 
Everywhere  he  gave  preponderance  to  the  aristocratical  or 
Roman  party,  and  attempted  to  create  such  a  balance  of  power, 
that  each  state  should  be  afraid  of  going  to  war.  He  spared 
Philip  in  the  North  to  check  the  power  of  the  JEtolians,  and 
Nabis  in  the  South  to  be  a  thorn  in  the  side  of  the  Achseans. 
He  intended  that  no  state  in  Greece  should  be  strong  enough  to 
prevail  over  the  rest,  but  that  all  should  maintain  a  species  of  in- 
dependence under  the  protection  of  Rome,  which  was  to  occupy 
the  place  filled  by  Macedon  since  the  battle  of  Sellasia. 

§  24.  The  spring  of  the  year  194  b.c.  now  came  on,  and 
Flamininus  prepared  for  departure.  He  assembled  his  Grecian 
allies  at  Corinth,  and  addressed  them  in  a  parting  speech.  He 
declared  he  had  been  actuated  in  all  his  measures  by  a  sincere 
desire  of  promoting  their  good ;  he  had  spared  Nabis  only  because 
he  could  not  put  him  down  without  destroying  the  ancient  city  ol 
Sparta ;  "  his  last  act,"  he  said,  "  should  prove  whether  the  word 
of  Romans  or  of  ^tolians  were  more  trustworthy.  He  would 
show  that  the  freedom  of  Greece  was  to  be  no  illusion.  He 
would  withdraw  the  Roman  garrisons  from  all  the  cities,  even 
from  those  famous  strongholds  which  were  called  the  Fetters  of 
Greece.  Corinth,  Chalcis,  and  Demetrias  should  be  pledges  of 
his  sincerity.  And  now,"  he  added,  "  now  that  you  have  perfect 
liberty,  show  that  you  understand  its  value  by  maintaining  peace 
and  goodwill  among  yourselves.  Let  the  Roman  People  know 
that  you  are  worthy  of  the  gift  they  have  bestowed." 

These  words  so  touched  the  hearers,  that  with  the  excitable 
temper  of  a  Southern  people  they  burst  into  tears;  and  the 
General  himself  was  so  affected,  that  he  was  for  a  time  unable 
to  go  on.  After  a  pause  he  asked  as  a  personal  favour,  that  all 
Roman  citizens  who  were  in  slavery  among  them  should  be  set 
free,  and  allowed  to  attend  his  triumph.  The  request  was  granted 
by  acclamation ;  and  the  Achseans  alone  redeemed  1 200  Roman 
slaves  at  the  expense  of  the  State. 

§  25.  Two  months  after  this  memorable  scene,  Flamininus  set 
sail  from  Oricum,  after  an  absence  of  nearly  five  years,  during 
three  of  which  he  had  been  almost  the  absolute   Sovereign  of 

*  Hence  this  district  was  named  The  Eleuthero-Lacones, 


Chap.  XXXIX  SECOND  MACEDONIAN  WAR.  431 

Greece,  He  landed  at  Brundusium  with  his  army,  and  marched 
in  a  sort  of  festal  procession  along  the  Appian  Way  to  Rome. 
The  Senate  met  him  outside  the  walls,  and  granted  the  Triumph 
he  had  justly  earned.  The  Triumph  lasted  three  days.  The 
first  two  were  taken  up  with  processions  of  cars,  carrying  the 
spoils  taken  from  Philip  and  Nabis.  On  the  third  day,  the 
General  himself  ascended  to  the  Capitol,  preceded  by  his  pri- 
soners and  hostages,  among  whom  were  two  King's  sons,  Deme- 
trius son  of  Philip,  and  Armeues  son  of  Nabis.  After  him  came 
his  soldiers,  all  enriched  by  the  war;  and,  lastly,  the  liberated 
slaves,  forming  the  most  glorious  part  of  the  whole.  Not  Scipio 
himself  had  enjoyed  a  more  splendid  triumph.  The  character 
of  Flamminus,  indeed,  could  not  challenge  comparison  with  the 
heroic  proportions  of  Scipio :  yet  there  was  no  other  Roman  who 
could  be  compared  with  Flamininus. 


Ooin  of  the  Quinctian  Gens,  bearing  the  head  of  Flamininus. 


Coin  of  Antiochus  the  G-reat. 


CHAPTER   XL. 


WAR  WITH  ANTIOCHUS,  AND  SETTLEMENT  OF  EASTERN  AFFAIRS 

(192—188  B.C.) 

§  1.  Antiochus  ordered  to  quit  Europe.  §  2,  His  court  at  Ephesus  visited 
by  Hannibal :  how  this  happened.  §  3.  Hannibal's  plan.  §  4.  Intrigues 
of  ^tolians  in  Greece :  death  of  Nabis :  Sparta  joins  Achaean  League 
§  5.  Flamininus  dispatched  to  Greece :  Thoas  the  ^tolian  persuades  An- 
tiochus to  cross  over  into  Greece.  §  6.  Antiochus  lands  at  Demetrias? 
welcomed  by  the  northern  Greeks.  §  7.  Opinion  of  Hannibal :  frivolity  of 
Antiochus.  §  8,  Next  spring,  Antiochus  advances  into  Acarnania :  retreats 
to  Thermopylae.  §  9.  The  pass  of  Thermopylae  forced  by  the  Consul  Gla- 
brio;  Cato.  §  10,  Advice  of  Flamininus  to  Glabrio,  not  to  crush  ^tolians. 
§  11.  Flamininus  puis  all  Peloponnesus  under  the  Achaean  League:^ his 
warning.  §  12.  Next  year,  L.  Scipio,  with  his  brother  Publius  as  Legate, 
takes  the  command  against  Antiochus.  §  13.  Operations  by  sea:  Battle  of 
Myonnesus.  §  14  Great  army  of  Antiochus.  §  15,  Battle  of  Magnesia: 
utter  defeat  of  the  Syrians.  §  16.  Terms  of  peace  dictated  by  Scipio. 
§  17,  Effects  at  Rome  of  the  Syrian  triumph.  §  18.  M.  Fulvius  Nobilior 
reduces  .^Etolians.  Flamininus  again  interferes.  §  19.  Cn.  Manlius  Vulso 
makes  war,  without  authority,  upon  the  Galatians.  §  20.  Distribution  of 
the  Asiatic  possessions  of  Antiochus.     §  21.  Fruits  of  the  Galatian  War. 

§  1.  Notwithstanding  the  warning  of  Flamininus,  Antiochus 
crossed  the  Hellespont  (192  b.c).  Abydos  yielded  to  him.  Ly- 
siraacheia,  destroyed  by  Philip,  he  ordered  to  be  rebuilt;  and 
here  he  was  found  by  the  Commissioners  of  the  Senate.  They 
told  him  not  to  imagine  that  the  Romans  had  spared  Philip 
for  him  to  conquer,  and  required  him  to  quit  Europe  at  once 
and  to  give  up  all  the  cities  of  Asia  Minor  which  he  had  taken. 
An  angry  argument  followed,  which  was  broken  off  by  a  false 
report  of  the  death  of  young  Ptolemy.  The  Syrian  King  returned 
m  haste  to  Asia,  that  he  might  be  ready  for  all  contingencies. 


Chap.  XL.  SYRIAN  WAR.  433 

§  2.  At  this  crisis  the  court  of  Antiochus  was  visited  b}'  a 
man  whose  counsels,  had  they  been  followed,  might  have  changed 
the  history  of  the  world. 

After  the  conclusion  of  peace  with  Rome,  Hannibal  applied 
all  his  energies  to  the  reform  of  the  State.  His  first  step 
was  to  put  down  the  selfish  oligarchy  which  had  crippled 
his  enterprises  in  Italy.  He  had  carried  safe  from  the  field 
of  Zama  the  greater  part  of  his  veterans,  and  their  swords  made 
him  master  of  the  State.  He  found  that  the  finances  had  been 
shamefully  maladministered  by  the  Council  of  One  Hundred. 
He  at  once  ordained  that  this  Council  should  be  re-elected, 
wholly  or  in  part,  every  year,  not  by  themselves,  but  by  the 
people.  He  published  a  statement,  by  which  it  appeared  that 
the  present  revenue,  properly  administered,  would  amply  suffice 
to  defray  all  the  expenses  of  the  Government,  as  well  as  the 
tribute  due  to  Rome.  The  old  oligarchy  could  not  brook  to  lose 
the  gains  of  office  without  a  struggle.  They  sent  messages  to 
the  Senate  accusing  Hannibal  of  forming  secret  treaties  with 
Antiochus  and  others.  As  soon  as  the  Macedonian  War  was 
ended,  the  Senate  sent  commissioners  to  inquire  into  the  truth 
of  the  accusations.  Hannibal  felt  that  he  was  already  condemned 
by  these  prejudiced  judges,  and  fled  from  Africa.  He  reached 
Tyre  in  safety,  and  thence  repaired  to  the  court  of  Antiochus  at 
Ephesus.  Here  he  exerted  all  his  abilities  to  widen  the  breach 
between  Rome  and  the  Syrian  monarch. 

§  3.  Antiochus  had  made  up  his  mind  to  war,  and  Hannibal 
was  welcomed  and  consulted.  His  plan  of  operations  was  this. 
He  asked  for  10,000  men  and  100  ships  of  war,  with  transports. 
With  these  he  would  sail  to  Carthage  and  make  her  declare 
war  against  Rome.  He  would  then  invade  Italy,  while  Anti- 
ochus, with  an  overpowering  force,  should  cross  over  into  Greece 
and  raise  all  the  country  against  Rome. 

§  4.  The  time  was  favourable.  The  Romans  were  engaged  m 
desperate  conflicts  with  the  Spaniards,  as  well  as  with  the  Ligu- 
rians  and  the  Gauls  of  Northern  Italy  ;*  and  the  presence  of 
Hannibal  might  have  revived  a  contest  as  fierce  as  in  the  Great 
Punic  War.  In  Greece  the  discontent  of  the  ^tolians  had  laid 
a  train  of  fresh  troubles.  No  sooner  had  Flamininus  turned  his 
back  than  they  began  their  intrigues,  and  determined  to  set 
Greece  in  a  flame.  At  the  suggestion  of  Thoas,  their  Chief, 
envoys  were  sent  to  Antiochus,  Philip,,  and  Nabis,  urging  these 
monarchs  to  war.  Philip  at  once  refused;  he  had  suff'ered  too 
much ;    he  detested   the  ^tolians,  and  was  little   satisfied    with 

*  See  the  next  Chapter. 
19 


434  CONQUEST  OF  THE  WORLD.  Bouk  V. 

the  selfish  conduct  of  Antiochus.  Nabis  wanted  little  incite- 
ment :  he  flew  to  arms,  assassinated  all  the  Roman  partisans  in 
Lacedaemon,  and  sent  marauding  parties  into  the  territory  of  the 
Achaean  League  ;  but  he  was  soon  compelled  by  Philopoemen  to 
retire  behind  the  walls  of  Sparta.  Antiochus  sent  back  Thoas 
with  promises,  and  the  ^tolians  resolved  at  once  to  commence 
their  movements.  On  a  given  day  they  attempted  to  gain 
possession  of  Chalcis,  Demetrias,  and  Sparta.  At  Chalcis  they 
failed  ;  Demetrias  was  betrayed  by  its  inhabitants.  Their  per- 
fidious attempt  on  Sparta  was  defeated ;  Nabis  himself  was 
killed  ;  the  most  respectable  citizens  hastily  sent  for  Philo- 
pcEmen,  and  declared  Sparta  a  member  of  the  Achaean  League. 

§  5.  These  things  took  place  in  the  summer  of  192  b.c.  On 
hearing  of  the  first  disturbances,  the  Senate  had  dispatched 
Flamininus  to  Greece  at  the  head  of  a  Commission.  Flami- 
ninus  remained  there,  while  he  sent  on  the  other  Commissioners 
to  warn  Antiochus  against  taking  part  with  the  ^tolians.  But 
Thoas  had  just  returned  to  Ephesus  with  news  of  the  capture 
of  Demetrias.  If  the  King  would  but  show  himself,  he  said, 
Macedonia  and  all  Greece  would  rise  to  welcome  him ;  but  he 
uiist  come  at  once,  or  the  Romans  would  be  upon  them. 

The  only  forces  which  Antiochus  had  ready  were  the  10,000 
men  whom  he  had  assembled  to  execute  the  plan  of  Hannibal. 
The  great  Carthaginian  had  overcome  the  King's  jealous  feelings 
by  the  tale  of  his  boyish  oath  to  bear  eternal  enmity  against 
Rome  ;  and  for  a  time  Antiochus  followed  all  his  counsels.  But 
the  flattering  words  of  Thoas  once  more  estranged  the  King's 
mind  from  the  great  general;  and  the  lying  ^tolian  obtained 
absolute  influence  at  court.  Notwithstanding  the  pleadings  of 
Hannibal,  notwithstanding  the  warnings  of  the  Roman  Com- 
missioners, Antiochus  determined  to  set  sail  for  Europe,  and 
thus  virtually  declared  war  against  Rome. 

§  6.  He  offered  a  solemn  sacrifice  at  Troy,  and  in  a  few  days 
landed  at  Demetrias.  Here  he  was  welcomed  with  loud  accla- 
mations. The  Boeotians,  eager  to  satiate  their  hatred  of  Rome, 
received  him  joyfully ;  the  people  of  Elis,  old  enemies  of  the 
Achaean  League,  sent  him  favourable  answers ;  the  Epirotes  pro- 
mised to  join  him  as  soon  as  he  should  appear;  and  Amy- 
nander,  the  Athamanian,  was  persuaded  to  desert  his  old  allies 
and  join  Antiochus.  The  Achaeans,  however,  unanimously  de- 
clined his  off'ers. 

Presently,  he  held  a  council  of  war  at  Demetrias.  The 
^tolians  advised  that  the  first  thing  needful  was  to  secure 
possession  of  all  Thessaly.  All  the  rest  approved  except 
Hannibal,  who  sate  silent.     The  King   asked  his  opinion.     He 


Chap.  XL.  SYRIAN  WAR.  435  — 

said  that  "  his  opinion  was  unchanged.  He  had  thought  before, 
and  he  thought  still,  that  all  the  time  spent  in  gaining  the 
support  of  the  Greeks  was  thrown  away.  They  must  side  with 
the  strongest,  and  if  the  King  were  victorious  would  join  him 
as  a  matter  of  course.  It  was  ill-advised  to  have  believed 
the  false  reports  of  the  ^tolians,  and  to  have  ventured  into 
Greece  with  so  small  a  force  ;  but  now  the  best  thing  to  be 
done  was  to  force  Philip  to  take  part  with  them,  by  ordering 
Seleucus,  the  King's  son,  to  advance  into  Macedonia :  to  send 
for  reinforcements  without  delay ;  to  station  the  fleet  at  Cor- 
cyra,  and  concentrate  all  the  forces  in  Epirus,  so  as  to  meet  the 
Romans  there  or  (if  possible)  to  invade  Italy." 

§  v.  But  this  plan  was  too  great  for  the  petty  mind  of  the 
King  and  his  advisers.  He  spent  the  summer  in  Thessaly,  and 
as  winter  approached  retired  to  the  fortress  of  Chalcis  in  Eubcea, 
which  had  opened  its  gates  at  his  approach.  Here  the  senseless 
monarch  gave  himself  up  to  enjoyment.  He  married  a  fair 
daughter  of  the  place,  and  celebrated  his  marriage  with  Oriental 
splendour.  His  officers  and  their  men  followed  the  royal  ex- 
ample; all  bonds  of  order  and  discipline  were  relaxed.  The 
Syrians  passed  the  winter  in  idling  and  drinking,  and  Philo- 
poemen  regretted  that  he  was  no  longer  General  of  the  League, 
or  he  would  have  cut  off  the  whole  army  in  detail. 

Meanwhile  the  Senate  were  busily  engaged  in  preparing  for 
war.  The  conduct  of  Antiochus  had  so  completely  thrown  the 
game  into  their  hands  that  it  was  easy  to  represent  the  war  as 
one  of  simple  defence.  No  one  could  say  that  they  had  pro- 
voked it.     The  Achseans  regarded  them  as  their  champions. 

§  8.  In  the  spring  of  the  next  year  (191  b.c.)  Antiochus  roused 
himself  and  advanced  into  Acarnania.  His  prospects  suddenly 
darkened.  At  the  same  moment  he  heard  that  Philip,  with  the 
authority  of  the  Romans,  was  fast  reconquering  the  Thessalian 
cities  which  had  submitted  in  the  previous  year,  and  that  the 
Consul,  M'  Acilius  Glabrio,  had  also  entered  Thessaly.  The 
^tolians,  after  all  their  promises,  brought  but  4000  men  into 
the  field.  Antiochus  retraced  his  steps  to  Chalcis,  and  .  sent 
urgent  messages  for  additional  forces,  but  in  vain.  The  Roman 
Consul  was  approaching  Thermopylaj  from  the  north,  and  unless 
he  were  checked  here,  Boeotia  and  Euboea,  as  well  as  Thessaly, 
would  be  lost. 

§  9.  The  Pass  of  Thermopylae  is  formed,  as  is  well  known,  by 
a  spur  of  Mount  Q^ta,  which  comes  close  down  upon  the  sea. 
The  King  intrenched  himself  in  the  narrowest  place,  like  Leonidas 
of  old,  but  not  in  the  spirit  of  Leonidas.  The  mountain- 
path,  by  which  the  Persian  troops  had  found  a  way  to  the  rear 


436  CONQUEST  OF  THE  WOLRD.  Book  Y. 

of  the  Greeks,  was  now  committed  to  the  charge  of  the  -^tolians ; 
but  these  freebooters  sent  a  small  detachment  only  on  this 
service,  while  they  employed  their  chief  force  in  seizing  the 
neighbouring  city  of  Heraclea.  The  Consul  encamped  in 
front  of  the  Pass ;  but  before  commencing  the  assault  he  sent 
his  lieutenants,  L.  Valerius  Flaccus  and  M.  Porcius  Cato,  to 
force  their  way  over  the  mountain  to  the  rear  of  the  enemy. 
The  Syrians  defended  their  entrenchments  well,  but  as  soon 
as  they  found  themselves  attacked  in  rear,  they  threw  down 
their  arms  and  fled  with  precipitation.  Antiochus  himself  was 
wounded  in  the  mouth  by  a  stone,  and  escaped  with  only  500 
men  to  Chalcis.  The  Consul  embraced  Cato  before  the  whole 
army,  and,  declaring  that  the  whole  merit  of  the  victory  lay 
with  him,  sent  him  home  with  news  of  the  victory.  He  tra- 
velled with  the  greatest  speed,  landed  at  Tarentum,  and  in  five 
days  more  announced  to  the  Senate  that  Greece  was  delivered 
from  the  Syrians.  When  the  Consul  advanced  into  Boeotia, 
the  King  re-embarked  for  Ephesus,  taking  with  him  his  bride,  the 
only  conquest  which  he  retained. 

§  10.  Glabrio  soon  reduced  the  strong  places  which  had  joined 
the  enemy,  and  then  laid  siege  to  Naupactus,  the  chief  station 
of  the  ^tolian  navy.  While  he  was  thus  engaged,  Flamininus 
arrived  in  his  camp.  He  immediately  pointed  out  to  the 
Consul  that  it  would  be  an  error  to  crush  the  ^tolians  alto- 
gether, and  thus  to  leave  Philip,  who  had  by  this  time  recon- 
quered Upper  Thessaly,  without  any  people  strong  enough  to 
balance  his  power  in  Upper  Greece.  Glabrio  acquiesced,  and 
Naupactus  was  left  to  the  ^tolians. 

§  11.  On  his  way  to  the  Consul's  camp,  Flamininus  ordered 
the  Messenians  and  Eleans  to  give  in  their  adhesion  to  the 
Achaean  League.  Thus  at  length  all  Peloponnesus  was  combined 
into  one  Federate  State,  and  the  darling  project  of  Aratus 
seemed  to  be  fulfilled.  But  Philopoemen  and  the  patriots  looked 
sadly  on.  They  felt  that  this  consummation  was  due  to  foreign 
force,  and  was,  in  fact,  a  proof  of  weakness.  This  weakness 
appeared  still  more  palpably  before  the  departure  of  the  Romans. 
The  Achseans  laid  claim  to  the  island  of  Zacynthus,  which  had 
lately  belonged  to  Philip.  "  Take  care,"  said  Flamininus,  "  what 
you  do.  Your  League  is  like  a  tortoise,  safe  while  it  keeps  its 
head  within  Peloponnesus,  but  in  danger  as  soon  as  it  ventures 
beyond."  The  League  needed  no  further  hint.  It  drew  in  its 
head,  and  Zacynthus  passed  into  the  hands  of  the  Romans. 

§  12.  As  soon  as  Antiochus  had  left  Europe,  he  thought  he  was 
secure  from  the  Romans.  But  Hannibal,  who  had  prophesied  the 
event  of  tbe  last  campaign,  ^nd  had  now  regained  some  measure 


Chap.  XL,  SYRIAN  WAR.  437 

of  credit  with  the  arrogant  monarch,  told  him  he  only  wondered 
they  were  not  already  in  Asia. 

The  Consuls  for  the  new  year  (190  b.c.)  were  L.  Scipio  the  elder 
brother,  and  C.  Lselius  the  bosom  friend,  of  the  great  Africanus. 
L^elius  was  anxious  for  the  command  in  the  East,  and  the  Senate 
were  disposed  to  confer  it  on  him ;  but  Africanus  rose  in  the  Senate- 
house  and  said,  that  if  they  would  give  it  to  his  brother,  he  would 
himself  accompany  him  as  lieutenant.  This  decided  the  question, 
aid  the  two  Scipios  left  the  city  as  early  as  possible  for  Greece, 
They  found  Glabrio  still  engaged  in  the  siege  of  petty  fortresses. 
Africanus  had  taken  care  that  a  number  of  his  own  veterans 
should  be  enlisted  in  his  brother's  army  ;  and  they  both  agreed 
that  the  war  should  be  carried  as  soon  as  possible  into  Asia. 
L.  Scipio  therefore  granted  a  fresh  armistice  to  the  ^tolians, 
and  sent  an  envoy  to  Philip  to  demand  a  free  passage  for  the 
army  through  Macedonia  and  Thrace.  Philip,  eager  to  retain 
his  conquests  in  Thessaly,  showed  great  alacrity  in  the  Roman 
service.  He  repaired  the  roads  and  bridges,  laid  in  stores  for 
the  army  along  the  line  of  march,  and  attended  the  Consul  in 
person  to  the  Hellespont. 

§  13.  The  march  of  the  Romans  eastward  convinced  Antiochus 
that  Hannibal  was  a  true  prophet.  He  immediately  ordered  a 
force  to  be  collected  so  vast  as  to  insure  victory  over  the  rash 
invaders,  and  dispatched  Hannibal  into  Phoenicia  to  bring  up 
reinforcements  for  the  fleet. 

But  the  Roman  commander  ordered  a  Rhodian  fleet  to  the 
coast  of  Caria  to  intercept  Hannibal,  and  the  brave  islanders 
performed  this  service  with  complete  success :  Hannibal's  Phoe- 
nician squadron  was  dispersed,  and  the  Rhodians,  combined  with 
the  Roman  ships,  attacked  the  Syrian  fleet.  A  sharp  conflict 
ensued  off"  Myonnesus,  a  promontory  of  Lydia,  in  which  the 
Syrian  Admiral  lost  more  than  half  his  fleet,  and  left  the  sea  at 
the  command  of  the  enemy. 

§  14.  The  King  had  collected  a  vast  army  from  all  quarters. 
Besides  his  own  people,  he  gathered  levies  from  North  and  South. 
All  kinds  of  men  appeared  in  his  ranks  :  Scythian  and  Galatian 
horsem3n ;  Persian  riders  clad  in  complete  armour,  man  and 
horse ;  scythed  cars  like  those  of  the  Western  Celts ;  Cretan 
slingers ;  Arabian  archers  mounted  on  dromedaries ;  Indian 
elephants  to  the  number  of  forty-four.*  Sixteen  thousand  men 
bore  the  redoubted  name  of  the  Phalanx  ;  and  the  elite  of  the 
army,    like    that   of    Alexander,    were    called    Argyraspids;    but 

*  The  Romans  had  a  few  Afncan  elephants,  an  inferior  kind.  They  first 
used  elephants  in  the  Macedonian  war  (Liv.  xxxi.  36),  but  they  never  relied 
much  on  these  animals. 


438  CONQUEST  OF  THE  WORLD.  Book  Y 

though  the  names  and  arms  were  Macedonian,  the  men  were  the 
men  of  Xerxes  and  Darius. 

With  this  host  Antiochus  ravaged  the  plains  of  Mysia  and 
Lydia.  Pergamus  was  bravely  defended  by  Attalus,  the  young 
King's  brother,  Eumenes  himself  being  with  the  Roman  army. 
Africanus,  who  was  one  of  the  Salian  Priests  of  Mars,  stayed  in 
Europe  for  the  due  performance  of  certain  solemn  rites,  while 
the  army  crossed  the  Hellespont.  Soon  after  this,  he  was  taken 
ill,  and  obliged  to  remain  at  Elsea,  the  seaport  of  Pergamus, 
■while  the  army  advanced  towards  the  King's  quarters  at 
Thyatira.  At  the  approach  of  the  Romans,  Antiochus  fell  back 
across  the  Hyllus,  and  encamped  at  Magnesia  under  Mount 
Sipylus.  He  was  closely  followed  by  the  Consul,  who  also 
crossed  the  river,  and  took  up  a  position  within  three  miles  of 
the  King's  camp.  Still  Antiochus  declined  an  engagement,  till 
he  found  that  the  Romans  were  preparing  to  attack  him  in  his 
entrenchment.     Then  he  drew  out  his  vast  army  in  battle  order. 

§  15.  It  is  needless  to  give  a  detailed  account  of  the  battle. 
The  Syrian  army  was  three  or  four  times  as  numerous  as  that  of 
Scipio,  who  had  invaded  Asia  with  a  common  Consular  army, 
supported  by  3000  Achaeans,  800  men  from  Pergamus,  and  a  few 
volunteers  from  Thrace  and  Macedonia ;  but  they  were  more 
than  enough  to  defeat  the  Syrians.  The  King  fled,  leaving  53,000 
men  upon  the  field.  The  Romans,  it  is  said,  lost  no  more  than 
400. 

§  16.  By  the  single  battle  of  Magnesia,  Antiochus  the  Great 
lost  all  his  conquests  in  Asia  Minor.  He  did  not  deem  himself 
safe  till  he  reached  Apamea,  in  the  south  of  Phrygia,  where  he 
was  joined  by  his  son  Seleucus  and  his  chief  counsellors. 
Hence  he  sent  ambassadors  to  the  Consul  to  treat  for  peace. 
L.  Scipio  was  at  Sardis  with  his  brother  Africanus,  who  now 
took  upon  himself  to  dictate  the  terms.  Antiochus  was  to  give 
up  all  his  possessions  north  of  Mount  Taurus;  and  pay  down 
a  sum  of  3000  talents,  with  a  tribute  of  1000  for  twelve  succeed- 
ing years.  All  his  ships  of  war  and  elephants  were  to  be  given  up 
for  ever ;  he  was  to  abstain  from  all  interference  with  European 
matters;  he  was  not  even  allowed  to  hire  mercenaries  in  Europe. 
The  persons  of  Hannibal  the  Carthaginian  and  Thoas  the  ^tolian, 
with  some  others,  were  to  be  surrendered  to  the  Romans. 

§  lY.  L.  Scipio  repaired  straightway  to  Rome  to  enjoy  his 
splendid  but  easy  triumph.  In  imitation  of  his  brother,  he 
assumed  the  after-name  of  Asiaticus.  The  booty  he  had  made 
was  great  beyond  example,  the  sums  he  paid  into  the  treasury 
enormous.  The  Macedonian  and  Syrian  wars  laid  the  foundation 
of  those  prodigious  fortunes  which  afterwards  distinguished  the 


Chap.  XL.  SYKIAN  WAR.  439 

Roman  nobles,  and  introduced  that  gorgeous  but  barbaric  luxury 
which  corrupted  the  manners  of  the  whole  people,  and  led  to  in- 
curable evils  in  the  State. 

§  18.  The  Senate  now  had  leisure  to  punish  the  JEtolians. 
Soon  after  the  departure  of  the  Scipios  for  Asia,  false  reports 
reached  Greece  of  successes  gained  by  Antiochus,  and  the  ^to- 
lians,  flying  to  arms,  drove  Philip  from  his  late  conquests  to  the 
west  of  Mount  Pindus.  On  this  news  the  Senate  ordered  M. 
Fulvius  Nobilior,  one  of  the  Consuls  for  the  year  189,  to  take 
the  command  in  Greece,  while  his  colleague.  On.  Manlius  Vulso, 
succeeded  L.  Scipio  in  Asia.  Fulvius  immediately  laid  siege 
to  Ambracia,  while  Perseus,  the  son  of  Philip,  invaded  JEtolia 
from  the  north,  and  the  Achaeans  from  the  south.  Ambracia, 
a  noble  and  well-fortified  town,  the  ancient  capital  of  Pyrrhus, 
was  bravely  defended ;  but  the  ^tolian  chiefs,  finding  their  con- 
dition desperate,  hastened  to  send  a  new  embassy  to  Rome  with 
full  submission.  Philip  was  now  as  anxious  to  annihilate  the 
^tolians,  as  the  ^tolians  had  formerly  been  eager  to  destroy 
him ;  but  Flamininus  had  saved  Philip  from  the  ^tolians,  and 
he  now  interfered  to  save  the  ^Etolians  from  Philip.  The  Senate 
listened  to  his  arguments,  and  allowed  them  to  become  the  vas- 
sals of  Rome.  The  Roman  wars  in  Greece  were  now  ended  for 
some  years. 

§  19.  Manlius,  on  arriving  in  Asia,  was  much  disappointed  by 
finding  that  the  war  had  been  finished  by  the  battle  of  Magnesia, 
and  that  nothing  remained  but  for  the  Commissioners  of  the 
Senate  who  accompanied  him  to  confirm  the  peace  dictated  by 
Africanus.  But  he  was  too  anxious  for  plunder  and  a  triumph  not 
to  seek  for  war,  and  an  occasion  presented  itself  in  the  circum- 
stance that  the  Galatians  had  served  in  the  ranks  of  the  Syrian 
army  at  Magnesia. 

It  has  before  been  mentioned  that  Galatia  was  a  district  of 
Northern  Phrygia,  which  had  been  seized  by  a  host  of  Gauls,  who 
had  been  driven  out  of  Greece  about  a  century  before.  In  the 
heart  of  Asia  they  retained  their  Celtic  habits  and  names.  By 
continual  plundering  they  had  amassed  great  stores  of  wealth. 

When  the  Consul  advanced  into  the  country,  the  Galatians  re- 
tired into  their  mountain  fastnesses,  but  without  avail.  In  two 
great  battles  they  were  defeated  by  the  Romans,  and  obliged  to 
give  up  all  their  riches.  From  this  time  these  Asiatic  Gauls 
gradually  became  assimilated  to  the  Greeks. 

§  20.  Manlius  spent  a  second  year  as  Proconsul  in  Asia  Minor. 
In  company  with  the  ten  Commissioners  of  the  Senate,  he  re- 
ceived ambassadors  from  the  various  States,  and  distributed  the 
possessions  of  Antiochus  in  Asia  Minor  according  to  a  decree  of 


440  CONQUEST  OF  THE  WORLD.  Book  V 

the  Senate.  Eumenes  of  Pergamus  was  rewarded  by  the  gift  of 
Mysia,Lydia,  Phrygia,and  part  of  Caria,  with  those  Thracian  towns 
which  Antiochus  had  abandoned.  The  rest  of  Caria,  with  Lycia 
and  Pisidia,  was  given  to  the  Rhodians.  Caria  and  Lycia  rightly 
belonged  to  Ptolemy  Epiphanes,  but  that  prince  had  offended  the 
Senate  by  marrying  a  daughter  of  King  Antiochus. 

§  21.  The  Galatian  war,  insignificant  as  it  was,  became  the  root 
of  great  evils.  It  was  the  first  time  that  a  Roman  General  had 
ventured  to  make  war  without  the  authority  of  the  Senate.  Nay, 
the  ten  Commissioners  had  expressly  forbidden  the  enterprise; 
and  when  Manlius  applied  for  a  triumph,  one  of  the  ten  opposed 
it  warmly ;  but  there  were  too  many  young  oflicers  in  the  Senate 
who  looked  forward  to  like  opportunities,  and  the  Consul  was  al- 
lowed to  celebrate  his  triumph  over  the  Galatians.  His  example 
was  followed  too  often  in  after  times. 


CHAPTER    XLI. 

WARS  tN  THE  WEST  CONTEMPORANEOUS  WITH  THE  MACEDONIAN  AND 
SYRIAN  WARS.       (200 ill  B.C.) 

§  1.  "Wars  in  Northern  Italy :  the  Ligurians.  §  2.  Conquest  of  the  Boians: 
Placentia  and  Cremona  peopled  anew :  Colony  of  Bononia  founded.  §  3. 
Conquest  of  the  ItaUan  Ligurians.  §  4.  -^milian  Road:  Colonies  of  Mu- 
tina,  Parma,  and  Lucca :  new  Province  of  Cisalpine  Glaul.  §  5.  Condition 
of  the  Spanish  Peninsula.  §  6.  Conquest  of  Northern  Spain  by  Cato. 
§  1.  Services  and  triumph  of  Cato.  §  8.  Continued  troubles  in  Spain  to  tha 
Prastorship  of  Tib.  Gracchus,  §  9.  Reduction  of  Sardinia  by  Gracchus; 
Sardi  vencdes.     §10.  Conquest  of  Istria :  Colony  of  Aquileia. 

§  1.  While  two  or  three  Consuls  were  winning  riches  and  hon. 
ours  in  the  East  at  ah  easy  rate,  others  were  engaged  in  the  West 
with  far  more  stubborn  adversaries.  Tedious  wars  with  the  bar- 
barians in  Northern  Italy,  and  with  the  brave  tribes  of  Central 
Spain,  offered  little  to  attract  greedy  or  ambitious  Senators ;  and 
yet  in  these  districts  many  generals  were  compelled  to  keep  watch 
and  ward  for  years. 

It  was  about  the  year  200  B.C.  that  the  Senate  received  news  of 
a  general  rising  in  Northern  Italy.  The  Gauls,  who  took  part  in 
the  movement,  were  the  old  enemies  of  Rome — the  Boians  south 
of  the  Po,  with  the  Insubrians  and  Cenoraannians  on  the  far  side 
of  that  great  river.  A  new  enemy  was  behind,  the  Ligurians,  a 
wild  people  of  uncertain  race,  who  occupied  the  mountainous  dis- 
trict of  the  Maritime  Alps  and  Upper  Apennines,  from  near  the 
Rhone  to  the  confines  of  Etruria. 

§  2.  Three  campaigns  sufficed  to  reduce  the  Gallic  tribes 
beyond  the  Po  ;  and  the  Boians,  being  left  to  carry  on  the  con- 
flict single-handed,  excited  the  Ligurians  to  renew  their  inroads. 
In  193  B.C.,  bands  of  these  marauders  appeared  before  Pisa  and 
Placentia  at  once.  But  in  191,  when  Glabrio  was  forcing  the 
Pass  of  Thermopylae,  his  colleague,  P.  Scipio  Nasica,  received  the 
final  submission  of  the  Boians.  They  purchased  peace  at  the 
price  of  half  their  territory ;  but  the  half  which  remained  was 
more  than  enough  for  their  numbers,  diminished  by  nine  year^ 
deadly  war  with  Rome.  In  the  next  year  (190),  C.  Laelius,  dis- 
appointed of  the  command  against  Antiochus,  was  employed 
in  settling  the  conquered  country.  The  colonies  of  Placentia 
and  Cremona,  which  had  suff"ered  greatly  since  the  time  of 
Hannibal's  first  appearance  in  Italy,  were  re-peopled  by  6000 
families  of  Roman  and  Latin  citizens.     Part  of  the  confiscated 

19* 


44*2  CONQUEST  OF  THE  WORLD.  Book  V 

lands  were  assigned  to  a  new  colony  at  Felsina,  which  assumed  the 
name  of  Bononia,  or  (as  it  is  now  called)  Bologna. 

§  3.  But  to  subdue  the  Ligurians  in  their  mountains  required 
long  years  of  desultory  warfare.  These  nimble  mountaineers,  lean 
and  sinewy  in  form,  inured  to  hardship,  unincumbered  with  bag- 
gage, acquainted  with  every  bye-path  and  fastness  in  their  native 
hills,  carried  on  a  sort  of  guerilla  warfare,  which  the  Romans  found 
as  difficult  to  deal  with  as  regular  armies  have  always  found  in 
similar  cases.  Whenever  the  enemy  presented  a  front,  they  were 
sure  to  be  defeated  ;  but  even  then  the  bulk  of  the  force  escaped  by 
mountain  paths,  and  met  again  in  some  well-known  resort.  Often 
they  surprised  careless  or  over-confident  commanders,  and  cut  off 
large  bodies  of  Roman  troops.  But  year  after  year  the  Roman 
columns  penetrated  further  and  further  into  the  Ligurian  fast- 
nesses. One  tribe  after  another  submitted.  L.  JEmilius  PauUus, 
son  of  him  who  fell  at  Cannae,  himself  destined  to  become  one  of 
Rome's  most  famous  men,  remained  in  Liguria  with  proconsular 
command  for  several  years.  In  180,  he  received  the  submission 
of  two  of  their  bravest  tribes,  the  Ingaunians  and  Apuans ;  and  the 
last-named  people,  who  marched  with  Etruria  along  the  Macra, 
were  transplanted  into  Samnium  to  the  number  of  40,000  souls, 
and  their  lands  confiscated  to  the  use  of  the  Roman  People.  The 
war  was  virtually  at  an  end. 

§  4.  The  submission  of  Northern  Italy  was  no  doubt  hast- 
ened by  the  construction  of  military  roads.  M.  JEmilius 
Lepidus,  Consul  for  the  year  180  b.c,  the  same  who  irritated 
Philip  by  his  peremptory  manner,  constructed  the  great  road 
which  bore  his  name  through  the  new  colony  of  Bononia  to 
Placentia,  being  a  continuation  of  the  Flaminian  Way,  or  Great 
North  Road,  made  by  C.  Flaminius  in  220  from  Rome  to  Ari- 
minum ;  while  Flaminius,  the  son,  being  the  colleague  of  Lepidus, 
made  a  branch  road  from  Bononia  across  the  Apennines  to  Arre- 
tium.  Soon  after,  on  the  line  of  the  -^milian  Road,  between 
Bononia  and  Placentia,  the  Senate  planted  the  colonies  of  Mutina 
(Modena)  and  Parma.  The  confiscated  territory  of  the  Apuans 
was  assigned  to  the  new  colony  of  Lucca.  Thus  did  Rome 
secure  her  conquests  in  the  North  as  in  the  South.  It  was 
soon  after  these  wars  that  the  whole  of  Cisalpine  Gaul  with 
Italian  Liguria  was  formed  into  a  great  Province,  which  was 
always  treated  with  favour,  and  proved  one  of  the  most  valuable 
possessions  of  the  Roman  Empire.  The  Gallic  towns  became 
Latin  in  language  and  feeling,  as  well  as  in  government;  and  some 
notable  Romans  of  later  times,  among  whom  may  be  named  Livy 
the  Historian,  a  Paduan  by  birth,  sprang  from  the  loins  of  these 
Latinised  Celts. 


Chap.  XLl.  SPANISH  WARS.  443 

§  5.  We  must  now  follow  the  tide  of  Roman  conquest  in  the 
Spanish  Peninsula.  That  part  of  Spain  which  had  been  con- 
quered by  Scipio  was  divided  into  two  Provinces,  known  as  His- 
pania  Citerior  and  Ulterior,  each  being  ruled  by  a  Praetor  or 
Proconsul.  But  these  Provinces  in  fact  included  only  a  small 
portion  of  the  Peninsula.  Hither  Spain  ran  along  the  coast  south- 
ward to  a  point  beyond  Carthagena,  its  western  boundary  being 
as  yet  indeterminate :  Further  Spain  contained  little  more  than 
modern  Andalusia.  The  rest  of  Spain  was  still  unconquered.  The 
Celtiberians,  a  brave  race,  who  inhabited  the  chief  parts  of  Cas- 
tille,  dwelt  in  numerous  cities  strong  both  by  nature  and  art.  The 
Lusitanians,  who  occupied  the  mountainous  districts  of  Western 
Spain  and  Portugal,  between  the  Douro  and  Guadiana,  were  shep- 
herds or  guerillas  as  the  case  required ;  now  tending  their  flocks 
on  the  hill-sides,  now  making  armed  forays  into  the  heart  of  the 
Further  province.  The  Gallaecians  and  Cantabrians,  between  the 
Douro  and  the  Bay  of  Biscay,  had  as  yet  scarcely  heard  of  the 
Roman  name. 

§  6.  The  formation  of  Spanish  Provinces  took  place  apparently 
in  198  B.C.,  when  we  first  hear  of  six  Praetors,  two  being  destined 
to  govern  Spain.  A  general  outbreak  followed,  and  may  be  attri- 
buted to  the  fear  entertained  by  the  Spaniards  that  the  Romans 
meditated  the  eventual  conquest  of  all  their  tribes.  When  M.  Por- 
cius  Cato,  Consul  in  the  year  195  b.c,  entered  on  office,  he  was 
dispatched  at  once  to  the  Hither  province  to  subdue  the  insurrec- 
tion. This  remarkable  man  had  already  distinguished  himself  as 
a  Legionary  Tribune  under  Fabius  in  the  Hannibalic  War,  and 
had  served  as  Quaestor  under  the  great  Scipio  in  Sicily.  We  have 
also  recorded,  by  anticipation,  the  glory  he^won  by  turning  the 
Pass  of  Thermopylae  in  the  campaign  of  Glabrio.  But  his  military 
fame  chiefly  depends  upon  his  operations  in  Spain. 

When  he  landed  at  Emporiae  (Ampurias),  he  found  the  whole 
country,  up  to  the  very  walls  of  this  place,  in  arms ;  nay,  the 
Spaniards  of  Emporiae  itself  were  only  prevented  by  the  presence 
of  a  Roman  garrison  from  joining  their  countrymen.  He  gave 
proof  of  his  determined  temper  by  dismissing  the  speculators  who 
usually  contracted  to  supply  the  army  with  victuals ;  "  for,"  said 
he,  "  I  will  make  the  war  support  itself."  He  spent  some  time  in 
training  his  troops  for  the  desultory  warfare  of  the  Spaniards,  oc- 
casionally dashing  into  the  country  occupied  by  the  enemy,  and 
inuring  his  men  to  every  hardship.  He  shared  all  privations  with 
the  common  soldiers,  and  won  their  aflfection  by  his  blunt  man- 
ners and  rough  jests.  Sometimes  he  rode  through  the  ranks, 
armed  with  a  rude  countryman's  javelin,  called  sparus,  and  chas- 
tised offenders  not  over  gently  with  his  own  hand. 


444  CONQUEST  OP  THE  WORLD.  Book  Y. 

When  this  training  had  lasted  long  enough  to  give  the  General 
and  his  men  confidence  in  each  other,  Cato  led  them  forth  to 
attack  the  Spaniards,  who  were  encamped  in  force  near  Emporiae. 
He  fell  unexpectedly  on  their  rear,  and  defeated  them  with  great 
slaughter.  Profiting  by  the  terror  thus  inspired,  he  penetrated 
into  all  the  mountain  valleys  from  the  Ebro  to  Carthagena,  and 
executed  merciless  vengeance  on  those  who  resisted.  To  the 
rapid  military  movements  by  which  he  terrified  his  opponents,  he 
added  a  diplomatic  trick,  which  shows  the  disconnected  condition 
of  the  tribes  he  had  to  deal  with.  To  the  chiefs  of  every  strong 
place  in  Northern  Spain  he  addressed  letters,  commanding  them, 
on  pain  of  suff'ering  Roman  vengeance,  to  dismantle  their  fortifica- 
tions, and  took  care  that  every  letter  should  be  delivered  on  or 
about  the  same  day.  Each  chief  supposed  the  order  was  addressed 
to  himself  alone ;  and  each,  fearing  Cato's  severity  for  himself, 
obeyed  the  order. 

§  7.  Thus  in  a  few  weeks  Cato  reduced  the  whole  Northern 
province  to  submission.  No  doubt  he  committed  great  atrocities. 
Numbers  fell  by  the  sword  ;  more  still  were  taken  and  sold  as 
slaves  :  many,  to  avoid  this  fate,  put  themselves  to  death.  But  no 
Roman  General  hesitated  to  use  harsh  measures ;  no  one  thought 
of  censuring  him  for  doing  so. 

After  his  operations  in  the  North,  he  made  an  excursion  into 
the  Southern  province,  and  by  his  presence  assisted  the  Praetor  in 
repelling  the  assaults  of  the  Lusitanians,  so  that  Cato  had  some 
reason  for  his  boast,  that  he  had  pacified  the  whole  of  Spain.  He 
returned  to  Rome  laden  with  booty  and  honour.  It  must  be  men- 
tioned to  his  credit,  that  he  reserved  no  large  share  of  plunder  for 
himself,  though  he  bestowed  a  handsome  largess  on  each  of  his 
soldiers.  "  Better,"  he  said,  "  that  many  men  should  have  plenty 
of  silver,  than  that  one  man  should  have  plenty  of  gold." 

The  Senate  were  so  well  satisfied  with  his  successes  that  they 
decreed  a  Thanksgiving  of  Three  Days ;  and  the  triumph  which 
he  celebrated  was  the  first  which  Rome  had  witnessed  since  the 
triumph  of  Scipio  over  Hannibal.  It  was  happy  for  Cato's  vanity 
that  Flamininus  returned  home  a  few  weeks  later,  or  the  glory  of 
the  Spanish  triumph  would  have  been  eclipsed  by  the  greater 
splendour  of  the  Macedonian. 

§  8.  It  is  however  probable  that  the  measures  taken  by  Cato 
for  the  future  government  of  the  Spanish  provinces  sowed  the 
seeds  of  future  evil.  He  laid  regular  taxes  and  imposts  on  the 
Spanish  subjects  of  Rome,  and  confiscated  as  State-property  the 
mines  of  silver  and  gold,  which  in  those  days  made  Spain  an 
object  of  contention.  It  was  foreseen  by  Scipio  that  the  mea- 
sures of  Cato  would  irritate  the  Spaniards;    and  his   apprehen- 


Chap.  XLI.  LIGURIAN  AND  GALLIC  WAR.  446 

sions  were  justified.  For  the  next  sixteen  years  Rome  was  en- 
gaged in  continual  wars  with  the  Spaniards.  But  in  the  year 
179  B.C.,  sixteen  years  after  the  Consulship  of  Cato,  the  limits  of 
th  Upper  Province  were  settled,  and  a  general  pacification 
brought  about.  This  happy  result  was  due  to  Tib.  Sempronius 
Gracchus,  father  of  the  famous  Gracchi.  He  was  himself  a  man 
of  ability  and  courage,  and  ruled  with  a  moderation  little  known 
and  less  valued  among  Romans.  Many  communities  who  had 
been  deprived  of  home  and  land,  received  new  settlements,  for 
which  they  were  required  to  pay  certain  yearly  dues,  and  to  per- 
form military  service  at  the  order  of  the  Roman  Governor.  No 
city  was  henceforth  to  fortify  itself  without  the  consent  of  Rome. 
In  other  respects  they  were  allowed  to  govern  themselves  without 
interference.  Such  is  all  that  we  know  of  the  famous  pacification 
of  Gracchus. 

§  9.  Here  may  be  added  a  notice  of  some  other  conquests  made 
by  Rome  in  this  same  period.  The  Sardinians  and  Corsicans,  who 
had  first  risen  against  Rome  in  the  Second  Punic  War,  again  ap- 
peared in  arms  about  the  year  181  B.C.,  for  what  cause  or  with 
what  justice  we  know  not.  This  petty  war  continued,  till  after  his 
return  from  Spain  Tib.  Gracchus  obtained  the  Consulship.  His 
vigorous  hand  soon  checked  the  insurrection  ;  and  after  an  absence 
of  two  years  he  celebrated  a  triumph  over  the  islanders.  His  mea- 
sures do  not  seem  to  have  been  marked  with  the  same  forbearance 
which  distinguished  him  in  Spain ;  for  so  great  was  the  number 
of  prisoners  brought  home  and  sold  that  the  slave-market  was 
glutted,  and  "  Sardinians  for  sale"  became  a  proverbial  expression 
for  anything  that  was  cheap  and  common.* 

§  10.  The  conquest  of  the  northern  shores  of  the  Adriatic 
took  place  about  the  same  time.  In  the  year  183  b.c,  a  son  of 
the  great  Marcellus,  being  Consul  for  the  year,  had  occasion  to 
march  into  Venetia  to  repel  a  threatened  irruption  of  the  Celtic 
tribes  from  the  north.  Having  eft'ected  his  purpose  with  little  dif- 
ficulty, he  wrote  to  the  Senate  to  point  out  the  great  advantage 
which  the  Republic  would  derive  from  the  possession  of  the  penin- 
sula between  the  modern  towns  of  Trieste  and  Fiume,  which  then 
as  now  bore  the  name  of  Istria ;  and  without  waiting  for  a  reply 
from  the  Government,  he  invaded  the  country.  The  Senate  sanc- 
tioned his  unprovoked  attack;  and,  soon  after,  possession  was 
secured  by  the  Latin  colony  of  Aquileia,  which  became  a  place  of 
great  importance  as  a  barrier  against  the  northern  barbarians. 
When  it  was  destroyed  by  Attila,  from  its  ashes  rose  the  famous 
city  of  Venice. 

*  "  Sar<ii  venales,"  Liv,  xl,  19, 


>d^ 


Tomb  of  the  Scipios,  as  restored  by  Canina. 


CHAPTER    XLII. 


CIVIL  HISTORY  DURING  THE  MACEDONIAN  AND  SYRIAN  WARS  :  COR- 
RUPTION OF  MANNERS  :  SENATORIAL  PREDOMINANCE  !  SCIPIO  AND 
CATO.       (200 169   B.C.) 

§  1.  General  inclination  to  War  caused  by  the  conquests  in  the  East.  §  2. 
Change  in  the  character  of  the  Roman  armies.  §  3.  Evil  effects  of  war  on  the 
social  condition  of  Romans.  §  4.  Rapid  rise  of  the  new  NobiUty  of  wealth : 
its  oUgarchical  tendency.  §  5.  Evil  effects  of  sudden  wealth  on  manners 
and  morals.  §6.  Bribery.  §7.  Evidence  of  profligacy :  L.  Elamininus: 
Bacchanalia :  Poisoning  by  women.  §  8.  State  of  parties  in  the  Senate : 
Scipio.  §  9.  Cato  leader  of  the  attack  on  Scipio :  his  previous  life.  §  10. 
Cato's  bitterness  against  Greek  fashions.  §  11.  L.  Scipio  required  to  pro- 
duce his  accounts :  conduct  of  P.  Scipio :  he  is  indicted  before  the  People  : 
his  reply.  §  12.  New  attack  upon  P.  Scipio,  diverted  to  Lucius:  arrest 
of  the  latter  prevented  first  by  the  armed  interference  of  his  brother,  then 
by  the  intercession  of  Tib.  Gracchus.  §  1.3.  Retirement  and  death  of 
Scipio.  §  14.  Death  of  Hannibal  in  the  same  year.  §  1 5.  Cato  turns  upon 
the  Senatorial  party:  his  election  to  the  Censorship.  §  16.  Severity  of  his 
Censorial  administration.     §  17.  Character. 

§  1.  Though  it  was  with  great  difficulty  that  the  citizens  were 
induced  to  consent  to  the  Macedonian  War,  to  the  Senators  war 


Chap  XLII       CHANGE  IN  CHARACTER  OF  ARMIES.  447 

was  welcome  even  at  that  time  of  extreme  depression.  By 
commands,  embassies,  and  commissions  to  foreign  courts,  they 
expected  to  find  means  of  repairing  their  past  losses  and  enrich- 
ing themselves;  and  they  were  not  mistaken.  And  after  the 
wars  in  the  East  a  great  change  seems  to  have  wrought  in  the 
feelings  of  the  People  also.  The  yeomen  of  Italy  saw  theii 
brethren  returning  home  laden  with  booty.  A  royal  road  t( 
riches  is  always  thronged,  and  we  hear  no  more  of  disinclinatioi' 
tc  declare  war.  It  was  seldom  necessary  to  resort  to  the  Census- 
roil  for  compulsory  enlistment.  The  Legions  were  filled  by 
volunteers. 

§  2.  A  great  change  now  began  to  be  introduced  into  the  con- 
stitution of  the  Roman  armies.  During  the  Punic  Wars,  it  had 
often  been  found  impossible  to  dismiss  the  Legions  levied  for  the 
year  after  the  year's  campaign  was  over.  And  what  had  hitherto 
been  the  exception  now  became  the  rule.  A  general  usually 
kept  the  men  who  first  took  service  under  him  during  his  whole 
command,  and  often  handed  them  over  to  his  successor.  Thus 
the  old  militia  of  the  Republic  changed  its  character,  and  a  race 
of  professional  soldiers  came  into  being.  There  was  not,  indeed 
a  standing  army  in  our  sense  of  the  word.  The  soldiery  werv 
not  so  much  servants  of  the  State,  as  attached  to  the  person  of 
a  successful  general,  whom  they  regarded  as  their  patron.  This 
new  state  of  things  reached  its  height  under  Marius  and  Cassar ; 
but  it  took  its  origin  with  Scipio.  Scipio  was  refused  by  the 
Senate  the  levies  which  he  deemed  necessary  for  the  invasion  of 
Africa,  and  he  raised  volunteers  on  his  own  credit.  These  men 
were  rewarded  with  grants  of  land  in  Southern  Italy.  But  theii 
swords  were  at  the  command  of  any  leader  who  oftered  a  chance 
of  fresh  booty.  Many  enlisted  for  service  in  the  Macedonian 
and  Syrian  Wars.  This  tendency  to  regard  a  soldier's  business 
as  a  profession,  rather  than  as  the  occasional  duty  of  a  citizen, 
received  a  great  impulse  from  the  invasion  of  Galatia  by  Cn. 
Manlius  Vulso.  From  this  time  Livy  dates  the  greedy  and 
licentious  spirit  which  marked  the  Roman  soldiery  of  his  own 
time,  as  it  has  marked  soldiers  of  fortune  in  all  times. 

§  3.  Thus  the  lust  of  conquest  became  general.  The  Senate 
had  now  no  difficulty  in  carrying  war-votes.  Wars  were  no 
ibnger  defensive,  even  in  pretence.  Increase  of  empire  was 
the  hardly-concealed  motive  of  action.  The  most  detestable 
practices  were  employed  to  create  intestine  dissensions  in  all 
countries,  to  encourage  one  potentate  against  another,  to 
provoke  quiet  and  independent  States  by  acts  of  intolerable 
arrogance,  to  bring  about  by  what  means  soever  an  appeal  t 
Roman    arbitration.      Senatorial   commissions    were   continually 


448  CONQUEST  OF  THE  WORLD.  Book  Y. 

crossing  the  sea  to  Greece  and  Asia,  to  Carthage  and  Egypt. 
Diplomatic  acts  of  the  basest  kind  were  becoming  part  of  the 
profession  of  Senator.  The  rude  simplicity  of  the  old  Roman 
character  was  degenerating  into  brutal  arrogance,  or  was  used  as  a 
cloak  for  the  meanest  and  most  hypocritical  ends. 

§  4.  The  Senate  itself  was  every  day  becoming  more  confined 
:ind  oligarchical.  We  have  before  shown  how  the  superior  offices 
of  the  State  were  barred  against  men  of  moderate  fortune.  The 
old  distinctions  of  blood  had  ceased:  in  the  year  173  b.c.  both 
Consuls  were  Plebeian.  But  a  new  Nobility  was  rising,  consist- 
ing of  the  wealthy  Senatorial  families.  Here  wealth  was  the 
mother  of  wealth :  a  family  once  ennobled  by  oftice  had  so 
many  opportunities  of  making  money,  that  every  day  it  became 
more  difficult  for  an  upstart  or  New  Man  (as  persons  were  called 
whose  progenitors  had  not  held  office)  to  make  his  way  to  the 
Consulship,  or  even  into  the  Senate.  Those  who  could  place  in 
their  vestibules  or  carry  out  to  funerals  the  greatest  number 
of  the  images  of  ancestors  distinguished  by  office  were  the  most 
loble.  The  Senate  was  fast  becoming  an  oligarchical  council, 
almost  hereditary  in  certain  families. 

§  5.  It  will  readily  be  perceived  how  fatal  must  have  been  the 
influence  exercised  on  manners  and  morals  by  these  changes.  It 
has  been  said  with  melancholy  truth  that  at  the  moment  when 
the  history  of  the  Republic  begins  to  extend  itself  so  as  to 
embrace  the  whole  civilised  world,  it  loses  all  its  moral  in- 
terest. The  Romans  before  their  conquests  were  (as  we  have 
seen)  a  hardy,  thrifty,  self-denying,  and  religious  race,  but 
withal  ignorant,  rude,  destitute  of  common  charity  and  humanity 
in  their  dealings  with  foreigners.  When  enormous  wealth  and 
power  are  suddenly  placed  in  the  hands  of  such  a  people,  the 
results  are  certain.  The  proverbs  of  every  nation  testify  to  the 
arrogance  and  vices  of  rich  upstarts ;  and  the  Romans  were  no 
exceptions  to  the  rule.  They  were  much  in  the  condition  of 
savages  exposed  to  the  first  influences  of  civilisation,  who  eagerly 
imbibe  its  new  vices,  and  retain  their  own  grossness. 

The  Roman  historians  with  one  voice  concur  in  these  repre- 
sentations. "The  great  Scipio,"  says  Velleius  with  pregnant 
brevity,  "  opened  the  way  to  empire ;  his  brother  to  luxury." 
"  The  Asiatic  army,"  says  Livy,  "  first  introduced  among  us 
couches  of  rich  workmanship,  cloths  of  delicate  texture,  and  all 
kinds  of  costly  furniture.  They  set  the  fashion  of  sumptuous 
banquets,  at  which  the  guests  were  at  once  regaled  with  the 
choicest  viands  and  charmed  with  voluptuous  music.  Cooks, 
who  had  formerly  been  the  cheapest  kind  of  slave,  now  became 
the  most"  valuabl<»." 


Ohap.  XLIl.  DEPRAVITY  OE'  WOMElT.  .  443 

§  6.  The  effect  of  the  rapidly  increasing  wealth  on  political 
morality  is  proved  by  the  frequent  laws  against  Bribery  at  Elec- 
tions, which  may  be  dated  from  the  year  181  B.C.* 

§  1.  Some  incidents  have  been  preserved  which  prove  the 
rising  profligacy.  Lucius  Flamiiiinus,  brother  of  the  famous 
Titus,  was  elected  Consul  in  192  b.c,  and  sent  to  Cisalpine  Gaul. 
He  had  lately  bought  a  beautiful  Carthaginian  boy,  who  indulged 
in  loud  complaints  at  being  taken  away  from  Rome  just  before 
the  exhibition  of  the  great  gladiatorial  games.  Soon  after  the 
Consul  reached  his  province,  a  Gallic  chieftain  fled  with  his 
family  to  seek  for  protection  in  the  Roman  camp.  The  fugitive 
was  brought  to  the  Consul's  tent,  where  he  was  feasting  with 
his  unworthy  minion.  "  Now,"  said  Lucius,  "  you  shall  be  re- 
warded for  not  seeing  the  gladiators ;"  and,  at  a  sign,  one  of  the 
attendants  stabbed  the  suppliant,  that  his  dying  agonies  might 
amuse  the  cruel  boy. 

A  sure  sign  of  corruption  is  to  be  found  in  the  dissolute 
manners  that  were  discovered  among  the  women.  In  186  b.c, 
the  Consul  Posthumius  was  accidentally  informed  that  there 
were  not  only  in  Rome,  but  in  many  Italian  towns,  secret 
societies,  in  which  young  men  and  women  were  dedicated  to 
Bacchus ;  and  that,  under  the  cloak  of  religious  ceremony,  every 
kind  of  licence  and  debauchery  was  practised.  The  Senate 
issued  a  stringent  Decree  for  the  repression  of  Bacchanalian  orgies. 
Numbers  of  men  were  put  to  death ;  the  women  were  handed  over 
to  the  heads  of  their  respective  families,  for  the  law  did  not  permit 
the  public  execution  of  a  female. 

§  8.  The  state  of  parties  in  the  Senate  in  the  earlier  part  of 
this  period  is  singular.  When  Scipio  returned  to  Rome  as  the 
conqueror  of  Hannibal,  he  was  saluted  by  the  people  as  the 
saviour  of  Italy.  He  might  then  have  put  himself  at  the  head 
of  a  popular  party,  and  crushed  the  ascendancy  lately  gained  by 
the  Senate.  He  had  been  elected  Consul  against  the  will  of 
the  Senatorial  majority;  he  had  won  his  Triumph  by  setting 
their  known  opinion  at  defiance.  He  was  the  idol  of  the  People. 
It  was  proposed  to  set  up  his  statue  in  the  Forum,  in  the  Comi- 
tium,  in  the  Senate-house,  on  the  Capitol,  in  the  very  Temple  of 
Jupiter.  Nay,  there  was  a  general  wish  to  make  him  Dictator  for 
life,  in  the  hope  that  by  the  same  vigour  and  address  which  had 
marked  his  military  career  he  might  put  an  end  to  the  social  evils, 
the  debt,  the  misery  which  followed  the  dreadful  Hannibalic  War. 

*  There  were  earlier  laws  de  Arnbitu ;  but  these  were  intended  by  the 
Nobility  to  check  the  New  Men  from  canvassing.  Now  canvassing  and  bribery 
bec-ime  synonymous,  and  were  expressed  by  the  same  word — Arrdntus. 


450  CONQUEST  OF  THE  WORLD=  Book  V. 

Scipio  was  still  in  the  prime  of  life,  not  more  than  thirty-five 
years  of  age.  But  he  had  no  taste  for  the  cares  and  toils  of  a 
party-leader.  He  put  aside  the  honours  offered  him  with  the 
same  calm  disdain  with  which  he  had  declined  the  crown  oflfered 
him  by  the  Celtiberians.  It  is  always  difficult  for  a  soldier  who 
from  early  years  has  held  high  command  to  acquire  the  tact 
necessary  for  managing  the  war  of  parties.  Hannibal,  indeed, 
had  shown  himself  as  able  in  statesmanship  as  in  war ;  but  it 
■was  by  the  despotic  method  of  the  camp.  He  was  backed  by 
his  veterans ;  by  their  aid  he  made  himself  master  of  Carthage, 
and  ruled  it  with  imperial  sway.  Scipio  might  perhaps  have 
done  the  same  at  Rome.  But  he  was  not  like  Hannibal.  He 
used  to  say,  that  "he  was  never  less  alone  than  when  alone," 
so  fond  was  he  of  literature  and  art.  Those  who  were  intimate 
with  him  loved  him  dearly.  But  he  never  concealed  a  ^.ertain 
proud  indifterence  for  opinion,  whether  of  the  Senate  or  the 
people,  which  soon  dimmed  his  popularity.  He  cared  not  for  this. 
He  preferred  the  society  of  the  poet  Ennius  to  the  applause  of  the 
people  or  the  favour  of  the  Senate. 

In  199  B.C.,  he  was  chosen  Censor;  his  friendly  colleague,  Q. 
^Hus  Psetus,  named  him  Chief  of  the  Senate,  and  he  retained 
this  high  rank  till  the  Censorship  of  Cato  in  184,  one  year  before 
his  death.  In  193,  he  held  the  Consulship  for  a  second  time, 
and  his  popularity  received  a  mortal  blow  from  his  own  hand. 
The  Censors  of  that  year  proposed  to  appropriate  the  front  places 
in  the  Theatre  to  the  Senatorial  Order,  and  Scipio  supported  the 
proposal. 

But  it  was  not  till  after  his  return  from  Asia  that  his  enemies 
ventured  to  attack  him  openly.  Those  enemies  were  no  doubt 
the  leaders  of  the  old  Senatorial  party.  But  the  person  who  led 
the  assault  bore  the  famous  name  of  Cato. 

§  9.  M.  Porcius  Cato  was  born  at  the  provincial  town  of  Tus- 
culum  in  the  same  year  with  the  great  Scipio  :  they  were  both 
seventeen  years  of  age  when  Hannibal  crossed  the  Alps.  Cato's 
patrimony  lay  in  the  Sabine  country,  near  the  humble  dwelling 
once  occupied  by  the  great  Curius  Dentatus.  The  youth  looked 
with  reverence  on  the  hearth  at  which  Curius  was  roasting  his 
radishes  when  he  rejected  the  Samnite  gold,  and  resolved  to 
make  the  rustic  hero  hi-s  model.  He  used  to  work  with  his 
slaves,  wearing  the  same  coarse  dress,  and  partaking  of  the  same 
simple  fare.  His  natural  power  of  speaking  he  exercised  by 
pleading  in  the  law-courts  of  the  neighbouring  town.  His 
shrewd  remarks  passed  current  in  the  country ;  and  the  fame  of 
the  youthful  orator  reached  the  ears  of  L.  Valerius  Flaccus,  a 
joung  nobleiran  of  the    neighbourhood,   himself  a  determined 


Chap.  XLII  SCIPIO  ATTACKED  BY  CATO.  451 

friend  of  the  ancient  Roman  manners.  Flaccus  had  discern- 
ment enough  to  see  what  was  in  Cato ;  he  became  his  friend, 
and  persuaded  him  to  go  to  Rome,  there  to  enter  on  a  public  life. 
The  honourable  intimacy  thus  begun  continued  throughout  life. 
Flaccus  and  Cato  were  colleagues  in  almost  every  office  of  State. 

Cato  at  once  attached  himself  to  the  party  of  Fabius,  who  at 
that  time  dispensed  all  the  honours  of  the  Republic.  He  served 
under  the  old  General  at  Capua  and  at  Tarentum :  and  being 
elected  Quaestor  in  205  b.c,  was  sent  with  Scipio  to  Sicily. 
When  Cato  returned  to  Rome,  the  favour  of  the  old  Senatorial 
party,  and  the  popularity  he  had  won  by  unabashed  self-con- 
fidence, blunt  bearing,  and  caustic  eloquence,  enabled  him  to 
gain  the  highest  honours  with  little  difficulty.  He  was  Praetor 
in  Sardinia  in  198  b.c,  at  the  age  of  thirty-seven,  and  gained 
credit  by  the  uprightness  of  his  administration,  though  he  was 
thought  too  severe  against  the  practice  of  usury.  He  was 
Consul  in  his  fortieth  year ;  and  we  have  already  followed  his 
able  conduct  of  the  Spanish  war.  Four  years  later  he  returned 
to  Rome  with  the  dispatch  announcing  the  victory  of  Thermopylae, 
which  he  himself  had  mainly  contributed  to  gain. 

§  10.  Such  was  the  man  who,  in  the  year  187  b.c,  led  the 
attack  upon  Scipio.  From  his  first  connexion  with  Fabius,  he 
had  formed  an  inveterate  hatred  against  his  patron's  rival ;  and 
as  Scipio  was  the  leader  of  the  new  Hellenic  manners,  so  Cato 
constituted  himself  as  the  protector  of  the  old  Roman  life. 

Cato  seems  to  have  thought  that  all  evil  was  due  to  the 
introduction  of  Greek  customs.  No  doubt  Greece  was  at  that 
time  fast  verging  to  that  miserable  state  in  which  she  still 
lies.  But  the  corruption  of  Rome  would  have  followed,  if 
there  had  been  no  Greece  to  corrupt.  The  vices  for  which 
Romans  became  notorious  were  not  Hellenic.  It  was  not 
part  of  the  nature  of  Greeks  to  spend  large  sums  in  glut- 
tonous eating  and  coarse  sensuality.  Pericles  boasted  that  his 
countrymen  cultivated  their  taste  for  the  beautiful  without  extra- 
vagance :*  and  the  same  might  be  said  of  their  pleasures  ;  they 
are  and  were  a  frugal  race.  No  doubt  the  quick-witted  and  un- 
scrupulous Greeks  who,  as  slaves  or  freedmen,  thronged  the 
houses  of  the  Roman  nobles,  were  more  adroit  ministers  of  vice 
than  the  duller  natives  of  other  lands ;  but  they  obeyed  rather 
than  guided  the  propensities  of  their  masters ;  and  it  must  not 
be  forgotten  that  the  philosophers,  statesmen,  and  artists  of 
Greece  flocked  to  Rome,  as  well  as  her  parasites  and  pandars. 
Those  who  cultivated  Greek   letters   and    art  were   the   noblest 

*  fi7i,oKaXovju£v  utr'  evre^eiag,  Thuc.  ii.  40. 


452  CONQUEST  OF  THE  WORLD.  Book  V 

sons  of  Rome. — Scipio  himself,  Lepidus,  Paullus,  and  the  like. 
The  second  Scipio,  was,  as  we  shall  see,  trained  by  the  precepts  and 
friendship  of  a  Greek  statesman. 

§  11.  The  first  attack  upon  Scipio  was  judiciously  made 
through  his  brother  Asiaticus,  who  was  required  by  the  Tribune 
Petillius  to  produce  an  account  of  receipts  and  expenditure 
during  his  Asiatic  command.  Africanus  bade  his  brother  fetch 
the  books,  and  then  taking  them  from  his  hands  tore  them  in 
fragments  before  the  Senate,  saying  that  "  it  was  unworthy  to 
call  a  man  to  account  for  a  few  thousands  who  had  paid  millions 
into  the  Treasury."  This  contemptuous  disregard  of  opinion 
and  law  was  now  made  the  ground  of  accusation  against  Scipio 
himself  On  other  occasions  he  had  been  guilty  of  similar 
acts  of  arrogance.  When  the  Quaestors  refused  to  pay  him 
certain  moneys  without  an  order  from  the  Senate,  he  had  taken 
the  keys  by  force,  saying  that  "  one  who  had  closed  the  Trea- 
sury by  his  successes  had  the  best  right  to  open  it."  These 
and  other  instances  of  contempt  were  brought  before  the  People. 
Scipio  rose  to  answer.  He  took  no  notice  of  the  charges  laid 
against  him,  but  gave  a  simple  history  of  his  life  and  ser- 
vices. The  glory  of  the  man  revived;  the  memory  of  old  times 
returned ;  all  hearts  yearned  again  towards  him  who  had  driven 
the  fell  African  from  the  shores  of  Italy ;  the  sun  set  before  the 
Assembly  had  passed  to  a  vote.  Next  day  was  the  anniversary 
of  the  battle  of  Zama.  Scipio  appeared  in  a  festal  robe,  escorted 
by  a  splendid  retinue  of  friends  and  followers.  "  Romans,"  he 
said,  "  on  this  day  I  defeated  Hannibal.  I  am  on  my  way  to  the 
Capitol  to  render  thanks  to  the  great  gods  of  the  city.  Follow 
me,  Romans,  and  pray  to  those  gods  that  you  may  always  have 
leaders  such  as  I  am."  The  effect  of  these  words  was  electrical. 
The  multitude  rose  with  one  accord,  and  followed  the  hero  up 
the  Sacred  Ascent.  The  Tribune  was  left  alone  with  his  at- 
tendants. 

§  12.  This  was  the  last  day  of  Scipio's  greatness.  The  cool 
animosity  of  Cato  pursued  him  with  untiring  zeal,  and  another 
Tribune  was  urged  to  renew  the  prosecution.  On  the  day 
appointed  the  great  man  did  not  appear :  he  had  left  Rome. 
His  brother  Asiaticus  alleged  sickness  as  the  cause  of  absence, 
and  prayed  for  an  adjournment.  After  some  question,  the  plea 
was  allowed  ;  but  the  accusers  turned  upon  the  advocate.  This 
was  politic.  It  is  not  likely  that  a  vote  of  condemnation  could 
have  been  obtained  against  Africanus :  his  character  was  un- 
blemished, and  late  events  had  shown  that  the  memory  of  the 
past  was  not  dead ;  but  Asiaticus  was  not  above  suspicion.  It 
was  said  that  of  the  Syrian  spoils  a  large  sum  due  to  the  Trea 


Chap.  Xi^II.  CATO.  ,  453 

sury  had  found  its  way  into  his  private  coffers,  and  the  scene  in 
the  Senate-house  confirmed  the  belief. 

So  soon  as  Africanus  heard  of  the  proceedings  against  his 
brother,  he  hastened  to  Rome,  and  reached  the  Forum  in  time  to 
see  his  person  seized  by  the  officers  of  the  Tribune.  He  was 
followed  by  an  armed  retinue,  and  rescued  Lucius  by  force  from 
their  custody.  It  seemed  as  if  now  there  was  to  be  a  beginning 
of  those  bloody  frays  which  disgraced  the  city  in  later  times ; 
bat  this  dire  extremity  was  averted  by  a  Tribune  who  had  as 
yet  taken  no  part  in  the  business.  This  was  Tib.  Sempronius 
Gracchus,  whom  we  have  already  seen  so  honourably  distin- 
guished for  humanity  in  Spain.  "  He  did  not  interfere,"  he  said, 
"  from  any  wish  to  thwart  the  action  of  law.  He  was  still,  as  he 
had  ever  been,  an  enemy  of  the  Scipios ;  but  rather  than  per- 
mit domestic  war,  he  would  himself  bar  the  arrest  of  L.  Scipio. 
It  was  better  that  the  will  of  the  People  should  be  frustrated  by 
one  of  their  own  Tribunes  than  by  the  arrogance  of  a  private 
citizen."  He  then  forbade  all  further  attempts  to  seize  the  person 
of  Asiaticus. 

§  13.  The  great  Scipio  felt  that  his  name  could  no  longer  work 
like  a  spell  upon  the  people.  He  retired  to  his  villa  at  Liternum, 
where  he  lived  some  years  longer  in  retirement ;  and  when  he 
found  his  end  approaching,  he  ordered  himself  to  be  buried  there. 
"  Ungrateful  city !"  he  said,  "  thou  shalt  not  even  have  my  ashes." 
The  three  statues  of  himself,  his  brother,  and  the  poet  Ennius, 
which  stood  outside  the  Capuan  Gate  at  Rome,  were  placed  over 
a  sepulchral  vault  built  by  the  heir  of  his  name  and  fame,  the 
younger  Africanus.  He  died  in  the  year  183  b.c,  in  the  fifty- 
fourth  year  of  his  age,  though  the  fine  bust  still  preserved  bears 
the  appearance  of  an  older  man.*  He  was  too  lordly  to  be  the 
useful  citizen  of  a  Republic,  too  generous  to  become  her  master. 
His  later  career  threw  a  shadow  over  services  which  were  worth 
more  to  Rome  than  those  of  any  other  of  her  sons. 

§  14.  In  the  self-same  year  Hannibal  breathed  his  last.  After 
the  loss  of  his  last  hope  by  the  destruction  of  the  Syrian  host  at 
Magnesia,  he  wandered  from  land  to  land  till  he  found  a  resting- 
place  at  the  Court  of  Prusias  of  Bithynia.  The  Senate  could 
not  breathe  while  their  great  enemy  lived ;  and  Flamininus  was 
sent  to  demand  from  Prusias  the  person  of  his  illustrious  guest. 
The  King  dared  not  say  nay,  and  gave  Hannibal  to  understand 
that  he  must  be  surrendered  to  Flamininus;  but  the  great 
Carthaginian,  to   avoid  falling  into  the  hands  of  his  implacable 

*  It  was  discovered  with  that  of  Ennius,  in  the  Tomb.  The  Tomb  is 
figured  at  the  head  of  this  Chapter,  the  bust  of  Scipio  at  the  head  of  Chapt 
Yxxiv.,  that  of  Ennius  at  the  end  of  Chapt.  xxxviL 


454  -  CONQUEST  OF  THE  WORLD.  Book  V. 

foes,  swallowed  a  dose  of  poison,  which,  according  to  the  com- 
mon story,  he  carried  with  him  constantly  in  the  hollow  of  a 
ring.  He  was  sixty-three  years  of  age.  Life  had  long  ceased  to 
be  valuable  to  him,  because  opposition  to  Rome  had  become  hope- 
less. He  died,  as  he  lived,  faithful  to  the  service  of  that  aveng- 
ing deity  to  whom  he  had  been  bound  in  boyhood  by  his  father 
Hamilcar. 

§  15.  The  fall  of  Scipio  threw  all  power  into  the  hands  of 
the  old  Senatorial  party.  The  names  of.  the  Gentes  friendly  to 
Scipio  nearly  disappear,  for  a  season,  from  the  Fasti.  The 
noble  ^milius  PauUus,  who  had  rendered  signal  services  to 
the  State  in  Liguria  and  in  Spain,  was  unable  to  obtain  the  Con- 
sulship till  a  late  age.  But  Cato  no  longer  held  by  this  party. 
His  first  connection  with  them  arose  from  the  fact  that  they 
represented  his  old  patron,  Fabius.  They  had  supported  Cato 
up  to  his  Consulship,  because  he  was  a  useful  hound  to  run 
down  Scipio ;  but  when  he  offered  himself  for  the  Censorship 
in  189,  they  used  all  their  influence  against  him,  and  he  was 
defeated.  They  knew  well  that  he  was  a  sworn  friend  of  the  old 
Roman  rusticity,  and  would  not  tolerate  their  vulgar  luxuries 
any  more  than  the  refined  elegance  of  Scipio ;  and  now  that  his 
personal  animosity  to  that  great  enemy  was  gratified,  they 
apprehended  that  he  might  turn  and  rend  them.  This  was  the 
period  of  Cato's  greatness.  The  Forum  rang  with  his  voice; 
his  bitter  gibes  and  caustic  sarcasms  were  repeated  everywhere ; 
th*^  People  began  to  recognise  him  as  their  champion.  At  the 
next  election  of  Censors  (185),  he  again  came  forward,  with  his 
friend  Flaccus  by  his  side ;  and  though  they  were  opposed  by  seven 
distinguished  candidates,  the  favour  of  the  People  prevailed,  and 
the  two  friends  were  elected. 

§  16.  Cato  was  now  in  full  possession  of  the  immense  arbitrary 
powers  wielded  by  the  Censor,  and  determined  to  put  down  luxury 
with  a  strong  hand.  He  had  thundered  against  the  repeal  of  the 
Oppian  law  during  his  Consulship,  but  in  vain, — the  ladies  were 
too  strong  for  him.  But  now  it  was  his  turn.  Hitherto  no 
property  had  been  included  in  the  Censor's  register,  except  land 
and  houses.  Cato  ordered  all  valuable  slaves  to  be  rated  at  three 
times  the  amount  of  other  property,  and  laid  a  heavy  tax  on 
the  dress  and  equipages  of  the  women,  if  they  exceeded  a  certain 
sum.  He  struck  seven  Senators  ofi"  the  list,  some  for  paltry 
causes.  Manilius  was  degraded  for  kissing  his  wife  in  public; 
another  for  an  unseasonable  jest ;  but  all  honest  men  must  have 
applauded  when  L.  Flamininus  suffered.  At  the  great  review  of  the 
Knights  he  deprived  L.  Scipio  of  his  horse. 

In  the  management  of  public  works,  Cato  showed  judgment 


Chap.  XLTI.  CATO.  455 

equal  to  his  vigour.  He  provided  for  the  repair  of  the  aqueducts 
and  reservoirs,  and  took  great  pains  to  amend  the  drainage  of  the 
city.  He  encouraged  a  fair  and  open  competition  for  the  con- 
tracts of  tax- collection,  and  so  much  oftended  the  powerful  com- 
panies of  Publicani,  that  after  he  laid  down  his  office  he  was 
prosecuted,  and  compelled  to  pay  a  fine  of  12,000  ases. 

§  17.  It  is  manifest  also  that  Cato  had  given  quite  a  new  sig- 
nificance to  the  Censorial  office.  The  fearless  onslaught  made 
by  him  on  all  abuses  had  stirred  up  a  nest  of  hornets.  Forty- 
four  times  he  was  accused  before  the  people,  yet  except  on  one 
occasion  he  always  came  off  free.  More  familiar  to  us  than  almost 
any  of  the  great  men  of  Rome,  we  see  him  with  his  keen  gray 
eyes  and  red  hair,  his  harsh  features  and  spare  athletic  frame, 
strong  by  natural  constitution  and  hardened  by  exercise,  clad 
even  at  Rome  in  the  coarsest  rustic  garb,  attacking  with  plain  but 
nervous  eloquence  the  luxury  and  corruption  of  the  Nobles. 
Yet  Cato  was  no  demagogue ;  indeed,  in  his  way  he  was  as 
haughty  as  any  noble  in  the  land.  His  mind  was  of  that  hard 
and  narrow  kind,  that  when  he  had  formed  opinions  or  conceived 
prejudices,  nothing  could  move  him.  In  private  business  he  was 
ruled  by  calculation  solely.  He  was  a  great  farmer  :  his  book  on 
agriculture  is  still  in  our  hands,  and  contains  a  curious  mixture  of 
shrewd  sense,  calculating  selfishness,  and  superstitious  fancies. 
He  encouraged  pasturage  as  the  most  profitable  employment  oi 
land  in  Italy.  He  condemned  usury  as  a  crime  only  less  bad  thau 
murder,  and  yet  evaded  the  law  which  forbade  Senators  to  engage 
in  trade  by  lending  his  money  to  the  trading  companies.  He 
advised  a  farmer  to  sell  off  such  of  his  slaves  as  might  become 
useless  from  age  or  infirmity.  His  self-sufficiency  was  intolerable. 
He  was  one  of  those  men  who  having  done  everything  for  them- 
selves, have  come  to  think  themselves  infallible.  The  Sabine 
farmer  made  himself  a  perpetual  Censor,  and  would  fain  have  laid 
down  the  law  for  every  one. 


Coin  of  Perseus. 


CHAPTER    XLIII. 

THE  THIRD  MACEDONIAN  WAR,  OR  WAR  OF  PERSEUS.      (180 168  B.C.) 

§  1.  Prudence  and  energy  of  Philip.  §  2.  A  Commission  sent  to  check 
Philip.  §  3.  His  son  Demetrius  sent  to  Rome:  Philip  forgiven  "for  his 
son's  sake."  §  4.  Imprudence  of  Demetrius :  Perseus.  §  5.  Philip's  pre- 
parations and  plans.  §  6.  Murder  of  Demetrius  and  death  of  Philip: 
Perseus.  §  7.  Measures  of  Perseus.  §  8.  Eumenes  accuses  him  at  Rome: 
attempt  upon  the  liie  of  Eumenes.  §  9.  War  declared  against  Perseus: 
he  is  deceived  by  Philippus.  §  10.  Resources  of  Perseus.  §  11.  First  and 
second  campaigns:  end  in  favour  of  Perseus.  §  12.  Discontent  through- 
out Greece.  §  13.  Third  Campaign:  Q.  Marcius  Philippus:  vreakness  of 
Perseus.  §  14.  Fourth  Campaign:  L.  ^milius  Paullus.  §  15.  Severe 
measures  of  Paullus  in  the  army.  §  16.  Perseus  falls  back  to  Pydna: 
Eclipse  of  Moon.  §  17.  Battle  of  Pydna.  §  18.  Perseus  surrenders. 
§  19.  Settlement  of  Macedonia.  §  20.  Greece:  Massacre  of  Epirotes. 
§  21.  Triumph  of  Paullus.  §  22.  Death  of  his  sons.  §  23.  Great  increase 
of  Revenue.     §  24.  Fate  of  Perseus. 

§  1.  Philip  had  of  late  shown  complete  submission  to  Rome; 
but  he  was  secretly  engaged  in  improving  the  internal  resources 
of  Macedon.  For  a  time  his  ungovernable  temper  was  controlled 
by  prudence.  He  organised  an  improved  system  of  taxation  .*  he 
established  a  regular  mode  of  working  the  gold  mines  of  Mount 
Pangaeus,  which  had  supplied  treasure  to  his  great  predecessor 
Philip  the  Second.*  He  replenished  his  wasted  population  by 
large  draughts  of  brave  barbarians  from  Thrace.  He  formed  an 
alliance  with  Prusias  of  Bithynia,  the  enemy  of  Eumenes.  He 
ventured  to  seize  ^nos  and  Maroneia,  two  Thracian  cities  lately 
evacuated  by  Antiochus. 

*  See  Dr.  Smith's  History  of  Greece,  Chapt.  xlii,  §  7. 


UHAP.  XLIII.  THIRD  MACEDONIAN  WAR  457 

§  2.  Reports  of  this  activity  were  soon  transmitted  to  Rome 
by  Eumenes,  and  the  Senate  sent  a  Commission  of  inquiry. 

Philip  was  summoned  to  appear  before  them  at  Tempe,  and 
the  proud  monarch  complied.  But  when  he  found  that  he  was 
to  be  stripped  of  all  his  Thessalian  possessions,  his  assumed 
calmness  gave  way,  and  he  broke  into  an  angry  threat.  "  The 
sun,"  he  said,  "  had  not  quite  set  yet."  The  complaints  of  JEnos 
and  Maroneia  were  reserved  for  the  judgment  of  the  Senate. 
Philip,  however,  feeling  very  sure  what  that  judgment  would  be, 
resolved  to  gratify  his  vengeance,  and  ordered  a  general  massacre 
of  the  wretched  Maroneians.  The  king  was  immediately  desired 
to  send  the  authors  of  the  massacre  for  trial  at  Rome.  He  be- 
came much  alarmed,  and  despatched  his  younger  son  Demetrius, 
who  had  lived  for  four  years  as  a  hostage  at  Rome,  to  make  inter- 
cession in  his  behalf. 

§  3.  The  mission  of  Demetrius  was  the  beginning  of  great 
misery  to  his  father.  The  young  man  was  received  by  the 
Senate  in  the  most  flattering  manner.  But,  at  the  same  time, 
they  encouraged  every  complaint  against  Philip.  Fugitives 
(detailed  the  horrors  of  the  massacre  at  Maroneia.  And  when 
Demetrius  stood  forth  in  the  Senate-house  to  offer  a  defence  for 
his  father,  the  Chief  of  the  Senate  cut  him  short  by  asking 
whether  he  had  no  written  instructions.  The  young  prince 
incautiously  produced  papers,  drawn  up  with  the  freedom  which 
Philip  was  likely  to  use  in  a  confidential  memorandum.  Upon 
this,  the  Senate  at  once  gave  judgment  against  him;  "but,"  it 
was  added,  "  they  would  forgive  him  for  the  sake  of  Demetrius. 
Tliey  would  only  require  that  he  should  withdraw  from  Thessaly 
and  Thrace ;  but  he  must  remember  that  he  owed  this  forbearance 
entirely  to  the  young  prince  his  son." 

§  4.  The  rest  of  Philip's  life  was  embittered  by  family  in- 
trigues. Demetrius  was  the  favourite  of  the  Macedonians ;  and 
even  where  there  is  no  positive  reason,  suspicion  is  apt  to  grow 
up  between  an  aged  king  and  the  popular  heir  to  the  crown. 
Such  suspicion  was,  not  without  cause,  aggravated  by  the  honours 
paid  to  Demetrius  at  Rome,  and  by  the  foolish  fondness  shown 
by  the  young  prince  for  everything  Roman.  There  was,  more- 
over, an  eye  watching  the  young  prince  with  more  of  jealousy 
than  even  Philip  was  likely  to  feel.  Perseus,  the  King's  elder 
son,  was  born  of  a  concubine.  He  was  reserved  in  manner,  and 
far  less  popular  than  Demetrius.  He  gained  his  father's  ear,  and 
led  him  to  believe  that  Demetrius  was  endeavouring  to  antici- 
pate the  course  of  nature  in  gaining  possession  of  the  crown. 
The  young  prince  was  committed  to  the  custody  of  Didas, 
Governor  of  Paeonia;  and   two  confidential  ministers  were  «ent 

20 


458  CONQUEST  OF  THE  WORLD.  Book  T. 

to  Rome  in  order  to  ascertain  the  truth  of  the  suspicions  raised 
by  Perseus. 

§  5.  Meanwhile,  the  King  silently  continued  his  preparations. 
Every  day,  it  is  said,  he  had  the  treaties  he  had  signed  with 
Rome  read  over  to  him,  to  remind  him  of  the  duty  of  revenge. 
Filled  with  jealousy  and  suspicion,  he  put  many  of  his  great 
nobles  to  death,  and  imprisoned  their  sons,  quoting  the  line  of 
Homer,  which  says,  that  it  is  but  foolish  work  to  slay  the  father 
and  spare  the  child.*  He  endeavoured  to  balance. the  suspected 
fidelity  of  the  Macedonians  by  transporting  whole  families  into 
Emathia,  and  replacing  them  by  Thracians,  who  held  their  lands 
by  military  service.  He  formed  a  bold  scheme  for  employing 
Rome,  by  inducing  the  Bastarnians,  a  people  who  inhabited  the 
country  afterwards  called  Moesia,  to  exterminate  the  Dardanians 
and  seize  their  territory,  and  then,  leaving  their  families  there, 
to  pour  into  Italy  by  the  northern  end  of  the  Adriatic.  It  was 
no  doubt  in  connection  with  this  great  plan,  that  he  made  a  tour 
to  the  passes  of  Hsemus  (the  Balkan),  of  which  Livy  speaks  in 
language  that  we  might  use  of  a  person  visiting  the  regions  of 
Siberia. 

§  6.  On  his  return  gloomy  news  awaited  him.  Didas,  under 
pretence  of  sympathy,  had  led  Demetrius  to  form  and  to  confess 
a  scheme  for  flying  to  Italy  and  claiming  the  protection  of  the 
Senate.  The  envoys  had  come  from  Rome  with  what  seemed  to 
confirm  all  that  Philip  or  Perseus  had  suspected  ;  they  were  the 
bearers  of  letters  purporting  to  be  written  by  Flamininus,  and 
urging  the  young  prince  to  the  worst  extremities  of  treason.  The 
unhappy  father,  who  had  long  wished  to  disbelieve,  signed  an 
order  for  his  son's  death.  Didas  attempted  to  take  him  off  by 
poison ;  but  the  unfortunate  young  man  detected  the  attempt,  and 
was  suflPocated  with  brutal  violence. 

This  event  took  place  in  179  b.c.  The  old  King  did  not  long 
survive.  He  discovered  that  the  letters  of  Flamininus  were 
forged,  and  it  is  said  that  he  meditated  disinheriting  Perseus. 
But  mortal  sickness  overtook  him  at  Amphipolis.  Perseus, 
informed  of  his  father's  state,  hastened  to  Pella,  and  was  pro- 
claimed King  before  others  knew  of  Philip's  death. 

The  great  abilities  possessed  by  Philip  were  always  shown  on 
emergencies.  But  ordinarily  his  savage  passions  deprived  him 
of  the  advantages  he  might  have  gained,  and  it  was  the  popular 
belief  that  the  misery  of  his  latter  days  was  a  divine  retribution 
for.  the  crimes  of  his  life.  Perseus  had  neither  the  same  abilities 
nor   the    same   passions.     In  manner  he  was  dignified   and   i;*- 

'''  VTJTTiog,  Of  Trarepa  Kreiva^  Tialda^  KaTci?ieiKOiy 


Chap.  tLlll.  THIRD  MACEDONIAN  WAR.  469 

served;  in  government  he  was  generally  pradent  and  temperate. 
But  ho  liad  two  defects,  which  in  his  position  were  almost  more 
fatal  than  his  father's  ferocity, — avarice  and  timidity. 

§  7.  The  first  measures  of  his  reign  were  marked  by  prudence' 
and  moderation.  After  regulating  the  affairs  at  home,  he  visited 
Greece  and  won  golden  opinions  by  his  gracious  manners.  The 
patriotic  party  was  inclined  to  join  him  against  the  Romanising 
tyrants  who  were  raised  to  power  in  every  State,  as  formerly  the 
same  party  had  been  fain  to  accept  the  aid  of  Rome  against 
the  tyranny  of  Philip. 

§  8.  The  Senate  had  their  eye  upon  the  movements  of  Per- 
seus ;  but  it  was  not  till  the  year  172  b.c.  that  incidents  occurred 
which  brought  on  immediate  hostilities. 

It  had  been  their  policy  in  Asia  to  increase  the  power  of 
Eunienes  of  Pergamus,  as  a  balance  to  the  power  both  of 
Macedonia  and  Syria.  Eumenes  was  anxious  also  to  extend 
his  possessions  in  Greece  ;  but  the  Achaean  League,  supported 
by  Perseus,  baffled  all  his  endeavours ;  and  he  appeared  at 
Rome  as  the  formal  accuser  of  the  King  of  Macedon.  He 
was  heard  with  favour ;  and  after  a  secret  debate,  the  Senate 
called  in  the  envoy  sent  by  Perseus  to  offer  explanations.  This 
man  perceived  that  the  matter  had  been  prejudged.  "His 
master,"  he  said,  "  was  ready  to  explain ;  but  if  they  were  bent 
on  war,  for  war  he  was  also  prepared."  He  then  hastened  home 
to  warn  Perseus  that  hostilities  must  soon  begin. 

Matters  were  precipitated  by  an  attempt  on  the  life  of 
Eumenes.  At  Rome  he  had  been  rewarded  with  the  gift  of  a 
curule  chair  and  ivory  staff,  the  highest  honours  which  the  Re- 
public could  bestow  upon  a  foreigner ;  and,  on  his  return  home- 
wards, he  landed  at  Cirrha  to  pay  a  devotional  visit  at  Delphi. 
He  was  ascending  the  steep  road  which  led  to  the  Temple, 
when  he  was  knocked  down  by  some  large  stones  thrown  from 
a  wall  which  skirted  the  road.  He  was  taken  up  for  dead ;  but 
was  carried  to  vEgina,  where  he  recovered.  The  assassins  had 
escaped.  But  it  was  said  that  they  bore  letters  of  introduction 
from  Perseus;  and  a  chief  citizen  of  Brundusium  came  forward 
to  state  that  he  also  had  been  offered  bribes  from  the  King  to 
poison  some  of  the  Roman  Senators. 

It  is  difficult  to  say  how  much  of  these  accusations  was  true. 
But  the  Senate  gave  ready  credence  to  the  informers,  and  imme- 
diate war  was  determined  upon. 

§  9.  On  the  very  day  on  which  the  Consuls  for  171  b.c. 
entered  on  office,  a  decree  was  framed  for  obtaining  from  the 
Centuries  a  declaration  of  war;  and  this  time  the  vote  passed 
in  the  affirmative  without  demur.     The  command  fell  to  P.  Li- 


460  CONQUEST  OF  THE  WORLD.  Book  V 

cinias  Crassus.  While  he  was  preparing  for  his  expedition, 
Commissioners  were  sent  to  different  parts  of  Greece  to  intimi- 
date the  States  and  prevent  them  from  taking  part  with  Perseus. 
The  chief  person  among  them  was  Q.  Marcius  Philippns,  a 
former  friend  of  Philip,  who  had  borrowed  a  new  family  name 
from  that  monarch, 

Perseus  invited  him  to  a  conference,  which  was  readily- 
accepted  by  the  Roman  envoy,  for  he  knew  that  the  Senate 
wished  to  gain  time.  Some  dispute  arose  as  to  the  etiquette  of 
crossing  the  Penetis,  where  they  met.  The  Roman  decided  it 
in  his  ov/n  favour  by  an  indifferent  jest.  "  It  is  meet"  said  he, 
"that  the  son  should  come  to  the  father.''^  The  plausible  manners 
of  Philippus  beguiled  Perseus.  He  prayed  for  an  armistice  in 
order  to  send  an  embassy  to  the  Senate,  which  Philippus 
granted  with  apparent  unwillingness.  He  then  returned  to 
Rome,  and  had  the  impudence  to  boast  in  open  Senate  of  the 
successful  fraud  by  which  he  had  gained  time;  and  the  Senate, 
with  the  exception  of  a  few  honourable  men,  had  the  effrontery 
to  approve  conduct  which  much  resembled  swindling.  Phi- 
lippus was  sent  back  to  Greece  as  the  diplomatic  representative 
of  Rome. 

§  10.  It  was  with  reason  that  the  Romans  were  anxious  to 
gain  time.  The  resources  of  Macedon  had  been  steadily  in- 
creasing daring  a  peace  of  nearly  thirty  years  :  the  Treasury  was 
full.  Perseus  had  a  well-appointed  army  of  40,000  foot  and  4000 
horse,  besides  the  troops  of  his  Thracian  allies.  The  phalanx, 
raised  to  20,000  men,  was  formed,  as  of  old,  in  two  divisions, — 
the  Silver  Shields  and  the  Brass  Shields.  To  oppose  this  force, 
Crassus  landed  in  Epirus  late  in  the  season  with  28,000  foot 
and  2000  horse,  for  the  most  part  raw  troops. 

§  11.  When  Perseus  discovered  the  fraud  that  had  been  prac- 
tised upon  him,  he  formed  an  entrenched  camp  on  the  western 
slope  of  Ossa,  favourably  situated  for  foraging  in  the  plain  of  the 
Peneiis,  and  for  commanding  his  communications  with  Macedon 
by  the  Pass  of  Tempe.  Meanwhile  Crassus  had  threaded  the 
passes  of  Western  Thessaly  without  molestation  and  advanced 
to  Larissa,  where  to  his  joy  he  found  Eumenes,  now  recovered 
from  his  wounds,  with  his  brother  Attains,  at  the  head  of  4000 
foot  and  1000  horse.  These  additions  to  his  force,  with  Achaean 
and  -^tolian  auxiliaries,  and  some  Numidian  horse,  made  his 
army  nearly  equal  in  number  to  that  of  Perseus,  though  it  was 
much  inferior  in  quality. 

The  Consuls  felt  this,  and  steadily  declined  battle,  till  Perseus 
advanced  to  the  very  gates  of  the  Roman  camp,  and  drove  the 
Romans  in.     He  did  not,  however,  venture  to  attack  the  camp, 


Chap.  XLIII.  THIRD  MACEDONIAN  WAR.  461 

and  Crassus  decamped  across  the  Peneus.  The  blame  of  the 
defeat  was  laid  upon  the  JEtolians ;  and  five  chiefs  of  that  nation 
were  sent  to  be  tried  before  the  Senate. 

Perseus  sued  for  peace  on  the  terms  of  the  treaty  of  Flamini- 
nus  ;  but  the  Consul  obstinately  refused  all  terms  short  of  abso- 
lute submission.  Even  this  defiance  failed  to  rouse  the  spirit  of 
the  King.  He  sent  a  second  message,  off'ering  to  increase  the 
tribute  paid  by  his  father ;  but  the  same  contemptuous  reply  met 
his  advances. 

The  new  Consul  Au.  Hostilius  Mancinus  arrived  early  in  the 
season  to  take  the  command  (IVO  b.c).  He  made  an  attempt  to 
force  the  Cambunian  passes,  but  was  repulsed  at  every  point. 

§  12.  The  success  of  the  Macedonians  had  given  life  to  the 
smouldering  discontent  of  Greece.  The  presence  of  the  Roman 
fleet  at  Chalcis  alone  prevented  Boeotia  from  rising  in  a  mass. 
Epirus,  hitherto  devoted  to  Rome,  reaped  no  benefit  from 
her  submissive  conduct.  Cephalus  had  long  held  the  govern- 
ment ;  and  though  in  his  heart  he  hated  Italian  dominion, 
he  had  scrupulously  observed  every  obligation  laid  upon  him. 
But  the  ear  of  the  Senatorial  Commissioners  was  gained  by 
Charops,  grandson  of  that  Charops  who  had  assisted  Flamininus 
to  turn  the  Pass  of  Klissoura.  Cephalus  felt  that  his  turn 
would  come  next ;  and  he  engaged  with  Perseus  to  raise  Epirus 
against  Rome. 

§  13.  The  Consul  who  followed  Hostilius  was  Q.  Marcius  Phi- 
lippus,  the  cajoler  of  Perseus.  Philippus,  though  he  was  past 
sixty  and  of  unwieldy  corpulence^  displayed  more  vigour  than 
his  predecessors.  Avoiding  the  gorge  of  Tempe  and  the  Cambu- 
nian Passes,  he  carried  his  army  by  a  difficult  path  over  the 
north-western  shoulder  of  Mount  Olympus,  and  appeared  within 
a  few  miles  of  Dium,  where  Perseus  was  lying  in  fancied  security. 
The  King,  panic-stricken,  ordered  a  precipitate  retreat  to  Pydna, 
and  sent  off  two  of  his  confidential  ministers, — one  to  Pella  to 
throw  his  treasure  into  the  sea,  the  other  to  Thessalonica  to 
destroy  his  naval  stores. 

Philippus,  astonished  at  his  own  success,  pursued  the  King  : 
but  he  could  obtain  no  provisions,  and  was  obliged  to  retreat  to 
Tempe.  On  his  retreat,  Perseus  returned  to  Dium.  Ashamed 
of  his  own  pusillanimity,  he  censured  his  officers  for  suffering  the 
Romans  to  pass  over  Mount  Olympus  ;  and  ordered  the  ministers 
whom  he  had  commissioned  to  destroy  his  arsenal  and  sink  his 
treasure  to  be  put  to  death,  in  the  idle  hope  that  the  truth  might 
be  concealed. 

§  14.  The  only  substantial  success  gained  by  the  Consul  Phi- 
lippus was  the  opening  of  the  Pass  of  Tempe.     Public  feeling  at 


482  CONQUEST  OP  THE  WORLD.  Book  Y. 

Rome  began  to  show  signs  of  impatience.  The  Senate  perceived 
that  they  must  no  longer  dally  with  the  war,  and  resolved  to 
promote  the  election  of  L.  ^milius  Paullus  to  the  Consulship. 
This  eminent  man,  the  son-in-law  of  Scipio,  had  lived  in  retire- 
ment since  the  fall  of  his  great  kinsman.  He  was  now  past  sixty, 
and  had  always  been  rejected  as  a  candidate  for  the  Consulship, 
but  in  the  hour  of  need  was  appointed  to  the  command  by  a 
special  decree  of  the  Senate. 

He  resolved,  however,  first  to  make  the  present  state  of  things 
fully  known.  He  therefore  insisted  on  sending  Commissioners 
to  report  on  the  condition  of  both  the  armies.  This  report  was 
not  encouraging.  Perseus  was  still  at  Dium  with  all  his  forces 
round  him.  The  Consul  could  not  stir  from  Tempe.  Epirus 
was  in  full  insurrection.  The  fleet  was  as  ill  oflf  as  the  army. 
Eumenes  had  withdrawn.  Both  he  and  the  Rhodians  had  shown 
symptoms  of  disaffection  to  Rome.  Genthius,  King  of  Illyria,  was 
expected  to  join  Perseus. 

§  15.  Paullus  deemed  the  occasion  worthy  of  all  attention.  No 
Legionary  Tribunes  were  appointed  but  men  of  proved  experi- 
ence. The  army  was  made  up  to  more  than  30,000  men.  One 
Praetor,  Cn.  Octavius,  took  the  command  of  the  fleet.  L.  Anicius, 
the  Praetor  Peregrinus,  was  dispatched  with  10,000  foot  and  800 
horse  to  attack  Genthius  at  home.  An  army  of  reserve  was 
formed  in  Italy. 

The  commanders  left  Rome  early  in  April  of  the  year  168  b.c. 
Paullus,  accompanied  by  his  two  sons,  and  by  young  Scipio 
Nasica,  son  of  the  "best  man"  (Chapt.  xxxiv.  §  16),  travelled 
post-haste  to  Brundusium,  crossed  to  Dyrrhachium  in  one  day ; 
in  five  days  more  reached  Delphi,  where  he  stayed  to  offer  sacri- 
fice to  Apollo  ;  and  in  five  days  more  joined  the  army  at  Tempe. 
A  few  severe  examples  checked  disorder,  and  strict  regulations 
restored  discipline.  The  fame  of  the  new  Consul  alarmed  the 
feeble  Perseus.  Nor  was  his  alarm  lessened  by  hearing  that 
the  Prsetor  Anicius  had  pursued  Genthius  from  Lissus  to  Scodra, 
and  had  compelled  the  chief  to  surrender  at  discretion. 

§  16.  Yet  the  defensive  measures  taken  by  Perseus  were  good. 
He  had  drawn  entrench'ments  along  the  deep  bed  of  the  Enipeus 
from  the  base  of  Mount  Olympus  to  the  sea;  and  Paullus  thought 
the  Macedonian  position  too  strong  to  be  assailed  in  front.  Ha 
therefore  sent  Nasica  round  the  mountain,  while  he  amused  the 
enemy  by  a  feigned  attack  upon  his  lines.  Nasica,  after  an 
arduous  march,  turned  the  right  flank  of  the  Macedonian  lines ; 
and  Perseus  fell  back  to  the  plain  of  Pydna,  which  was  well 
adapted  for  the  movements  of  the  Phalanxes.  Paullus  followed 
close,  but  resolved  not  to   risk  a  battle  till  he  had  secured  his 


Chap.  XLIII.  THIRD  MACEDONIAN  WAR.  463 

camp.  On  the  evening  of  his  arrival,  C.  Sulpicius  Gallus,  one  of 
the  Legionary  Tribunes,  gave  out  that  there  would  be  an  eclipse 
of  the  moon  that  night,  and  thus  prevented  the  alarm  which 
this  supposed  portent  would  have  caused  to  the  Romans.  The 
Macedonians,  on  the  other  hand,  were  horror-struck  :  the  eclipse 
seemed  to  threaten  the  fall  of  the  monarchy.* 

§  17.  The  next  day  a  decisive  conflict  was  brought  on  by  acci- 
dent, as  at  Cynoscephalse.  About  three  in  the  afternoon  a  Roman 
horse  broke  loose,  and  was  followed  by  a  few  soldiers  into  the 
bed  of  the  small  stream  which  separated  the  two  armies.  The 
horse  was  seized  by  an  outpost  of  Thracians;  a  scuffle  ensued, 
and  so  many  men  came  up  on  both  sides  to  take  part  in  the 
fray,  that  both  King  and  Consul  drew  out  their  whole  armies 
in  battle  order.  The  Macedonians  attacked.  The  two  Phalanxes, 
the  Brass  and  Silver  Shields,  formed  the  main  body,  flanked  by 
the  light  troops  and  cavalry,  with  a  formidable  body  of  Thracian 
auxiliaries.  Paullus  rode,  unhelmeted,  with  his  gray  hair  loose, 
along  their  line,  and  looked,  as  he  afterwards  said,  with  alarm  at 
the  formidable  mass  of  bristling  pikes.  The  battle  began.  In 
vain  the  Italian  soldiers  showed  more  than  their  accustomed 
bravery.  The  weight  of  the  Phalanxes  was  irresistible  ;  and  the 
Legions  fell  back,  but  so  as  to  draw  the  enemy  to  the  base  of 
the  hills  which  skirted  the  plain.  As  the  ground  became  less 
even,  the  compact  masses  of  the  Phalanxes  began  to  show  gaps 
here  and  there.  Into  every  chink  that  opened,  Roman  soldiers 
penetrated.  Once  more  the  Phalanx  was  tried  against  the 
Legions  and  failed.  The  heavy  infantry,  encumbered  by  their 
long  pikes,  were  cut  down  man  by  man  ;  not  less  than  20,000  fell, 
and  11,000  were  made  prisoners.  The  Macedonian  army  was 
annihilated. 

§  18.  After  the  disastrous  day  of  Pydna,  Perseus  fled  to  Pella, 
his  capital,  which  he  reached  at  midnight.  Next  day,  he  con- 
tinued his  flight  to  Amphipolis,  where  he  stayed  only  to  see  his 
beloved  treasures  put  on  board  ship.  Then,  with  his  children  he 
made  straight  for  the  sacred  asylum  of  Samothrace.  His  only 
followers  were  Evander,  a  Cretan,  and  two  Greek  exiles. 

Paullus  followed  the  King  to  Amphipolis,  but  was  too  late, 
and  dispatched  Octavius  with  the  fleet  to  Samothrace.  On  the 
arrival  of  the  Romans,  the  wretched  King  was  deserted  by  his 
last  followers,  who  carried  ofl"  on  board  ship  the  gold  which  he 
loved  more  than  life.  His  children  were  betrayed  by  their 
keepers  to  Octavius.      Then,  deserted  by  every  one,  he  surren- 

*  Modem  calculations  have  fixed  this  eclipse  to  the  21st  of  June  of  our 
calendar ;  but  according  to  the  Romans  it  was  late  in  August  or  early  in  Sep- 
tember.    So  far  was  their  calendar  from  the  true  time. 


464  CONQUEST  OF  THE  WORLD.  Book  Y 

dered,  and  was  conveyed  to  the  Consul's  quarters  at  Amphipolis. 
He  was  received  by  Paullus  with  distant  courtesy,  but  he  wa& 
given  to  understand  that  the  Macedonian  monarchy  had  ceased  to 
exist. 

§  19.  Great  was  the  joy  at  Rome  at  news  of  the  decisive  vic- 
tories won  by  Anicius  in  Illyria,  and  by  Paullus  in  Macedonia. 
Paullus  remained  in  Greece  during  the  winter,  and  in  the  spring 
was  visited  by  Commissioners  bearing  the  orders  of  the  Senate 
^^ith  regard  to  Macedonia.  The  people  crowded  eagerly  to 
Amphipolis,  as  on  a  former  occasion  the  Greeks  had  crowded 
to  Corinth,  but  with  hopes  and  feelings  far  different.  In  the 
midst  of  a  dead  silence,  Paullus  recited  the  ordinances  in  Latin ; 
Octavius  repeated  them  in  Greek.  "  The  whole  country  was  to 
be  divided  into  four  districts  : — one  between  the  Nestus  and 
the  Strymon,  the  second  between  the  Strymon  and  Axius,  the 
third  between  the  Axius  and  Mount  Olympus,  while  the  fourth 
included  the  inland  districts  bordering  on  Epirus  and  Illyria. 
The  capital  cities  of  each  respectively  were  to  be  Amphipolis, 
Thessalonica,  Pella,  Pelagonia.  Each  district  was  to  constitute  a 
separate  Republic,  but  the  citizens  of  each  were  forbidden  to 
enter  into  any  connubial  or  commercial  relations  with  those  of 
another.  The  tribute  paid  to  Rome  was  to  be  only  half  what 
they  had  hitherto  paid  to  the  King.  They  were  prohibited 
from  working  their  gold  and  silver  mines,  or  to  make  salt  in  the 
country." 

The  isolation  of  Macedonia  was  thus  effectually  provided  for, 
while  the  people  were  amused  with  a  show  of  liberty,  and  pleased 
by  a  remission  of  taxes.  Paullus  drew  up,  for  the  government 
of  the  four  Republics,  a  clear  and  impartial  code  of  laws.  The 
administration  of  each  was  placed  in  the  hands  of  a  Senate  ;  but 
as  all  who  had  hitherto  taken  part  in  the  government  were  trans- 
ported to  Italy,  the  persons  who  held  rule  were  helplesij  and 
ignorant,  and  the  country  fell  into  utter  disorganisation. 

§  20.  The  Greeks  laid  their  complaints  at  the  feet  of  Paulius  ; 
but  the  Senatorial  envoys  turned  a  deaf  ear  to  all  prayers.  Full 
power  was  left  in  the  hands  of  the  Romanizing  Tyrants. 

In  Epirus,  a  shocking  work  still  remained  to  be  done ;  the 
Epirotes  were  to  be  punished  for  their  insurrection.  Cephalus 
and  the  ringleaders  had  sought  a  voluntary  death  ;  but  this  did 
not  satisfy  the  Senate.  By  their  express  orders,  Paullus  met 
Anicius  in  Epirus.  Here  he  announced  the  will  of  the  Senate, 
that  all  Epirotes  should  hereafter  be  free  and  independent,  and 
that  all  their  gold  and  silver  should,  by  a  given  day,  be  deposited 
in  the  treasury  of  seventy  towns  specified  by  name.  On  that 
day   seventy   detachments   of    his   army   entered    each   of    the 


Chap.  XLIII.  THIRD  MACEDONIAN  WAR.  465 

seventy  towns,  seized  the  precious  metals  and  all  free  inhabit- 
ants. The  walls  of  every  town  were  demolished,  the  wretched 
captives,  to  the  number  of  150,000,  were  sold  as  slaves,  and  the 
money  was  distributed  to  the  soldiery.  It  is  grievous  to  have 
to  relate  such  an  act  of  ^Emilius  Paullus.  It  may  be  imagined, 
what  must  have  been  the  public  feeling  of  a  nation,  when  the 
Government  could  deliberately  issue  such  an  order,  when  the 
best  of  its  citizens  thought  himself  bound  to  execute  it  without 
hesitation  or  reserve,  when  no  historian  speaks  of  it  with  so  much 
as  a  word  of  censure. 

§  21.  The  close  of  the  year  167  b.c.  witnessed  the  return  of 
the  conquerors.  Paullus  sailed  from  Oricum  in  a  splendid  galley 
of  seventeen  banks  of  oars,  laden  with  trophies.  He  passed  up 
the  Tiber  amid  the  acclamations  of  the  multitude  who  lined  the 
banks,  followed  by  Anicius  and  Octavius. 

His  triumph  took  place  in  the  last  days  of  November.  It  was 
the  most  gorgeous  spectacle  which  had  yet  feasted  the  eyes  of  the 
Roman  populace.  The  Forum  was  fitted  out  with  rising  seats  like 
a  theatre,  that  all  might  see  the  processions  as  they  passed.  On 
the  first  day  the  statues  and  paintings  taken  were  exhibited  on 
250  waggons  ;  on  the  second,  the  splendid  arms  and  accoutre- 
ments of  the  Macedonian  officers,  suspended  from  the  long  pikes 
of  the  phalanx-men,  passed,  along  the  Sacred  Way  :  then  fol- 
lowed 3000  men,  walking  four  abreast,  each  of  whom  carried  a 
vase  full  of  silver  coin :  and  the  procession  closed  with  another 
set,  who  bore  the  silver  plate  used  at  the  tables  of  Perseus  and 
his  nobles.  On  the  third  and  great  day  the  procession  began 
with  a  body  of  trumpeters,  followed  by  twenty  youths,  each 
leading  a  milk-white  bull,  with  his  horns  gilded,  garlanded  with 
ribands  and  flowers.  Then  came  men  carrying  gold  coin  in 
vases,  and  the  gold  plate  and  the  precious  stones.  Next  followed 
the  royal  car  of  Perseus,  laden  with  his  armour  and  surmounted 
by  the  diadem  of  Macedon.  After  it  came  the  children  of 
Perseus — two  boys  and  a  girl  with  their  attendants, — and  Per- 
seus himself,  with  his  queen,  stupefied  with  grief.  Last  of  all 
was  seen  the  triumphal  car  of  the  Proconsul,  preceded  by  men 
bearing  400  crowns  of  gold,  the  gifts  of  the  cities  of  Greece, 
followed  by  his  two  eldest  sons  on  horseback,  together  with  all  his 
army  in  its  order. 

§  22.  But  Paullus,  amid  all  this  glory,  was  reminded  that  he 
was  mortal.  The  two  sons,  who  shared  his  triumph,  had  been 
adopted  into  other  families;  the  elder  by  Q.  Fabius  Maximus, 
son  of  the  old  Dictator,  the  second  by  P.  Scipio,  the  son  of 
Africanus.  But  he  had  two  younger  boys  still  left  to  brighten 
his  home,  when  he  returned  to  the  City.     Of  these,  one   died 

90* 


466 


CONQUEST  OF  THE  WORLD. 


Book  Y. 


five  days  before  his  Triumph,  the  other  three  days  after.  The 
stern  father  was  moved  as  such  men  are  wont  to  be  moved  by 
heavy  calamities ;  but  with  the  true  feeling  of  a  Roman  he 
lightened  his  private  woe  by  representing  it  as  a  public  good. 
In  a  speech  which  he  made  to  the  People,  according  to  custom, 
on  surrendering  his  command,  he  recounted  his  successes ; 
"but,"  he  said,  "at  every  new  success  he  had  dreaded  the 
wrath  of  Nemesis,  and  he  thanked  the  gods  that  the  blow  had 
fallen  upon  himself,  and  not  upon  his  country.  No  one  was  left 
to  bear  the  name  of  Paullus.  But  he  repined  not  at  this  do- 
mestic sorrow  ;  he  rejoiced  that  Rome  was  happy,  though  he  was 
miserable." 

§  23.  The  treasure  taken  in  the  Macedonian  war  paid  all  debts 
contracted  in  its  progress  ;  and  the  tribute  annually  exacted  from 
Macedon,  added  to  the  revenues  of  other  Provinces,  enabled  the 
Government  to  dispense  with  all  direct  taxes  upon  Roman  citizens 
in  future  wars.  Such  tax  was  only  once  imposed  anew,  at  a  disas- 
trous crisis. 

§  24.  The  captive  monarch  was  kept  in  durance  at  Alba :  his 
two  other  children  died  soon  after  the  triumph.  It  is  gratifying 
to  know  that  Paullus  interfered  to  procure  the  liberation  of  Per- 
seus from  a  loathsome  dungeon  to  which  he  had  at  first  been  con- 
signed. The  unhappy  King  did  not  long  survive  his  degradation. 
His  surviving  son,  Alexander,  was  set  free  after  a  while,  and  lived 
long  at  Rome  in  the  condition  of  a  public  clerk.  Such  was  the 
destiny  of  the  last  heir  of  the  monarchy  of  Macedon. 


(iatii  of  Lepidus,  representing  Paullus  triumphing  over  Perseus  and  his  Children. 


Coin  of  Attalus  I. 


CHAPTER    XLIV. 


GENERAL  HISTORY  BETWEEN  THE  WAR  WITH  PERSEUS  AND  THE  LAST 
WARS  WITH  GREECE  AND  CARTHAGE.       (166 150  B.C.) 

§  1.  Imperious  bearing  of  Rome  in  the  East:  Antiochus  Epiphanes  invades 
Egypt :  "  Circle"  of  Popillius.  §  2.  One  Thousand  chief  Achseans  detained 
in  Italy.  §  3.  Base  treatment  of  the  Rhodians.  §  4.  Attempts  against 
Eumenes :  he^  is  succeeded  by  Attalus  II.  §  5.  Meanness  of  Prusias.  §  6. 
War  of  Antiochus  Epiphanes  with  the  Jews :  the  Maccabees :  his  nephew 
Demetrius  obtains  the  crown.  §  1.  Egypt.  §  8.  Wars  in  Southern  Gaul 
and  Dalmatia.  §  9.  Death  of  ^milius  Paullus:  his  frugality.  §  10. 
Cato:  Embassy  of  Carneades.  §  11.  Complaints  of  the  Spaniards:  trial 
and  exile  of  two  Governors:  Calpurnlan  Law.  §  12.  Outbreak  of  war  in 
Spain:  patriotism  of  Scipio  the  son  of  Paullus.  §  13.  Base  treachery  of 
Galba  to  the  Lusitanians :  his  trial  and  acquittal.  §  14.  Early  life  and 
character  of  Scipio  the  son  of  Paullus. 

§  1.  The  years  which  followed  the  fall  of  Macedon  present 
little  to  interest  the  reader ;  yet  in  that  time  the  seeds  were  sown 
for  future  oonquests.  The  reduction  of  Carthage,  Greece,  and  Ma- 
cedon to  the  condition  of  Roman  Provinces  was  the  consequence 
of  the  diplomatic  art,  which  senators  learned  every  day  to  practise 
with  more  unscrupulousness. 

In  the  East  the  Senate  assumed  a  more  imperious  tone :  kings 
bowed  down  before  them  and  became  their  vassals. 

In  Greece  every  state  was  subject  to  tyrants  \<^ho  ruled  under 
the  patronage  of  Rome.  Athens  alone  was  left  untortured,  for  she 
bad  ever  been  the  submissive  servant  of  the  Senate. 

Meantime  Antiochus  Epiphanes,  the  half-mad  King  of  Syria, 
took  occasion  of  a  disputed  succession  in  Egypt  to  mvade  that 
famous  country.  His  progress  was  arrested  in  a  summary 
fashion.     When  the  Senate  heard  of  the  movement  of  Antiochus, 


468  CONQUEST  OF  THE  WORLD.  '         Book  V. 

C.  Popillius  Laenas  had  been  dispatclied  to  stop  him.  He  found 
the  King  on  the  borders  of  Egypt ;  he  demanded  and  obtained 
an  immediate  audience.  Antiochus  advanced  graciously  with 
extended  hand,  but  tlie  Roman  Envoy  held  out  a  written  decree 
of  the  Senate,  by  which  the  King  was  required  to  leave  Egypt  at 
peace.  The  King  demanded  time  for  deliberation,  upon  which 
the  insolent  Roman  drew  a  circle  round  him  with  his  staff,  and 
told  him  that  before  he  stepped  out  of  that  circle  an  answer  must 
be  given.  Confounded  by  this  abruptness,  Antiochus  submitted, 
and  withdrew  his  troops. 

§  2.  After  the  death  of  Philopoemen  in  183  b.c,  Lycortas  be- 
came Chief  of  the  Achaean  League.  He  would  willingly  have 
pursued  the  bold  policy  of  Philopoemen.  But  his  son  Polybius, 
with  the  other  patriotic  leaders,  felt  their  real  weakness;  and 
an  agreement  was  made  with  the  leaders  of  the  Roman  party 
to  send  an  embassy  to  Rome  (b.c.  180).  In  this  embassy  was 
Callicrates,  who  at  once  sold  himself  to  the  Senate,  and  assured 
them  that  so  long  as  Lycortas,  Polybius,  and  the  popular  Chiefs 
were  in  power,  the  League  would  never  act  in  the  interests  of 
Rome;  that  if  they  would  lend  the  weight  of  their  influence 
to  place  him  in  power,  he  would  undertake  that  the  Achaians 
should  give  them  no  more  trouble;  and  that  similar  policy 
might  be  pursued  with  advantage  in  every  state  of  Greece. 
After  the  battle  of  Pydna,  Commissioners  were  sent  to  the 
Assembly  of  the  Achaean  League,  to  declare  that  the  Senate  had 
received  information  that  certain  leading  Achaean  statesmen 
had  supported  Perseus;  they  now  demanded  that  the  Assem- 
bly should  pass  a  vote  of  condemnation  on  all  such  .persons ; — 
the  names  should  be  made  known  when  the  vote  was  passed. 
The  President  refused  to  put  this  iniquitous  question  to  the 
vote,  insisting  that  the  names  of  the  accused  should  first  be 
stated.  After  some  hesitation  the  Commissioners  named  all 
who  had  held  the  office  of  Captain-General  for  some  years. 
Xenon  rose  and  indignantly  offered  to  prove  his  innocence 
before  the  Senate.  With  this  incautious  offer  the  Commissioners 
eagerly  closed,  and  Callicrates  drew  up  a  list  of  1000  suspected 
persons,  including  Polybius  (his  father,  Lycortas,  was  dead),  and 
every  man  of  note  in  the  cities  of  the  League.  But  the  Senate 
had  no  intentioti  of  bringing  them  to  trial.  They  were  distri- 
buted among  the  cities  of  Etruria,  to  be  kept  in  close  custody, 
all  except  Polybius,  who  was  allowed  to  reside  in  the  house 
of  ^milius  Paullus.  CaUicrates  was  now  absolute  ruler  of  the 
Peloponnese. 

§  3.  The  treatment  of  the  Rhodians  was  most  dishonourable 
to  Rome.     The  islanders  had  ventured  to  reduce  their  insurgent 


Chap.  XLIV.     TYRANNY  OF  ROME  OVER  THE  EAST  469 

subjects,  the  Lycians  and  Carians,  to  obedience.  The  Senate 
now  encouraged  these  people  to  appeal,  declaring  with  shameless 
eflrontery  that  they  had  never  intended  to  make  them  subjects, 
but  only  allies,  of  Rhodes.  During  the  war  with  Perseus,  the 
wily  Philippus  suggested  to  the  Rhodians  to  offer  their  mediation. 
The  ambassadors  charged  with  this  business  arrived  in  Itah^ 
about  the  time  that  PauUus  was  setting  forth.  They  were  not 
admitted  to  an  audience  till  the  news  of  the  battle  of  Pydna 
arrived,  when  they  were  dismissed  with  a  contemptuous  reproof. 
Soon  after  they  were  deprived  not  only  of  Lycia  and  Caria,  but 
also  of  other  cities  which  they  had  purchased ;  and  a  fatal  blow 
was  aimed  at  their  commerce  by  declaring  Delos  a  free  port  under 
Roman  protection.  By  this  single  act  their  custom-dues  fell  from 
1,000,000  drachmae  per  annum  to  150,000. 

§  4.  Nor  did  the  Kings  fare  better  than  the  free  States. 
Eumenes  of  Perganms,  so  long  the  favourite  of  the  Senate,  had 
shown  some  coolness  to  Rome"  in  the  war  with  Perseus.  His 
brother  Attains,  however,  had  remained  in  the  Roman  camp, 
and  was  sent  to  Rome  with  congratulations  after  the  battle  ol 
Pydna.  The  leaders  of  the  Senate  now  insidiously  advised  him 
to  demand  a  portion  of  his  brother's  dominions  for  himself. 
Attalus  was  a  vain  but  not  ill-disposed  prince,  and  he  shrunk 
from  such  disloyalty.  The  Senate  then  secretly  urged  Prusias 
of  Bithynia  to  lay  complaints  against  the  King  of  Pergamus ;  but 
all  their  insidious  arts  were  baffled,  and  Eumenes  died  upon  the 
throne  four  years  after.  He  left  an  infant  son,  who  ultimately 
succeeded  to  the  throne,  but  his  immediate  successor  was  his 
brother,  who  took  the  name  of  Attalus  Philadelphus.  Polybius 
gives  a  high  character  of  Eumenes  ;  it  is  to  the  credit  of  all  con- 
cerned that  his  brothers,  notwithstanding  all  temptations,  con- 
tinued to  act  as  his  faithful  ministers. 

§  5.  Prusias  of  Bithynia  was  among  the  first  to  offer  congra- 
tulations after  the  battle  of  Pydna.  This  mean-spirited  Prince 
appeared  at  Rome  with  his  head  shaven,  and  dressed  like  a  slave 
who  had  just  received  his  liberty.  The  Senate  were  not  dis- 
pleased at  this  abject  flattery.  But  though  they  had  encouraged 
him  to  quarrel  with  Attalus, — when  he-  ventured  to  make  war, 
and  was  at  the  gates  of  Pergamus,  they  imperiously  compelled 
him  to  make  peace. 

§  6.  The  mad  King  of  Syria,  prevented  from  his  attempts  on 
Egypt  by  the  famous  circle  of  Popillius,  found  employment 
nearer  home.  He  had  before  this  time  conquered  Judaea,  and 
had  insulted  the  religious  feelings  of  the  people  by  offering 
swine's  flesh  on  the  altar  of  Jehovah.  His  gross  and  outrageous 
tyranny  at  length  roused   the   shrinking   energies  of  the   Jews. 


4 'TO  CONQUEST  OF  THE  WORLD.  Book  Y. 

Mattathias  and  his  seven  heroic  sons  raised  the  standard  of  the 
Maccabees  about  the  year  168  b.c,  and  unaccustomed  lustre  was 
shed  upon  the  arms  of  Israel.  Antiochus  Epiphanes  died  in  164, 
and  left  the  heritage  of  this  war  to  his  infant  son  Antiochus 
Eupator.  But  there  was  a  competitor  for  the  throne,  whose 
claims  were  in  every  way  superior.  This  was  Demetrius,  son  of 
Seleucus  the  elder  brother  and  predecessor  of  Epiphanes.  He 
was  at  that  time  a  youth  of  twenty-five  years,  and  had  been  long 
detained  at  Rome  as  a  hostage.  On  the  death  of  his  uncle,  he 
applied  to  the  Senate  for  his  rightful  inheritance.  That  astute 
Council  preferred  to  have  an  infant  on  the  throne  of  Syria,  and 
sent  Octavius  to  assume  the  guardianship  of  the  child  Antiochus. 
But  Lysias,  a  kinsman  of  the  royal  family,  suspected  the  Senate, 
and  hired  an  assassin  to  murder  Octavius  on  his  landing.  At  that 
moment  Demetrius  appeared  in  Syria  and  was  proclaimed  King. 
The  soldiery  acknowledged  him,  and  murdered  both  the  infant 
King  and  his  guardian  Lysias ;  and  the  Senate  thought  it  best  to 
confirm  Demetrius  in  possession  of  the  throne.  He  endeavoured 
to  propitiate  their  favour  by  every  means.  But  the  Senate 
secretly  encouraged  the  eff'orts  of  Judas  Maccabseus,  who  was 
now  the  leader  of  the  Jews,  and  in  the  year  161  b.c.  con- 
cluded a  formal  covenant  with  him.  They  did  not,  however, 
lend  him  any  open  assistance ;  and  the  Jews  finally  sunk  under 
the  power  of  the  Syrian  monarchy. 

§  7.  In  Egypt,  also,  the  Senate  endeavoured  to  profit  by  pro- 
moting the  dissensions  which  first  led  Antiochus  Epiphanes  to 
his  attempt  upon  Egypt.  But  in  no  long  time  Ptolemy  Physcon 
(Fat-paunch)  succeeded  to  the  monarchy.  The  low  state  to 
which  Egypt  had  now  sunk  is  aptly  typified  by  the  name  of  its 
King. 

Thus,  without  using  actual  force,  the  Senate  weakened  every 
government  in  the  East.  It  was  needless  to  employ  the  Legions 
and  to  spend  money  in  crushing  governments  which  were  so 
weak  and  so  divided.  When  "  the  pear  was  ripe,"  it  was  sure  to 
fall  into  the  ready  hand  of  Rome.  Her  emblem  at  this  time 
ought  to  have  been  the  Serpent  rather  than  the  Eagle. 

§  8.  Neither  were  her  arms  much  more  actively  employed  in 
Western  conquest.  In  166  b.c.  the  Consuls  C.  Sulpicius  Gallus, 
the  predictor  of  the  eclipse,  and  M.  Marcellus  pushed  the  Le- 
gions for  the  first  time  across  the  Maritime  Alps,  and  obtained  a 
double  triumph  over  the  Gauls  and  Ligurians,  who  peopled  the 
western  slopes  of  the  range.  And  twelve  years  later  (154)  the 
Consul  Q.  Opimius  was  sent  to  drive  back  the  Oxybians,  a  Ligurian 
tribe,  who  had  descended  to  the  coasts  of  the  Mediterranean 
and  assaulted  Antipolis  and  Niaaea  (Antibes  and  Nice),  two  cities 


Chap.  XLIY.  ^MILIUS  PAULLUS— CATO.  4Vl 

subject  to  Massilia,  then  and  always  a  faithful  ally  of  Rome. 
Such  were  the  first  steps  towards  the  conquest  of  Gaul. 

Two  years  before  this  last  campaign,  the  Dalmatians,  an  Illyrian 
tribe,  who  occupied  the  coast-land  between  Istria  and  Illyria 
Proper,  incurred  the  anger  of  Rome  by  making  inroads  into  the 
country  about  Scodra.  Scipio  Nasica,  the  friend  of  ^milius 
Paullus,  brought  this  petty  war  to  a  triumphant  conclusion  in  155 
B.C.  The  whole  coast  of  the  Adriatic  was  now  subject  to  Romaa 
power. 

§  9.  The  same  period  is  not  marked  by  any  remarkable  inci- 
dents at  home. 

^milius  Paullus  held  the  office  of  Censor  three  years  after 
his  triumph ;  and  five  years  later  he  was  gathered  to  his  fathers, 
having  completed  his  three  score  years  and  ten.  His  funeral 
wa£  honoured  with  splendid  games,  and  with  the  first  perform- 
ance of  the  Adelphi  of  Terence,  in  which  it  is  said  that  the  poet 
was  assisted  by  the  son  of  the  deceased,  young  Scipio,  who  was 
then  in  his  twenty-fifth  year.  Paullus  left  behind  him  a  name 
unspotted,  except  by  the  devastation  of  Epirus.  He  professed 
the  austere  philosophy  of  the  Stoics,  wliich  he  applied  to  main- 
tain the  simplicity  of  the  old  Roman  manners, — so  far  was  it 
from  true  that  in  all  cases  corruption  flowed  from  Hellenic 
sources.  At  his  death,  it  appeared  that  his  whole  property 
amounted  to  no  more  than  sixty  talents,  little  more  than  the  great 
Scipio  had  bestowed  upon  each  of  his  two  daughters. 

§  10.  Old  Cato  still  maintained  the  battle  against  luxury. 
He  warmly  supported  several  Sumptuary  Laws,  which  were 
passed  at  this  time  to  limit  the  expenses  of  banquets.  He  buried 
his  only  son  with  austere  frugality. 

This  son  had  married  the  daughter  of  ^Emilius  Paullus,  and 
thus  the  old  man  had  been  drawn  into  connection  with  the 
Scipios.  This  connection,  together  with  age,  seems  to  have 
exerted  a  softening  influence  upon  the  old  Censor.  In  his  latter 
days  he  had  extended  the  love  which  he  had  always  shown  for 
Roman  literature  to  that  of  Greece.  The  language  of  Homer  and 
Demosthenes  could  boast  no  more  signal  triumph  than  that  it 
conquered  the  stubborn  pride  of  Cato. 

Yet  the  old  Censor  continued  to  wage  war  against  the  fashion- 
able learning.  His  notion  of  education  was,  that  the  youth 
should  engage  as  early  as  possible  in  the  active  struggles  of 
the  Forum ;  all  speculative  studies  were,  in  his  belief,  calcu- 
lated to  unfit  men  for  practical  life.  In  161  b.c,  the  Senate,  at 
his  advice,  authorised  the  Praetor  Pomponius  to  banish  all  phi- 
losophers and  rhetoricians  from  Rome;  and  six  years  later  (155), 
A  notable  occasion  off'ered  itself  for  enforcing  his  principles.     In 


472  CONQUEST  OF  THE  WORLD.  Book  V. 

that  year  the  Athenians  sent  an  embassy  to  Rome  to  pray  for 
the  remission  of  a  fine  imposed  upon  their  city  by  the  Senate 
for  certain  depredations  committed  in  the  Oropian  territory. 
To  add  weight  to  their  prayers,  they  named  as  the  envoys  the 
chiefs  of  the  three  great  schools  which  then  divided  the  philo- 
sophic world, — Diogenes  the  Stoic,  Critolaus  the  Peripatetic,  and 
Carneades  the  famous  founder  of  the  New  Academy.  These 
ingenious  reasoners  were  welcomed  by  the  younger  members  of 
the  Roman  nobility.  C.  Acilius,  a  Senator,  himself  acted  as  their 
interpreter.  Crowds  of  young  Romans  came  to  hear  the  acute 
logic  of  Diogenes,  the  persuasive  rhetoric  of  Critolaus,  and  the 
subtle  speculation  of  Carneades,  whose  philosophy  was  so  un- 
biassed that  he  was  ready  not  only  to  maintain  either  side  in 
any  argument,  but  was  never  known  to  betray  an  opinion  of  his 
own.  Old  Cato,  though  he  cared  little  for  justice  when  the 
questions  lay  between  Rome  and  foreigners,  could  not  brook 
to  see  the  principles  of  right  and  wrong  treated  as  indifferent 
questions,  and  was  alarmed  lest  the  practical  principles  and 
habits  of  Roman  youth  might  give  way  to  a  taste  for  sophistical 
trifling.  The  Senate  remitted  the  fine ;  but,  at  Cato's  instance, 
ordered  the  ingenious  strangers  to  quit  Rome  immediately. 

§  11.  After  the  uneventful  period  of  which  we  have  been 
speaking,  war  broke  out  in  Spain,  speedily  followed  by  others  in 
the  Carthaginian  territory,  in  Macedonia,  and  in  Greece.  These 
last  we  will  reserve  for  separate  chapters ;  but  of  the  first  it  will 
be  convenient  to  speak  here. 

The  treaty  of  Tib.  Gracchus  in  1*79  b.c.  was  followed  by 
a  long  tranquillity :  yet  there  was  much  reason  for  discontent. 
The  oppression  of  the  Praetors,  and  the  extortion  of  the  tax- 
collectors,  were  constant;  and,  after  eight  years,  envoys  from 
both  Provinces  appeared  with  formal  complaints  before  the 
Senate.  At  that  time  the  war  with  Perseus  was  just  beginning, 
and,  therefore,  there  was  no  disposition  to  provoke  the  hostility 
of  the  Spaniards.  Five  Senators  were  named  as  Judges,  and 
the  Spanish  envoys  were  left  to  name  their  own  advocates. 
Those  of  the  Hither  Province  chose  Cato  and  Nasica ;  those  of 
Further  Spain,  ^milius  PauUus  and  Sulpicius  Gallus.  The  first 
Governor  indicted  before  this  Court  was  acquitted.  So  were  the 
next  two.  But  the  advocates  declared  that  they  would  apply  for 
fresh  trials,  and  the  accused  sought  safety  in  voluntary  exile. 
In  this  Senatorial  Court  we  may  recognise  the  germ  of  the 
famous  Law  of  L.  Calpurnius  Piso  de  rebus  repetundis,  that  is, 
the  Law  for  the  recovery  of  undue  exactions  on  the  part  of  Pro- 
vincial Governors.     It  was  passed  about  twenty  years  later  (149 

B.C.) 


Chap.  XLW.  WAR  IN  SPAHS".  473 

§  12.  About  eighteen  years  after  this  imperfect  attempt  at 
redress,  the  smouldering  fire  of  war  broke  out.  A  Celtiberian 
city  named  Segeda,  in  the  upper  valley  of  the  Tagus,  began  to 
rebuild  their  walls,  contrary  to  an  article  in  the  treaty  of 
Gracchus.  To  resist  the  Consul  M.  Fulvius  Nobilior,*  the 
Segedians  formed  an  alliance  with  the  people  of  Numantia,  a 
brave  tribe  which  occupied  the  mountainous  country  in  which 
the  Douro  takes  its  rise.  Fulvius  handed  over  his  command  to 
Marcellus  after  an  inglorious  campaign.  The  new  Commander, 
who  was  grandson  of  the  famous  Marcellus,  assumed  the  offensive 
with  so  much  vigour  that  the  enemy  sued  for  a  renewal  of  the 
treaty  of  Gracchus.  But  the  Senate  ordered  Lucullus,  the  new 
Consul,  to  make  fresh  levies  for  the  war.  A  scene  now  followed, 
which  might  have  shown  the  Senate  that  their  power  was  not 
destined  to  be  perpetual.  When  Lucullus  held  his  levy,  none 
were  willing  to  enlist,  and  the  Tribunes  of  the  Plebs  committed 
both  Consuls  to  prison  for  enforcing  enlistment.  In  this  difficulty, 
voung  Scipio,  the  second  son  of  Paullus,  who  had  lived  up  to  the 
age  of  thirty-three  in  retirement,  came  forward  as  a  mediator. 
He  had  been  just  offered  a  lucrative  mission  to  Macedonia ;  but 
he  declined  it,  and  said  that  he  would  serve  however  and  wher- 
ever the  Senate  thought  fit.  This  patriotic  conduct  had  its  effect. 
Scipio  was  elected  one  of  the  Legionary  Tribunes,  and  the  levies 
were  concluded. 

Lucullus  made  an  unprovoked  inroad  into  the  country  of  the 
Vaccseans,  who  lay  to  the  west  of  Numantia.  The  town  of  Cauca 
capitulated ;  but  Lucullus,  with  scandalous  ill-faith,  put  all  the  in- 
habitants to  the  sword.  He  then  attacked  a  strong  fortress  not 
far  from  Valladolid.  Here  a  tall  Spaniard,  splendidly  armed,  rode 
forth  and  challenged  any  Roman  to  single  combat.  Scipio  accepted 
the  challenge,  and  slew  his  gigantic  adversary. 

§  13.  Meanwhile,  the  Lusitanian  shepherds  had  resumed  their 
inroads  into  the  Further  Province.  While  Lucullus  was  wantonly 
assailing  the  Vaccseans,  the  Praetor  Sergius  Galba  invaded  Lu- 
sitania.  The  mountaineers  dispersed  before  the  Legions,  but 
fell  upon  the  Praetor  at  a  disadvantage,  and  so  effectually 
routed  him,  that  he  escaped  only  with  a  few  horse  over  the 
mountains  into  Baetica,  and  passed  the  winter  meditating 
vengeance. 

Early  in  the  next  spring  he  again  entered  Lusitania  from  the 
south,  while  Lucullus  advanced  from  the  north,  wasting  the  coun- 
try with  fire  and  sword.     The  people  oftered  submission.     Galba 

*  Consul  for  the  year  152  B.C.  In  this  year  the  Consuls  first  entered  office 
In  the  Calends  of  January,  instead  of  the  Calends  of  March,  which  had  hitherto 
been  the  first  day  of  the  official  year. 


474  CONQUEST  OF  THE  WORLD.  Book  Y. 

answered  with  apparent  kindness.  "  He  was  grieved,"  he  said, 
"  to  see  the  poverty  of  the  country.  If  the  inhabitants  would  meet 
him  in  three  divisions,  at  places  specified,  he  would  assign  lands 
and  cities  to  each,  as  Gracchus  had  done."  The  simple  people 
believed  him.  But  Galba  fell  on  each  body  separately  with  his 
whole  force  and  cut  it  to  pieces.  This  infamous  piece  of  treach- 
ery crushed  the  spirit  of  the  Lusitanians.  But  retributive  justice 
waited  her  time.  Among  those  who  escaped  the  sword  of  Galba 
was  a  young  shepherd,  named  Yiriathus,  of  whom  we  shall  hear 
another  time. 

Galba  was  brought  to  trial,  not  so  much  for  treachery  to  the 
enemy,  as  because  he  divided  so  small  a  portion  of  the  booty, 
and  kept  back  the  larger  share  for  himself.  Old  Cato  spoke  with 
honest  indignation  against  the  un-Roman  perfidy  of  the  Gover- 
nor. But  Galba  was  extremely  eloquent  and  extremely  rich. 
The  Centuries  made  themselves  partakers  in  his  infamy  by  a  vote 
of  acquittal,  and  six  years  after  he  was  elected  Consul  by  their 
votes.  Corruption  was  descending  to  all  orders  and  degrees  of 
men. 

§  14.  We  will  here  add,  by  way  of  contrast  to  Galba's  baseness, 
some  account  of  the  man  who  in  the  next  few  years  played  the 
most  important  part  among  the  generals  of  Rome. 

P.  Scipio,  sometimes  called  ^Emilianus  to  distinguish  him 
from  his  great  namesake,  has  already  been  mentioned  more 
than  once.  His  youth  is  remarkable  for  his  intimacy  with  an 
exile,  Polybius,  the  Achaean  statesman,  the  historian  of  Roman 
conquest.  The  Greek  had  become  acquainted  with  Paullus 
and  his  sons  during  the  Macedonian  War ;  it  was  at  the  request 
of  the  young  man,  that  he  was  allowed  to  reside  in  the  house 
of  Paullus,  while  his  fellow-exiles  were  buried  in  Etrurian 
prisons.  Polybius  was  at  this  time  not  less  than  forty  years 
of  age ;  Scipio  was  but  eighteen.  The  youth's  habits  were  re- 
served and  shy.  He  was  fonder  of  field-sports  than  of  the 
Forum.  When  the  Achaean  exile  first  came  to  Rome,  he  attached 
himself  chiefly  to  Fabius,  the  elder  brother,  whose  manners 
were  more  frank  and  cordial.  But  one  day,  when  Fabius  had 
gone  (as  usual)  to  the  Forum,  Scipio,  with  an  ingenuous  blush, 
complained  of  the  neglect  shown  to  himself.  "  And  yet,"  said 
he,  "  I  am  myself  to  blame.  Men  think  me  indolent,  because  I 
love  not  the  strife  of  the  Forum,  and  deem  me  unworthy  of  the 
great  name  I  bear."  Polybius  perceived  that  he  had  mistaken 
the  character  of  the  young  man  (it  is  from  himself  that  we  learn 
the  facts),  and  offered  his  best  services  in  advancing  his  educa- 
tion. "  Book-learning  you  and  your  brother  may  get  from  any 
©f  my  countrymen.     But  for  the   lessons  of  practical   life,  my 


Chap.  XLIV.  SCIPIO  ^MILIANUS.  4^5 

experience  may  enable  me  to  serve  you."  Young  Scipio  seized 
the  hand  of  his  new  friend,  and  passionately  exclaimed :  "  If 
you  will  but  make  me  your  chief  care,  I  shall  prove  unworthy 
neither  of  my  great  father,  nor  of  him  whose  adopted  name 
I  bear."  Polybius  undertook  his  work  not  without  fear,  for 
he  saw  the  temptations  which  would  beset  a  young  man  so 
noble  and  so  wealthy.  But  the  seed  was  sown  on  no  ungrateful 
soil.  '  Young  Scipio  followed  his  father  in  adopting  the  practical 
philosophy  of  the  Stoics,  and  resisted  the  besetting  sins  of  the 
day, — selfishness  and  sensuality.  If  he  seldom  set  foot  in  the 
Forum,  he  shunned  no  laborious  exercises :  many  hours  he  spent 
in  hunting  the  boar  or  the  deer  on  the  Alban  Hills,  accompanied 
by  Polybius,  who  shared  his  ardour  for  the  chase.  The  wife  of 
the  great  Scipio,  his  aunt  by  blood  and  grandmother  by  adoption, 
had  used  a  costly  equipage  and  large  retinue.  At  her  death, 
Scipio,  with  thoughtful  generosity,  gave  it  all  to  his  mother  Emilia. 
At  the  same  time,  he  was  called  on  (as  heir  to  the  great  Scipio) 
to  make  up  half  the  dowry  of  his  two  daughters,  which  had  been 
left  unpaid.  The  law  allowed  him  three  years  for  payment ;  but 
he  paid  down  the  whole  fifty  talents  at  once,  to  the  surprise  of 
Nasica  and  Gracchus,  husbands  of  the  ladies.  At  the  death  of  his 
natural  father,  he  inherited  a  moiety  of  his  fortune,  which  he  at 
once  relinquished  in  favour  of  his  less  wealthy  brother  Fabius,  and 
undertook  of  his  own  accord  to  bear  the  expense  of  the  gladia- 
torial show,  which  Fabius,  as  the  eldest  son,  was  called  on  to  ex- 
hibit. "These  things,"  says  Polybius,  "would  be  excellent  any- 
where ;  but  at  Rome,  where  no  one  gives  anything  without  need, 
nor  pays  a  talent  before  the  time  prescribed  by  law,  they  were 
perfect  miracles." 


CHAPTER    XLV. 

THE  LAST  WARS  WITH  MACEDON  AND  GREECE  :    FALL  OF  CORINTH. 
(151—146  B.C.) 

§  1.  Liberation  of  the  Achaean  captives.  §  2.  Violent  Counsels  of  these  men. 
§  3.  Appearance  of  a  Pretender  in  Macedonia.  §  4.  The  Achaeans  revolt  : 
Q.  Metellus  recovers  Macedonia,  §  5.  War  declared  against  the  Achaeans.' 
§  6.  Metellus  defeats  Critolaus  and  advances  towards  the  Isthmus.  §  7. 
Superseded  by  L.  Mummius,  who  defeats  Diseus  before  Corinth :  Sack  of 
Corinth.  §  8.  Mummius  sends  home  the  Statues  and  works  of  Art.  §  9. 
G-reece  formed  into  the  Roman  Province  of  Achaia :  good  offices  of  Polybius. 
§  10.  Macedonia  and  Epirus  formed  into  another  Province :  also  lUyria. 
§  11.  Triumphs  of  Metellus  and  Mummius. 

§  1.  In  the  same  year  in  which  Lucullus  and  Galba  took  com- 
mand in  Spain,  the  Senate  was  induced  to  perform  an  act 
of  tardy  justice  in  the  release  of  the  Acha3an  captives.  The 
abduction  of  the  best  men  in  every  state  of  Greece  gave  free 
scope,  as  has  been  said,  to  the  oppressions  of  the  tyrants  favoured 
by  Rome.  In  the  Achaean  Assembly  alone  there  was  still  spirit 
enough  to  check  Callicrates,  who  never  ventured  to  assail  the 
persons  and  property  of  his  fellow-citizens.  Meantime  years 
rolled  on;  the  captives  still  languished  in  Etruscan  prisons;  hope 
deferred  and  sickness  were  fast  thinning  their  numbers :  the 
Assembly  asked  that  only  Polybius  and  Stratius  might  return, 
but  the  request  was  met  by  a  peremptory  negative.  At  last, 
when  Scipio  returned  from  Spain,  he  induced  Cato  to  inter- 
cede for  these  unhappy  men.  The  manner  of  the  old  Censor's 
intercession  is  characteristic.  The  debate  had  lasted  long  and 
the  issue  was  doubtful,  when  Cato  rose,  and,  without  a  word 
about  justice  or  humanity,  simply  said  :  "  Have  we  really  nothing 
to  do  but  to  sit  here  all  day,  debating  whether  a  parcel  of  old 
Greeks  are  to  have  their  coffins  made  here  or  at  home  ?"  The 
question  was  decided  by  this  unfeeling  argument,  and  the  pri- 
soners, who  in  sixteen  years  had  dwindled  from  1000  to  300, 
were  set  free.  But  when  Polybius  prayed  that  his  comrades 
might  be  restored  to  their  former  rank  and  honours,  the  old 
senator  smiled,  and  told  him  "  he  was  acting  like  Ulysses,  when 
he  ventured  back  into  the  cave  of  the  Cyclops  to  recover  his  cap 
and  belt." 

§  2.  The  men  released  in  this  ungracious  way  had  passed  the 
best  part  of  their  lives  in  captivity.      The  elder  and  more  ex- 


Chap.  XLT.  LAST  MACEDONIAN  WAR.  477       — 

perienced  among  them  were  dead.  The  survivors  returned  ^rith^ 
feelings  embittered  against  Rome ;  they  were  rash  and  ignorant, 
and,  what  was  worse,  they  had  lost  all  sense  of  honour  and  all 
principle,  and  were  ready  to  expose  their  country  to  any  danger 
in  order  to  gratify  their  own  passions.  The  chief  name  that  has 
reached  us  is  that  of  Diaeus.  Polybius  did  not  return  at  first, 
and  when  he  reached  Greece  he  found  his  countrymen  acting 
with  such  reckless  violence  that  he  gladly  accepted  Scipio's  invi- 
tation to  accompany  him  to  the  siege  of  Carthage.  Callicrates, 
by  a  strange  reverse,  was  now  the  leader  of  the  moderate  party. 
Diaeus  advocated  every  violent  and  unprincipled  measure.  On  an 
embassy  to  Rome  the  former  died,  and  Diaeus  returned  as  chief  of 
the  Achaean  League. 

§  3.  Not  long  after  (in  148  b.c.)  a  pretender  to  the  throne  of 
Macedon  appeared.  He  was  a  young  man  named  Andriscus,  a 
native  of  Adramyttium,  who  gave  himself  out  as  Philip,  a  younger 
son  of  that  luckless  monarch.  The  state  of  Macedonia,  divided 
into  four  Republics,  each  in  a  state  of  compulsory  excommuni- 
cation, was  so  distracted,  that,  in  the  year  151,  the  people 
sent  an  embassy  to  Rome,  praying  that  Scipio  might  be  sent 
to  settle  their  affairs,  and  he  had  only  been  prevented  from 
undertaking  the  task  by  the  self-imposed  duty  of  accompanying 
the  army  of  LucuUus  into  Spain.  The  Pretender,  however,  met 
with  so  little  success  in  his  first  attempt  that  he  fled  to  the 
court  of  Demetrius  at  Antioch,  and  this  Prince  sent  him  to 
Rome.  The  war  with  Carthage  was  then  at  its  height.  The 
Senate  treated  the  matter  lightly,  and  the  adventurer  was  al- 
lowed to  escape.  Some  Thracian  chiefs  received  him,  and  with 
troops  furnished  by  them  he  penetrated  into  Thessaly.  The  Ro- 
man Praetor,  Juventius  Thalna,  was  defeated  and  slain  by  the 
Pretender. 

§  4.  The  temporary  success  of  Pseudo-Philippus  (as  the  Romans 
called  him)  encouraged  Diaeus  to  drive  the  Achaeans  into  a  rup- 
ture with  Rome.  The  haughty  Republic,  he  said,  was  at  war 
with  Carthage  and  with  Macedon ;  now  was  the  time  to  break 
their  bonds.  Q.  Metellus,  who  had  just  landed  in  Greece  with  a 
considerable  army,  gave  the  Achaeans  a  friendly  warning,  but  in 
vain. 

Metellus  soon  finished  the  Macedonian  war.  At  his  approach 
the  Pretender  hastily  retired  from  Thessaly,  and  was  given  up  to 
the  Roman  Praetor  by  a  Thracian  chief  whose  protection  he  had 
sought. 

§  5.  Meanwhile,  a  Commission  had  already  arrived  at  Corinth, 
headed  by  M.  Aurelius  Orestes,  who  summoned  the  chiefs  of 
the  League  to  hear  the  sentence  of  the  Senate  upon  their  recent 


47a  CONQUEST  OF  THE  WORLD.  Book  V. 

conduct.  He  informed  them  that  they  must  relinquish  all  claims 
of  sovereignty  over  Corinth,  Argos,  and  Lacedsemon — a  doom 
which  reduced  the  Achaean  League  nearly  to  the  condition  from 
which  Aratus  first  raised  it.  The  chiefs  reported  what  they  had 
heard  to  the  Assembly.  A  furious  burst  of  passion  rose,  which 
Diaeus  did  not  attempt  to  restrain.  Orestes  and  the  Romans 
hardly  escaped  personal  violence. 

Orestes  instantly  returned  to  Rome ;  and  the  Senate,  preferring 
diplomacy  to  force,  sent  a  second  Commission  headed  by  Sext. 
Julius  Caesar,  with  instructions  to  use  gentle  language,  and  merely 
to  demand  the  surrender  of  those  who  had  instigated  the  violent 
scenes  lately  enacted  at  Corinth.  A  contemptuous  answer  was 
returned,  upon  which  Caesar  returned  to  Rome,  and  the  Senate 
declared  war  against  the  Achaeans.  * 

§  6.  Metellus  hoped  to  win  the  glory  of  pacifying  Greece,  as 
well  as  of  conquering  Macedonia.  He  sent  some  of  his  chief 
officers  to  endeavour  to  bring  the  Achaeans  to  their  senses.  But 
their  leaders  were  too  far  committed  ;  and  at  the  beginning  of  146 
B.C.  Critolaus,  a  friend  of  Diaeus,  who  was  General  for  the  year, 
advanced  into  Thessaly,  and  was  joined  by  the  Thebans,  always 
the  inveterate  enemies  of  Rome.  Metellus  had  already  heard  that 
the  Achaean  war  was  to  be  conducted  by  L.  Mummius,  one  of  the 
new  Consuls ;  and,  anxious  to  bring  it  to  a  close  before  he  was 
superseded,  he  advanced  rapidly  with  his  army.  On  this  the  brag- 
gart chiefs  of  the  Achaeans  retreated  in  all  haste,  not  endeavouring 
to  make  a  stand  even  at  Thermopylae.  Their  army  dispersed 
almost  without  a  blow.  Metellus  pushed  straight  on  towards  the 
Isthmus.  Thebes  he  found  deserted  by  her  inhabitants:  misery 
and  desolation  appeared  everywhere. 

§  7.  Diaeus  prepared  to  defend  Corinth.  But  popular  terror 
had  succeeded  to  popular  passion  ;  few  citizens  would  enlist  under 
his  banner :  though  he  emancipated  a  number  of  slaves,  he  could 
not  muster  more  than  15,000  men. 

When  Metellus  was  almost  within  sight  of  Corinth,  Mummius 
landed  on  the  Isthmus  with  his  legions,  and  assumed  the 
command.  The  Romans  treated  the  enemy  with  so  much 
contempt  that  one  of  their  outposts  was  surprised ;  and  Diaeus 
flushed  with  this  small  success,  drew  out  his  forces  before  the 
city.  Mummius  eagerly  accepted  the  challenge,  and  the  battle 
began.  The  Achaean  cavalry  fled  at  the  first  onset ;  the  in- 
fantry was  soon  broken,  and  Diaeus  fled  into  one  gate  of  Co- 
rinth and  out  of  another  without  attempting  further  resistance. 
The  Romans  might  have  entered  the  city  that  same  day  ;  but 
seeing  the  strength  of  the  Acropolis,  and  suspecting  treachery, 
Mummius  held  back,  and  twenty-four   hours  elaped  before   he 


Chap.  XLY.  MUMMIUS— POLYBIUS.  479 

took  possession  of  his  unresisting  prey.  But  the  city  was 
treated  as  if  it  had  been  taken  by  assault ;  the  men  were  put 
to  the  sword,  the  women  and  children  reserved  to  be  sold  by 
auction.  All  treasures,  all  pictures,  all  the  works  of  the  famous 
artists  who  had  moulded  Corinthian  brass  into  efhgies  of  living 
force  and  symmetry,  were  seized  by  the  Consul  on  behalf  of  the 
State;  then,  at  a  given  signal,  fire  was  applied,  and  Corinth  was 
reduced  to  a  heap  of  ashes. 

§  8.  Mummius,  a  New  Man  was  distinguished  by  the  rude- 
ness rather  than  by  the  simplicity  of  an  Italian  boor.  He  was 
not  greedy,  for  he  reserved  little  for  himself;  and  when  he 
died,  his  daughter  found  not  enough  left  for  her  dowry  ;  but  his 
abstinence  seems  to  have  proceeded  from  indifterence  rather  than 
self-denial.  He  cared  not  for  the  works  of  Grecian  art.  He 
suffered  his  soldiers  to  use  one  of  the  choicest  works  of  the 
painter  Aristides  as  a  draft-board ;  but  when  Attains  offered 
him  a  large  sum  for  the  painting,  he  imagined  it  must  be  a 
taJisman,  and  ordered  it  to  be  sent  to  Rome.  Every  one  knows 
his  speech  to  the  seamen  who  contracted  to  carry  the  statues 
and  pictures  of  Corinth  to  Rome.  "If  they  lost  or  damaged 
them,"  he  said,  "  they  must  replace  them  with  others  of  equal 
value." 

§  9.  In  the  autumn  ten  commissioners  arrived,  as  usual,  with 
draughts  of  decrees  for  settling  the  future  condition  of  Macedon 
and  Greece.  Polybius,  who  had  returned  from  witnessing  the 
conflagration  of  Carthage  just  in  time  to  behold  that  of  Corinth, 
had  the  melancholy  satisfaction  of  being  called  to  their  coun- 
sels,— a  favour  which  he  owed  to  the  influence  of  Scipio.  A 
wretched  sycophant  proposed  to  the  commissioners  to  destroy 
the  statues  of  Aratus  and  Philopoemen ;  but  Polybius  prevented 
this  dishonour  by  showing  that  these  eminent  men  had  always 
endeavoured  to  keep  peace  with  Rome.  At  the  same  time  he 
declined  to  accept  any  part  of  the  confiscated  property  of  Diaeus. 
Politically  he  was  able  to  render  important  services.  All  Greece 
south  of  Macedonia  and  Epirus  was  formed  into  a  Roman  Pro- 
vince under  the  name  of  Achaia.  The  old  republican  govern- 
ments of  the  various  communities  were  abolished,  and  the  con- 
stitution of  each  assimilated  to  that  of  the  municipal  cities  of 
Italy.  Polybius  was  left  in  Greece  to  settle  these  new  con- 
stitutions, and  to  adjust  them  to  the  circumstances  and  wants  of 
each  place.  His  grateful  countrymen  raised  a  statue  to  his 
honour  by  the  side  of  their  old  heroes,  and  placed  an  inscription 
on  the  pedestal,  which  declared  that,  if  Greece  had  followed 
his  advice,  she  would  not  have  fallen. 

Such  was  the  issue  of  the  last  struggle  for  Grecian  liberty.     It 


480  CONQUEST  OF  THE  WORLD.  Book  V. 

was  conducted  by  unworthy  men,  and  was  unworthy  of  the  name 
it  bore.  Polybius  had  always  opposed  attempts  at  useless  and 
destructive  insurrection.  He  considered  it  happy  for  Greece 
that  one  battle  and  the  ruin  of  one  city  consummated  her  fall. 
Indeed  it  was  a  proverb  of  the  day  that  "Greece  was  saved  by 
her  speedy  fall." 

§  10.  The  ten  commissioners  passed  northwards  into  Mace- 
donia, and  formed  that  country,  in  conjunction  with  Epirus,-  into 
another  Province,  with  institutions  for  municipal  government 
much  the  same  as  those  which  had  been  established  in  Greece. 
It  is  probable  that  Illyria  also  was  constituted  as  a  Province  at 
the  same  time. 

§  11.  Metellus  and  Mummius  both  returned  to  Rome  before 
the  close  of  1 46  b.c,  and  were  honoured  with  triumphs  not  long 
after  Scipio  had  carried  the  spoils  of  Carthage  in  procession  to 
the  Capitol.  In  memory  of  their  respective  services,  Metellus 
was  afterwards  known  by  the  name  of  Macedonicus,  while 
Mummius,  who  appears  to  have  had  no  third  name  of  his  own, 
was  not  ashamed  to  assume  the  title  of  Achaicus. 


CHAPTER    XLVI. 

THIRD  PUNIC  WAR  :    FALL  OF  CARTHAGE.       (150 146  B.C.) 

§  1.  Flourishing  trade  of  Carthage:  the  Senate  encourages  Masinissa  to 
attack  her.  §  2.  The  popular  party  prevails  at  Carthage:  Commission 
headed  by  Cato :  delenda  est  Carthago.  §  3.  Masinissa  restores  the  oligarchy 
at  Carthage :  the  Senate  declares  War  against  Carthage.  §  4.  The  Consuls 
land  in  Africa :  treachery  by  which  Carthage  is  induced  to  strip  herself  of 
all  means  of  defence.  §  5,  Popular  indignation :  preparations  for  a  des- 
perate defence.  §  6.  Policy  of  Masinissa.  §  7.  Description  of  Carthage 
§  8.  Ill  success  of  Manilius  and  Censorinus.  §  9.  Death  of  Masinissa. 
distribution  of  his  kingdom.  §  10.  Hamilcar  Phamseas  deserts  to  Romans. 
§  11.  Second  Campaign:  continued  ill  success.  §  12.  Scipio  elected 
Consul.  §  13.  Third  campaign:  Scipio  carries  the  suburb  of  Megara. 
§  14.  Great  siege- works.  §  15.  Fourth  campaign:  Sack  of  Carthage. 
§  16.  Surrender  of  Hasdrubal  and  the  Citadel:  Scipio's  reflexions,  §  17. 
Fufure  of  Carthage. 

§  1.  Before  Corinth  fell,  Carthage  also  had  ceased  to  exist. 
We  saw  Hannibal  reform  the  corrupt  administration  of  his 
native  city,  and  put  her  in  the  way  of  recovering  even  from  the 
heavy  blow  which  she  had  suffered  after  the  defeat  of  Zama. 
We  saw  him  compelled  to  leave  Africa  at  the  instance  of  the 
Roman  Senate.  But  his  acts  lived  after  him.  The  trade  of 
Carthage  revived  rapidly,  and  the  disturbed  condition  of  the  East 
threw  a  large  commerce  into  the  hands  of  her  merchants. 

The  Senate  could  not  look  with  equanimity  on  this  state  of 
affairs ;  and  Masinissa  was  given  to  understand  that  he  would 
not  be  prevented  from  enriching  himself  at  the  expense  of  his 
neighbours.  The  unscrupulous  Numidian  did  not  require  a 
second  hint.  He  overran  and  plundered  the  most  fertile  pro- 
vinces dependent  upon  Carthage  ;  and  the  Carthaginians,  find- 
ing the  Senate  deaf  to  all  complaints,  at  last  prayed  to  be 
allowed  to  plead  their  cause  before  some  fair  tribunal,  or,  if 
not,  to  use  arms  in  self-defence.  "  The  Carthaginians,"  they 
said,  "  would  rather  be  the  slaves  of  Rome  than  subject  to  the 
depredations  of  Masinissa.  Better  die  at  once  than  live  at  tit 
jaercy  of  that  Numidian  robber !"  Nevertheless  they  were  again 
put  off  with  promises  and  delays. 

§  2.  It  appears  that  at  this  time  parties  ran  high  at  Carthage. 
The  old  oligarchical  party,  which  had  expelled  Hannibal,  was  dis- 
posed to  maintain  peace  at  any  price.  But  about  the  year  151 
B.C.,  the  popular  party  got  the  upper  hand,  and  the  now  Govern- 

21 


482  CONQITEST  OF  THE  WORLD.  Book  Y. 

ment  resolved  openly  to  oppose  the  encroachments  of  Masi- 
nissa.  It  was  at  this  time  that  Cato,  now  eighty-four  years 
of  age,  was  seized  by  a  sort  of  fanatic  desire  for  the  destruc- 
tion of  Carthage.  So  long  as  the  hateful  rival  flourished,  he 
contended  there  could  be  no  safety  for  Rome.  Scipio  Nasica, 
who  for  his  prudence  and  sagacity  had  received  the  name  of 
Corculum,  opposed  this  opinion  with  all  his  eloquence,  and  sc 
far  prevailed  that  before  declaring  war  a  Commission  was  sent 
to  Africa,  headed  by  Cato  himself,  with  full  powers  to  settle 
all  disputes  between  Carthage  and  Masinissa.  The  Commis- 
sioners began  by  requiring  that  both  parties  should  enter  into  a 
bond  to  submit  absolutely  to  their  decisions.  Masinissa  of  course 
consented;  but  the  Carthaginians  naturally  demurred  to  throw 
themselves  on  the  mercy  of  Cato,  and  the  Commissioners  returned 
to  Rome.  Once  more  Cato  rose  in  the  Senate,  and  gave  a  glow- 
ing description  of  the  power  and  wealth  of  Carthage.  Unfolding 
his  gown,  he  produced  some  giant  figs,  which  he  held  up,  and 
said,  "  These  figs  grow  but  three  days'  sail  from  Rome.  Every 
speech,"  he  added,  "  which  I  make  in  this  house  shall  finish 
with  the  words, — '  my  opinion  is,  that  Carthage  must  he  destroyed 
— delenda  est  Carthago^  "  From  that  day  the  doom  of  Carthage 
was  fixed. 

§  3.  An  opportunity  soon  off'ered  for  interference  (150  B.C.). 
The  banished  oligarchy  sought  the  aid  of  Masinissa,  and  the  old 
Chief  promptly  led  a  large  army  into  the  territory  of  Carthage. 
The  new  Government  had  levied  a  considerable  force,  which  they 
put  under  the  command  of  an  officer  named  Hasdrubal.  It  was 
not  long  before  a  battle  was  fought,  in  which  the  Numidians 
won  the  day.  It  happened  that  young  Scipio  had  just  then 
been  sent  by  Lucullus  from  Spain  to  obtain  a  supply  of  elephants 
from  Masinissa;  and  he  was  a  spectator  of  the  battle  from  a 
neighbouring  eminence, — "a  sight,"  as  he  told  Poly  bins,  "that 
no  one  had  enjoyed  since  the  time  when  Jupiter  looked  down 
from  Ida  upon  the  battle  of  the  Greeks  and  Trojans."  It  must 
have  been  a  remarkable  sight  to  behold  old  Masinissa,  then  past 
ninety  years  of  age,  charge  like  a  boy  of  nineteen  at  the  head  of 
his  wild  Numidian  horse. 

Masinissa  soon  reduced  the  army  of  the  enemy  to  such  straits 
that  the  Government  of  Carthage  was  compelled  to  yield. 
The  popular  party  was  once  more  deprived  of  power ;  and  the 
wealthy  merchants,  who  now  recovered  the  government,  pre- 
pared to  make  submission  to  the  Senate.  They  proclaimed  Has- 
drubal and  the  leaders  of  the  war  party  guilty  of  high  treason, 
and  sent  envoys  to  Rome  with  humble  apologies ;  but  they  were 
too  late.     The  Consuls  elect  for  the  year  149  b.c,  L.  Censorinu* 


Chap.  XLTL        .  THIRD  AND  LAST  PUNIC  WAR.  483 

and  M.  Manilius,  began  to  hold  their  levies  before  the  Carthagi- 
nian envoys  arrived.  The  latter  knew  not  well  how  to  act,  but 
at  length  resolved  to  place  Carthage  and  all  her  possessions  at  the 
absolute  disposal  of  the  Senate.  It  was  answered  that  they 
had  done  well.  The  Fathers  pledged  their  word  that  Carthage 
should  be  left  free,  if  300  of  the  noblest  youths  were  sent  as  host- 
ages to  meet  the  Consuls  at  Lilybseum;  from  them  the  Government 
should  learn  the  further  commands  of  the  Senate. 

§  4.  The  Carthaginian  Government  complied  with  the  demand, 
not  without  secret  alarm  as  to  what  these  "  further  commands" 
might  be.  A  heart-rending  scene  ensued  when  the  300  hostages 
were  torn  from  their  parents'  arms.  At  Lilybaeum  the  Consuls 
received  those  pledges  of  submission,  coldly  signifying  that  they 
should  land  their  army  in  Africa  within  a  few  days,  and  would  then 
declare  the  will  of  the  Senate.  Accordingly  the  poor  boys  were 
sent  to  Rome,  and  the  fleet  anchored  in  the  harbour  of  Utica, 
while  the  legions  took  up  their  quarters  in  the  old  camp  of  Scipio 
at  the  mouth  of  the  Bagradas.  Here  another  deputation  from  the 
trembling  Government  of  Carthage  appeared  before  the  Consuls, 
who  received  them  sitting  on  their  chairs  of  state,  with  their 
officers  around  them,  and  the  army  drawn  out  in  order.  The 
deputies  recapitulated  the  acts  of  submission  which  Carthage  had 
made,  and  humbly  asked  what  more  could  be  required.  Censo- 
rinus  replied,  that,  "  as  Carthage  was  now  under  the  protection 
of  Rcvme,  they  would  no  longer  have  occasion  to  engage  in  war : 
they  must  therefore  give  up  all  their  arms  and  engines  without 
reserve."  This  hard  condition  also  was  accepted.  The  force 
of  the  City  may  be  in  some  measure  estimated  from  the  fact 
that  200,000  stand  of  arms  and  2000  catapults  were  delivered  up 
to  Scipio  Nasica,  who  conveyed  them  to  the  Roman  camp,  fol- 
lowed by  the  chiefs  of  the  Government,  who  imagined  that  they 
had  drained  the  cup  of  humiliation  to  the  dregs.  They  were 
grievously  mistaken.  The  Consuls  thought  that  the  City  was 
now  wholly  disabled,  and  they  let  drop  the  mask.  Censorinus 
calmly  informed  the  unhappy  men,  that  "so  long  as  they  pos- 
sessed a  fortified  city  near  the  sea,  Rome  could  not  feel  sure  of 
their  submission  :  therefore  it  was  the  will  of  the  Senate  that 
they  must  remove  to  some  point  ten  miles  distant  from  the 
coast :  Carthage  must  he  d^stroyedT  On  hearing  their  final  doom, 
the  wretched  Carthaginians  fell  stupefied  to  the  ground ;  and 
when  they  found  utterance,  broke  into  passionate  exclamations 
against  the  perjured  Senate.  The  Consuls  waited  in  stern 
silence  till  these  paroxysms  were  past ;  and  when  the  miserable 
men  represented,  in  terms  of  penitent  humility,  "  that  the  Senate 
bad  guaranteed  the  freedom  of  Carthage,  that  such  ?i  measure 


484  CONQUEST  OP  THE  WORLD.  Book  Y. 

must  destroy  this  freedom  by  destroying  her  commerce  and  her 
means  of  subsistence,"  Censorinus  replied,  with  the  same  cold 
brevity  as  before,  that  "  the  guarantee  of  the  Senate  referred  to 
the  people  of  Carthage,  not  to  her  houses.  In  short,  the  will  of 
the  Senate  was  as  he  had  declared  it :  it  must  be  done,  and  done 
quickly." 

§  5.  The  envoys,  being  also  the  chiefs  of  the  Government,  feared  to 
carry  back  these  ill-omened  commands.  Some  of  them  absconded; 
the  rest  approached  the  city,  and  found  every  avenue  lined  with 
people  eager  to  learn  their  destiny.  They  spoke  no  word,  but 
their  downcast  looks  and  gloomy  silence  proclaimed  them  mes- 
sengers of  evil.  The  crowd  followed  to  the  Council-chamber, 
where  they  delivered  their  report  with  closed  doors.  A  cry  of 
horror  burst  from  the  assembled  Councillors,  and  the  crowd,  im- 
patient of  delay,  broke  open  the  doors,  and  demanded  to  know  the 
fatal  news.  It  was  impossible  to  conceal  the  truth.  The  popular 
fury  knew  no  bounds.  The  members  of  the  Government  who  had 
made  submission  to  Rome  were  obliged  to  flee  for  their  lives. 
All  Italians  found  within  the  city  were  massacred.  Once  more 
the  popular  party  seized  the  government ;  and  the  residue  of  the 
Council  voted  to  defend  themselves  to  the  uttermost,  rather  than 
die  the  lingerino;  death  to  which  the  Romans  had  condemned 
them.  Hasdrubal,  lately  proclaimed  a  traitor,  had  levied  a  force 
of  20,000  men,  with  whom  he  was  plundering  the  territory  of 
Carthage  on  his  own  Account :  he  was  now  invited  to  become 
the  General  of  the  Republic.  Another  Hasdrubal,  a  kinsman 
of  Masinissa,  was  invested  with  command  within  the  city.  A 
message  was  sent  to  the  Consuls,  requesting  an  armistice  of 
thirty  days,  in  order  to  send  an  embassy  to  Rome  :  this  was  re- 
fused. Despair  gave  unnatural  courage.  The  temples  and  public 
buildings  were  converted  into  workshops;  men  and  women 
worked  day  and  night  manufacturing  arms;  every  day  100 
shields  were  turned  out,  300  swords,  500  pikes  and  javelins,  1000 
catapult-bolts.  The  women  cut  off  their  long  hair  to  be  twisted 
into  strings  for  the  new  catapults.  Corn  was  assiduously  collected 
from  every  quarter. 

§  6.  The  Consuls,  who  were  men  of  the  Forum  rather  than 
the  Camp,  were  not  a  little  disappointed  at  this  turn  of  affairs. 
They  dallied  for  a  time,  hoping  that  on  reflexion  the  Carthagi- 
nians would  give  up  all  thoughts  of  an  armed  defence.  The 
conduct  of  Masinissa  contributed  to  their  irresolution.  The 
wily  old  chief  had  no  mind  that,  after  Carthage  had  been 
weakened  by  his  arms,  Rome  should  come  in  and  take  the 
lion's  share.  At  first  the  Consuls  had  not  thought  it  necessary 
to  ask  for  his  cooperation  :  it  is  plain  that  they  expected  to  take 


Chap.  XLVI.  THIRD  AND  LAST  PUNIC  WAR.  485 

the  city  without  stroke  of  sword.     But  now  the  case  was  altered, 
and  when  they  applied  to  Masinissa,  he  hung  back. 

§  1,  When  it  became  clear  that  Carthage  must  be  formally 
besieged,  the  Consuls  still  no  doubt  expected  an  easy  triumph ;  but 
the  defence  that  followed  was  one  of  the  most  heroic  that  the  world 
has  seen.  In  order  to  understand  its  details,  it  will  be  necessary 
to  describe  briefly  the  site  of  Carthage. 


A  Inner  Port. 

B  Outer  Port. 

C  Supposed  Outlet  to  Sea. 

D  Scipio'  8  Mole. 

E  New  Outlet  cut  by  Carthaginians. 

F  Cothon. 

G  Forum  and  Temple  of  Apollo. 

H  Temple  of  Esculapius. 

I  Roman  Lines. 

T  r  Remains  of  Roman  Cisterns,  Temples,  &c 


OF 

TYRIAN  CARTHAGE 


Tyrian  Carthage  (as  it  may  be  called,  to  distinguish  it  from  the 
later  Roman  Colony)  stood  on  a  peninsula  which  was  joined  to 
the  mainland  of  Tunis  by  an  isthmus.  The  city  itself  measured 
about  twenty-three  miles  round,  but  did  not  occupy  the  whole 
peninsula.  The  portion  occupied  by  the  city  seems  to  have 
been  the  northern  end  ;*  the  southern  part  being  a  suburb, 
called  Megara,  chiefly  occupied  by  gardens.  The  city  itself  was 
divided  into  two  quarters, — the  Citadel,  which  was  called  Bosra, 
and  Cothon,  or  the  harbour-quarter.     It  appears  almost  certain 

*  This  is  inferred  from  the  fact  that  the  Roman  remains  now  existing,  near 
the  Arabic  village  of  El  Mersa,  occupy  the  southern  part.  But,  as  Scipio  pro- 
nounced a  cur^e  on  tlie  site  of  Tyrian  Carthage,  it  is  no  less  certain  that  the 
Roman  Colonists  avoided  this  site :  indeed  Appian  expressly  asserts  it.  The 
annexed  plan  is  formed  upon  this  hypothesis.  Most  writers  suppose  that 
Tyrian  and  Roman  Carthage  were  identical 


486  CONQUEST  OF  THE  WORLD.  Book  V 

that  the  harbours,  two  in  number,  lay  on  the  north  side  of  the 
isthmus,  and  are  to  be  identified  not  with  the  shallow  lake  now 
called  the  Bay  of  Tunis,  but  with  the  salt-pits  on  the  northern 
side.  The  outermost  was  the  merchants'  harbour,  protected 
from  the  sea  by  a  broad  pier  or  mole,  and  furnished  with  a 
spacious  quay.  Inside  this,  and  so  much  in  the  heart  of  the 
city  as  to  be  concealed  from  the  view  of  the  outer  haven,  lay  the 
harbour  of  the  navy.  In  its  centre  was  a  small  island.  Both 
island  and  harbour  were  surrounded  by  docks  for  the  reception 
of  220  ships,  all  furnished  with  Ionic  columns,  so  as  to  give  the 
whole  the  appearance  of  stately  colonnades.  The  admiral  resided 
in  the  island.  The  entrance  of  this  basin  was  only  70  feet  broad, 
and  was  kept  closed  by  strong  chains  drawn  across  it.  The  cita- 
del was  of  course  the  highest  and  strongest  part  of  the  city.  It 
measured  about  two  miles  round  ;  and  on  the  side  towards  the 
isthmus  was  defended  by  three  walls,  each  30  cubits  high  and 
consisting  of  two  stories,  flanked  at  intervals  by  towers  rising  two 
stories  above  the  wall.  Along  these  walls  were  stalls  for  300  ele- 
phants and  4000  horse,  with  barracks  for  20,000  men.  The  suburb 
of  Megara  was  defended  by  a  comparatively  feeble  wall ;  for  it  was 
edged  by  a  low  cliff,  naturally  defensible. 

§  8.  The  Consuls  divided  their  army ;  Manilius  assaulting  the 
triple  wall  abutting  on  the  isthmus,  Censorinus  directing  his  attack 
at  the  end  of  the  pier,  where  the  city  wall  seemed  least  strong.  But 
all  their  assaults  were  gallantly  repelled.  The  season  was  passing, 
and  the  hot  weather  caused  the  army  to  suffer  greatly.  Censorinus 
returned  home  to  hold  the  Comitia;  and  the  army,  commanded  by 
Manilius,  was  only  saved  from  Hasdrubal's  assaults  by  Scipio,  who 
was  serving  under  the  Consul. 

§  9.  The  Senate  began  to  repent  of  having  neglected  Masinissa, 
and  sent  ambassadors  to  beg  for  his  assistance.  But  the  old  chief 
was  dead  before  they  arrived.  His  character  will  have  shown 
itself  sufficiently  from  the  facts  already  mentioned.  He  showed  no 
scruples  in  acquiring  territory ;  but  it  must  be  added  to  his  credit, 
that  he  did  much  towards  humanising  the  wild  tribes  who  owned 
his  sway,  and  turned  many  uncultivated  tracts  into  fruitful 
fields.  In  following  years  Italy  imported  much  of  her  corn  from 
these  districts. 

Of  his  numerous  offspring  only  three  were  legitimate.  On  his 
death-bed  he  sent  for  Scipio,  to  whom  he  was  attached  as  the 
heir  of  the  great  Africanus,  and  left  the  settlement  of  the  succes- 
sion to  his  judgment.  Scipio  gave  the  sceptre  to  Micipsa,  the 
eldest  son  ;  Golossa,  the  second,  was  to  be  General ;  the  adminis- 
tration of  justice  was  committed  to  the  youngest,  Mastanarbal. 
Golossa  joined  the  Romans  at  the  head  of  a  body  of  troops  ;   and 


Chap.  XLYI.  THIRD  AND  LAST  PUNIC  WAR.  487 

thus  freed  the  Consul  from  the  fear  of  seeing  the  Numidians  take 
part  with  Carthage. 

§  10.  Before  the  winter  set  in,  Hamilcar  Phamseas,  commander 
of  the  cavalry,  the  terror  of  the  Roman  foraging  parties,  finding 
that  the  Numidians  had  joined  Rome,  determined  to  make  a 
merit  of  timely  submission  to  Rome ;  and  Manilius  was  overjoyed 
to  see  this  redoubted  foe  ride  into  camp  in  company  with  Scipio, 
followed  by  a  squadron  of  African  horse.  Tidings  now  came  that 
L.  Calpurnius  Piso,  Consul  for  the  next  year,  was  on  his  way  to 
supersede  him  ;  and  Manilius  sent  off  Scipio,  with  Phamseas  as  a 
trophy  of  success  to  Rome.  The  army  escorted  their  favourite 
officer  to  the  coast,  and  prayed  him  to  come  back  as  Consul;  for 
all  were  persuaded  that  none  but  Scipio  was  destined  to  take 
Carthage.  The  Senate  received  Scipio  with  high  distinction, 
and  rewarded  the  traitor  Phamseas  with  splendid  presents.  His 
desertion  was  the  only  piece  of  success  which  two  Consuls  and  a 
great  army  had  won  in  a  whole  campaign. 

§  11.  The  next  year  (148  B.C.)  passed  still  less  prosperously. 
Piso  did  not  attempt  to  assault  the  city,  but  employed  his  fleet 
and  army  in  buccaneering  expeditions  along  the  coast.  Discon- 
tent and  disorder  spread  amongst  the  soldiery  ;  and  the  Consul 
went  early  into  winter-quarters  at  Utica.  Meantime  the  spirits 
of  the  Carthaginians  rose.  Their  bitter  enemy,  old  Cato,  had  just 
died,  at  the  age  of  85.  Bithyas,  a  Numidian  chief,  deserted  from 
Golossa  with  a  large  body  of  cavalry.  The  Numidian  Hasdrubal, 
who  commanded  the  garrison,  being  suspected  of  intriguing  with 
his  cousin  Golossa,  was  put  to  death,  and  the  other  Hasdrubal 
took  command  in  the  city.  News  also  arrived  of  the  Macedonian 
war;  and  it  was  hoped  that  the  Romans  might  be  altogether 
baffled. 

§  12.  Meanwhile  discontent  arose  high  at  Rome.  Both  Senate 
and  People  had  expected  to  reap  a  rich  booty  at  Carthage  with 
little  trouble,  and  the  faineans  who  had  disappointed  them  could 
hardly  appear  in  public.  It  was  well  known  that  Scipio  was  the 
darling  of  the  army.  Old  Cato  had  said  of  him,  in  a  line  of 
Homer,  that 

"  Only  he  has  living  force,  the  rest  are  fleeting  shades."  * 

The  People  clamoured  for  his  election  as  Consul,  though  by  the 
Lex  Annalis  he  was  not  eligible,  for  he  was  but  thirty-eight  years 
of  age,  and  was  now  a  candidate  for  the  ^dileship.  He  was, 
however,  elected  Consul  at  the  Comitia;  and  the  Senate  yielded. 
§  13.  Early  in  the  next  year  (147  b.c.)  Scipio  set  sail  for  Utica 

*  olog  TTenvvTat,  toI  di  aKLOi  utaaovaL,  Horn.  Od.  xi.  10 ;  a  quotation  which 
showa  that  the  old  man  had  made  progress  in  his  late  lore. 


488  CONQUEST  OF  THE  WORLD.  Book  V. 

with  new  levies,  attended  by  Poly  bins.  C.  Laelius,  son  of  that 
Laelius  who  had  enjoyed  the  confidence  of  Africanus,  had  com- 
mand of  the  fleet.  The  Consul  fixed  his  head-quarters  in  a  camp 
commanding  the  Isthmus  of  Carthage ;  and  here  his  first  business 
was  to  restore  discipline  in  the  disorganised  army.  He  ordered 
the  crowd  of  idlers  and  hucksters,  who  were  following  the  camp 
for  plunder  or  petty  traffic,  to  leave  it  immediately ;  and  enforced 
strict  discipline. 

He  then  directed  an  attack  against  the  suburb  of  Megara. 
Planks  were  laid  from  a  detached  tower  to  the  wall ;  and  thus  a 
party  of  soldiers  descended  into  the  place,  and  threw  the  gate 
open  to  their  comrades.  Tib.  Gracchus  the  younger,  destined  to 
become  famous  in  Roman  history,  was  the  first  who  mounted  the 
wall.  The  loss  of  this  suburb  of  gardens  must  have  been  of 
great  moment  to  the  Carthaginians;  for  it  deprived  them  of  a 
great  source  of  provisions.  Hasdrubal  showed  his  vexation  by 
putting  his  prisoners  to  death  in  sight  of  the  Romans.  In  vain 
the  Council  endeavoured  to  restrain  him :  the  savage  soldier 
was  now  lord  of  Carthage,  and  determined  to  commit  himself 
and  his  men  to  a  desperate  defence.  He  was  a  greedy  tyrant, 
who  fed  his  gross  corpulence  by  luxurious  living,  while  others 
were  starving ;  and  affected  the  pompous  demeanour  of  an 
Oriental  despot,  rather  than  the  simplicity  of  a  patriot  soldier. 
His  men  alone  shared  the  provisions,  which  now  began  to  come 
scantily  into  the  city.  The  unhappy  townsmen  began  to  feel 
the  miseries  of  want. 

§  14.  For  not  only  had  Scipio  taken  Megara ;  he  had  drawn 
strong  lines  across  the  isthmus  so  as  to  cut  off  the  city  from  all 
land  supplies ;  and  the  fleet  blockaded  the  harbour,  so  as  to 
make  it  difficult  to  send  in  provisions  by  sea.  Still,  light  vessels 
contrived  to  press  into  the  harbour  under  full  sail,  when 
the  wind  blew  strongly  landwards  and  prevented  the  Roman  ships 
from  keeping  the  sea.  Scipio  determined  to  cut  off  even  these 
precarious  supplies  by  throwing  an  embankment  across  the 
mouth  of  the  harbour.*  The  work  was  one  of  infinite  labour, 
and  made  but  slow  progress.  The  Carthaginians,  however, 
saw  that  it  must  ultimately  succeed,  and  began  to  cut  a  canal 
from  the  inside,  so  as  to  open  a  new  entrance  from  the  sea  into 
their  harbour.  Before  the  end  of  the  year  this  work  was  com- 
pleted, and,  moreover,  a  fleet  of  fifty  ships  had  been  secretly 
built  in  the  inner  port.  By  the  time  Scipio's  embankment  was 
finished,  the  Romans  had  the  mortification  to  see  this  new  fleet 
sail  out  by  the  new  entrance ;  so  that  it  seemed  as  if  all  their 

*  This  embankment  no  doubt  assisted  in  choking  up  the  harbour  and 
reducing  it  to  its  present  condition. 


Chap.  XLVI  THIRD  AND  LAST  PUNIC  WAR.  489 

labour  had  been  thrown  away.  For  two  days  they  allowed  the 
Carthaginian  fleet  to  insult  them  with  impunity.  But  on  the 
third  they  attacked  it  with  all  their  ships.  The  battle  lasted  till 
evening  with  some  advantage  to  the  Carthaginians.  But  as  the 
latter  fell  back  to  the  new  entrance,  they  found  the  passage  im- 
peded by  small  craft ;  and  in  the  confusion  which  ensued,  the 
Romans  succeeded  in  destroying  the  greater  part  of  the  new 
fleet. 

§  15.  At  the  beginning  of  spring  (146  b.c),  Scipio  resumed  the 
oft'ensive.  While  he  made  a  feigned  attack  upon  the  walls  of 
Cothon,  Lselius  succeeded  in  forcing  an  entrance  on  the  other 
side  of  the  city,  and  at  evening  the  Roman  legions  bivouacked 
in  the  Marketplace  of  Carthage.  But  a  long  and  terrible  struggle 
was  still  before  them.  From  the  Marketplace  three  streets  con- 
verged towards  the  Citadel.  These  streets  were  all  strongly 
barricaded  ;  and  the  houses  on  each  side  rising  to  the  height  of 
six  stories,  were  occupied  by  the  Carthaginians.  A  series  of 
street-fights  ensued,  which  lasted  several  days.  The  Romans 
were  obliged  to  carry  the  first  houses  on  each  street  by  assault, 
and  then  to  force  their  way  by  breaking  through  from  house  to 
house,  and  driving  the  enemy  along  the  flat  roofs.  The  cross 
streets  or  lanes  were  passed  by  bridges  of  planks.  Thus  they 
slowly  advanced  to  the  wall  of  Bosra.  When  they  had  reached 
this  point  the  city  was  set  on  fire  behind  them.  Six  days  and 
nights  the  flames  continued  to  rage ;  and  as  they  slackened,  the 
Roman  legionaries  were  employed  as  pioneers  to  clear  thorough- 
fares for  the  free  passage  of  men  and  horses. 

§  16.  During  the  great  labour  of  the  last  days  Scipio  alone 
sought  no  rest.  At  length,  worn  out  by  anxiety  and  fatigue,  he 
lay  down  to  repose  on  an  eminence  commanding  a  view  of  the 
Temple  of  Esculapius,  which,  with  its  gilded  roof,  crowned  the 
heights  of  Bosra.  He  had  not  long  been  here,  when  the  Cartha- 
ginian garrison,  seeing  no  longer  any  hope,  off'ered  to  surrender 
the  Citadel,  on  condition  of  their  lives  being  spared.  Scipio  con- 
sented for  all,  except  Roman  deserters ;  and  50,000  men  defiled  out 
of  the  gates  of  Bosra  as  prisoners  of  war.  Then  Hasdrubal  and  his 
family,  with  900  deserters  and  other  desperadoes,  retired  into  the 
Temple  of  Esculapius,  as  if  to  make  a  brave  defence.  But  the 
Commandant's  heart  failed  him  ;  and,  slipping  out  alone,  he  threw 
himself  at  the  feet  of  Scipio,  and  craved  for  pardon.  His  wife, 
standing  on  the  base  of  the  temple,  was  near  enough  to  witness 
the  sight,  and  reproaching  her  husband  with  cowardice,  cast  her- 
self with  her  children  into  the  flames,  which  were  now  wrapping 
the  Citadel  round  on  all  sides.  Hasdrubal's  life  was  spared  to 
grace   the   triumph  of    the    conqueror;    most   of    the   deserters 

21* 


490  CONQUEST  OF  THE  WORLD.  Book  V. 

perished  in  the  flames ;  those  who  escaped,  or  were  taken  else- 
where, were  trampled  to  death  by  elephants. 

It  was  during  these  scenes  of  horror,  that  Scipio,  with  Polybius 
at  his  side,  gazed  upon  the  burning  city,  and  involuntarily  vented 
his  high-wrought  feeling  in  two  well-known  verses  of  Homer  ;* 

"  The  day  shall  come,  when  sacred  Troy  shall  be  levelled  with  the  plain, 
And  Priam  and  the  people  of  that  good  warrior  slain." 

"Assyria,"  he  said,  "had  fallen,  and  Persia  and  Macedon.  Car- 
thage was  burning.     Rome's  day  might  come  next !" 

For  five  days  the  soldiery  were  allowed  to  range  the  ruinec 
city,  glutting  their  wild  passions.  Yet  enough  of  statues  and 
valuables  of  all  sorts  fell  into  the  hands  of  the  Proconsul,  to 
adorn  a  triumph  little  less  magnificent  than  that  in  which  he 
had  followed  his  father  Paullus  one-and-twenty  years  before. 
Before  he  left  Africa,  he  celebrated  magnificent  games,  in  which 
all  the  spoil  was  displayed  to  the  army,  as  had  been  done  by 
Paullus  in  Macedonia. 

§  1*7.  Scipio  had  written  laconically  to  the  Senate,  that  "Car- 
thage was  taken,  and  the  army  waited  for  further  orders."  Amid 
the  exultation  of  all  classes,  a  Decree  was  passed  that  the  walls 
should  be  destroyed,  and  every  house  within  them  levelled  to 
the  ground.  A  solemn  curse  Avas  pronounced  by  Scipio  on  any 
one  who  should  rebuild  a  town  on  the  same  site.  Not  many 
years  after,  C.  Gracchus  was  sent  to  found  a  colony  on  the 
site  of  Carthage, — a  design  which  failed ;  and  its  failure  was 
attributed  to  the  curse  of  Scipio.  But  the  same  design  was 
renewed  by  the  great  Julius,  and  accomplished  by  Augustus. 
This  Colony,  which  rose  to  be  a  noble  city,  and  in  the  second 
century  of  the  Christian  era  might  be  regarded  as  the  metropolis 
of  Western  Christendom,  stood  (as  stated  above)  at  the  southern 
end  of  the  Peninsula,  where  the  Moorish  fortress  of  Goletta  now 
commands  the  entrance  of  the  Bay  of  Tunis. 

Utica,  for  her  timely  submission,  was  rewarded  with  a  portion 
of  the  dominions  of  Carthage.  The  remaining  territory  wa- 
formed  into  a  province  under  the  name  of  Libya,  and  places: 
under  the  government  of  a  Roman  Magistrate,  being  the  fourth 
Province  added  to  the  empire  in  this  one  year. 

Such  was  the  end  of  Carthage,  after  an  existence  of  more  than 
seven  centuries. 

*  H.  iv.  164:  lacerai  rjfiap,  orav  ttot'  6^6Xg  'I'Aio^  Ipfj, 
Koi  UpcEa/iioc  Kal  Aabg  Ivju/ieXiu  Ilptu/xoie. 


CHAPTER    XLVII. 

SPANISH  WARS  :    FALL  OF  NUMANTIA.       (149 133  B.C.) 

1.  War  with  the  Lusitanians  under  Yiriathus,  and  with  Numantia.  §  3. 
Celtiberian  War:  Metellus  Macedonicus:  Treaty  of  Mancinus.  §  3* 
Lusitanian  War :  Treaty  of  Q.  Fabius  Servilianus,  broken  by  Q.  Servihus 
Csepio:  Murder  of  Yiriathus.  §  4.  Discussion  on  tlie  Treaty  of  Mancinus: 
he  is  given  up  to  the  Numantians:  their  conduct.  §  5.  Dec.  Brutus 
carries  Roman  arms  into  Gallaecia :  surnamed  Callaicus.  §  6.  Scipio :  his 
life  since  the  Fall  of  Carthage.  §  T .  His  popularity :  elected  Consul  for 
the  Numantian  War.  §  8.  Measures  for  restoring  discipline.  §  9.  He 
appears  before  Numantia:  lines  of  investment.  §  10.  Misery  of  the 
Numantians.     §  11.  Surrender  and  destruction  of  Numantia. 

§  1.  While  Kome  was  engaged  in  war  with  Carthage,  the  Lusi- 
tanians resumed  their  inroads  under  the  conduct  of  the  gallant 
Viriathus,  who  had  escaped  from  the  massacre  of  Galba.  No 
Roman  general  could  gain  any  positive  advantage  over  this 
indefatigable  enemy,  and  in  the  year  143  b.c.  the  war  assumed  a 
much  more  serious  aspect.  The  brave  Celtiberian  tribes  of 
Numantia  and  its  adjacent  districts  again  appeared  in  the  field. 
For  several  years  we  find  two  Roman  commanders  engaged  in 
Spain,  as  before  the  Treaty  of  Gracchus :  one  opposed  to  the 
Numantians  and  their  Celtiberian  allies  in  the  North,  the  other 
carrying  on  an  irregular  warfare  against  Viriathus  and  the  Lusi- 
tanians in  the  South. 

§  2.  The  conduct  of  the  Celtiberian  War  was  committed  to 
Q.  Metellus  Macedonicus,  who  had  been  elected  Consul  for  the 
year  143.  He  remained  in  command  for  two  years,  and  was  so 
successful  in  his  measures  that  by  the  close  of  the  second  cam- 
paign he  had  compelled  the  enemy  to  shut  themselves  up  in  their 
strong  cities.  But  he  was  disappointed,  as  in  Greece,  by  finding 
anticipated  triumph  snatched  from  his  grasp  by  Q.  Pompeius, 
Consul  for  the  year  141  b.c. 

Pompeius  and  his  successors  could  make  no  impression  upon 
the  Numantians.  Nay,  C.  Hostilius  Mancinus,  Consul  for  the 
year  13V,  suffered  a  memorable  reverse.  Mancinus  set  out  for 
his  province  amid  general  alarm,  excited  by  the  unfavourable 
omens  at  his  inaugural  sacrifices.  He  was  attended  as  Quaestor 
by  young  Tib.  Gracchus,  who  had  already  distinguished  himself 
at  the  siege  of  Carthage.  Mancinus  found  the  army  before 
Numantia   in    a   state  of  complete  disorganisation,  and  deemed 


492  COITQUEST  OF  THE  WORLD.  Book  V. 

it  prudent  to  retreat  from  his  position  in  front  of  that  city.  The 
Numantians  pursued  and  pressed  him  so  hard  that  he  was  obliged 
to  entrench  himself  in  an  old  camp,  and  send  a  herald  with  offers 
to  treat  on  condition  that  his  army  should  be  spared.  The  enemy 
consented,  but  only  on  the  understanding  that  young  Gracchus 
was  to  make  himself  responsible  for  the  execution  of  the  treaty. 
Articles  of  peace  were  accordingly  signed  by  Mancinus  himselfj 
with  Gracchus  and  all  the  chief  officers  of  the  army. 

Before  we  notice  the  sequel  of  the  famous  Treaty  of  Mancinus, 
it  will  be  well  to  follow  the  Lusitanian  War  to  its  conclusion. 

§  3.  Here  also  the  fortune  of  Rome  was  in  the  decline.  Q. 
Fabius  Servilianus  was  surprised  by  Viriathus  in  a  narrow  defile, 
and  so  shut  up  that  escape  was  impossible.  The  Lusitanian  cap- 
tain offered  liberal  terms,  which  were  gladly  accepted  by  the  Pro- 
consul. This  peace  was  approved  by  the  Senate,  and  Viriathus 
was  acknowledged  as  the  ally  of  Rome. 

But  Q.  Servilius  Caepio,  brother  by  blood  of  Servilianus,  was 
little  satisfied  by  the  prospect  of  an  inactive  command.  By  impor- 
tunity he  wrung  from  the  Senate  permission  to  break  the  peace 
so  lately  concluded  by  his  brother,  and  ratified  by  themselves, — 
a  permission  basely  given  and  more  basely  used.  Caepio  assailed 
Viriathus,  when  he  little  expected  an  attack,  with  so  much 
vigour  that  the  chief  was  fain  to  seek  refuge  in  Gallaecia,  and 
sent  envoys  to  ask  Caspio  on  what  ground  the  late  treaty  was 
no  longer  observed.  Caepio  sent  back  the  messengers  with  fair 
words,  but  privily  bribed  them  to  assassinate  their  master.  They 
were  too  successful  in  their  purpose,  and  returned  to  claim  their 
blood-money  from  the  Consul.  But  he,  with  double  treachery, 
disowned  the  act,  and  referred  them  to  the  Senate  for  their 
reward. 

The  death  of  Viriathus  was  the  real  end  of  the  Lusitanian 
War.  He  was  (as  even  the  Roman  writers  allow)  brave,  generous, 
active,  vigilant,  patient,  faithful  to  his  word ;  and  the  manner  in 
which  he  baffled  all  fair  and  open  assault  of  the  disciplined  armies 
of  Rome  gives  a  high  conception  of  his  qualities  as  a  guerilla 
chief.  His  countrymen,  sensible  of  their  loss,  honoured  him  with 
a  splendid  military  funeral.  The  Senate,  with  a  wise  moderation 
•which  might  have  been  adopted  years  before,  assigned  lands  to 
»  portion  of  the  mountaineers  within  the  Province,  thus  at  length 
making  good  the  broken  promises  of  Galba. 

§  4.  Such  was  the  discreditable  termination  of  the  Lusitanian 
War.     We  must  now  return  to  Mancinus  and  his  Treaty. 

He  returned  to  defend  his  conduct  before  the  Senate.  He 
pleaded  that  the  army  was  so  demoralised  that  no  man  could 
wield  it  with  effect,  and  admitted  that  he  had  concluded  a  treaty 


Chap.  XLYII.  NUMANTIAN  WAR.  493     — 

with  Numantia  without  the  authority  of  the  Senate  and  People ; 
as  that  treaty  was  not  approved,  he  declared  himself  ready  to 
support  a  bill  for  delivering  up  the  persons  of  himself  and  all 
who  had  signed  it  to  the  Numantians.  Such  a  bill  was  accord- 
ingly brought  before  the  Tribes.  But  young  Gracchus  upheld 
the  treaty,  and  Scipio,  his  brother-in-law,  made  an  eloquent 
speech  in  his  behalf.  But  the  people,  always  jealous  of  defeat, 
voted  for  delivering  up  Mancinus  alone  as  an  expiatory  offering. 
Accordingly  a  person,  consecrated  for  this  special  purpose,  car- 
ried him  to  Numantia.  But  the  Spaniards,  like  the  Samnites  of 
old,  refused  to  accept  such  a  compensation ;  one  man's  body, 
they  said,  was  no  equivalent  for  the  advantage  they  had  lost. 
Mancinus,  therefore,  returned  to  Rome.  But  when  he  took  his 
place  in  the  Senate,  the  Tribune  Rutilius  ordered  him  to  leave 
the  Curia,  because,  he  said,  one  who  had  been  delivered  over  to 
the  enemy  with  religious  ceremony  was  no  longer  a  citizen  of 
Rome,  and  could  not  recover  his  rights  by  simply  returning  to 
his  country.*  A  special  law  was  introduced  to  restore  Mancinus 
to  his  former  position.f 

§  5.  Dec.  Junius  Brutus,  Consul  for  138,  an  able  officer,  was 
entrusted  with  the  pacification  of  Lusitania  :  the  town  of  Valentia 
owes  its  origin  to  a  colony  of  this  people  planted  there  by  him. 
After  finishing  this  business,  he  carried  his  arms  northward  across 
the  Tagus,  the  Douro,  and  the  Minho,  and  received  homage  from 
the  Tribes  of  the  Western  Pyrenees.  He  was  the  first  Roman 
who  reached  the  shores  of  the  Bay  of  Biscay,  and  saw  the  sun  set 
in  the  waters  of  the  Atlantic;  and  he  was  not  unjustly  honoured 
with  the  name  of  CallaicusJ  for  his  successes. 

§  6.  But  Numantia  still  defied  the  arms  of  Rome.  Men  began 
to  clamour  for  a  Consul  fit  to  command  ;  and  all  eyes  fell  upon 
Scipio.  His  qualities  as  a  general  had  been  tested  by  success  at 
Carthage,  and  circumstances  had  since  occurred  which  raised  him 
to  great  popularity. 

After  his  triumph  in  146  B.C.,  Scipio  had  continued  to  lead  the 
simple  life  in  which  he  had  been  bred,  and  which  not  all  the 
wealth  he  inherited  from  his  adoptive  father  induced  him  to 
abandon.  He  affected  an  austerity  of  manners,  which  almost 
emulated  that  of  Cato,  though  he  was  free  from  the  censorius 
dogmatism  and  rude  eccentricities  of  that  celebrated  man.     In 

*  Su(3h  a  recovery  of  rights  was  called  Postliminium.  For  the  legal  opinions 
on  both  sides  see  Cicero  de  Or  at.  i.  40,  de  Off.  iii.  30,  pro  Ccecina,  34. 

f  The  rights  of  the  question  have  already  been  discussed  in  speaking  of  the 
similar  transaction  at  the  Furculae  Caudinae.     Chapt.  xxii,  §  8. 

X  From  Callsecia  or  Gallascia,  the  ancient  nam'^  f^f  tb*^  district  in  the  N.W 
of  Spain,  still  called  Gallicia. 


494  CONQUEST  OF  THE  WORLD.  Book  Y. 

142  B.C.  lie  was  elected  Censor  in  conjunction  with  Mummius,  who 
so  thwarted  all  the  efforts  of  his  colleague  to  promote  reforms 
that  the  latter  publicly  exclaimed,  "  I  should  have  been  able  to 
do  my  duty,  either  with  a  colleague  or  without  one."  Scipio 
had  gained  a  clear  conception  of  the  unsound  state  of  things, 
which  long-continued  wars  and  Senatorial  government  had  pro- 
duced. In  the  prayer,  which  he  offered  on  entering  upon  the 
Censor's  office,  he  altered  the  usual  form ;  and  instead  of  asking 
that  "  the  gods  would  increase  and  magnify  the  power  of  Rome," 
he  said,  "  I  pray  that  they  may  preserve  it ;  it  is  great  enough 
already." 

§  7.  His  frugal  life  carried  with  it  a  guarantee  of  honesty  and 
devotion  to  public  interests,  which, would  alone  have  secured  him 
public  favour.  But  several  of  his  acts  gained  him  more  direct 
popularity.  The  son  of  his  kinsman  Nasica,  nicknamed  Serapio, 
had  joined  the  high  oligarchical  party.  But  the  son  of  ^milius 
Paullus,  on  the  few  occasions  on  which  he  appeared  in  public, 
took  the  popular  side.  In  137,  the  Tribune  Cassius  proposed  the 
first  law  for  taking  votes  by  secret  Dallot,*  with  the  intention 
of  neutralising  the  undue  influence  of  the  Senators.  Scipio  came 
forward  and  addressed  the  people  in  favour  of  this  law.  As  his 
popularity  was  increased,  his  favour  with  the  Senate  proportion- 
ably  fell.  Six  years  before,  when  he  was  canvassing  for  the 
Censorship,  App.  Claudius,  seeing  the  motley  crowd  which  fol- 
lowed him,  exclaimed : — "  Ah,  ^milius,  it  would  trouble  thy 
spirit  to  see  thy  son  followed  by  such  a  crew."  Yet  he  courted 
not  popularity :  he  seldom  even  visited  the  Forum,  though  he 
spoke  with  force  and  eloquence  when  he  chose.  When  the  same 
Appius  boasted  that  he  knew  all  who  frequented  the  Forum  by 
name,  Scipio  replied  : — "  True,  I  do  not  know  many  of  my  fellow- 
citizens  by  name,  but  I  have  taken  care  that  all  should  know 
me."  Popularity  came  unasked,  and  the  People  cast  their  eyes 
upon  him  to  retrieve  the  dishonour  of  the  Roman  arms  in  Spain. 
Legally  he  could  not  hold  the  Consulship,  for  a  law  had  been 
lately  passed  forbidding  a  second  election  in  any  case.  But 
Scipio  received  the  votes  of  every  Century,  though  he  was  not  a 
candidate. 

§  8.  He  was  now  fifty-one  years  of  age,  and  he  proceeded  to 
execute  his  commission  with  the  same  steady  vigour  which  dis- 

*  These  Leges  Tabellarice  (as  the  Romans  called  them,  tabella  being  their 
word  for  a  ballot)  were  four  in  number:  1.  The  Gabinian  (139  B.C.),  intro- 
dueing'the  use  of  the  Ballot  at  Elections.  2.  The  Cassian  (137),  introducing 
it  in  all  state-trials,  except  in  the  case  of  high-treason  (perduellio).  3.  The 
Papirian  (131),  introducing  it  into  the  Legislative  Assembly.  4.  The  Gadian 
(107),  which  cancelled  the  single  exception  made  by  the  Cassian  Law. 


Chap.  XLYU.  NUMANTIAN  WAR.  495 

tinguished  him  on  other  occasions.  He  found  the  demoralisation 
of  the  army  not  less  than  it  had  been  described,  and  he  applied 
himself  to  correct  it  with  the  same  severity  that  his  father  had 
used  in  Macedonia,  and  he  himself  had  used  before  Carthage. 
All  courtesans  and  hucksters,  together  with  fortune-tellers  who 
drove  a  lucrative  trade  in  the  dispirited  army,  he  commanded  to 
quit  the  camp.  Ail  carriages,  horses,  and  mules  he  ordered  to  bo 
sold,  except  those  that  were  needed  for  actual  service.  No  cook- 
ing utensils  were  allowed  except  a  spit,  a  camp-bottle,  and  a 
drinking-cup.  Down  beds  were  forbidden :  the  general  himself 
slept  upon  a  straw  pallet. 

§  9.  After  some  time  spent  in  training  his  army,  he  led  it  to 
Numantia  by  a  difficult  and  circuitous  route,  in  order  to  avoid  a 
battle.  As  he  approached  the  place  he  was  joined  by  young  Ju- 
gurtha,  a  bastard  son  of  Micipsa,  who  came  from  Numidia  with 
twelve  elephants  and  a  large  body  of  light  cavalry.  By  this  time 
the  season  for  war  was  nearly  over,  and  he  ordered  two  strong 
camps  to  be  formed  for  winter-quarters.  In  one  he  fixed  himself, 
the  other  he  put  under  the  command  of  his  brother  Fabius. 

With  the  beginning  of  spring  (133  b.c.)  he  began  to  draw  lines 
of  circumvallation  round  the  city,  and  declined  all  attempts  made 
by  the  Numantians  to  provoke  a  general  action, — a  circumstance 
which  is  rather  surprising,  if  it  be  true  that  the  available  troops  of 
the  Spanish  city  amounted  to  no  more  than  8000  men. 

§  10.  Numantia  lay  on  both  sides  of  the  Douro,  not  far  from  its 
source.  The  blockade  was  so  strict,  and  the  inhabitants  were  so 
ill  provided,  that  in  no  long  time  they  were  reduced  to  feed  on 
boiled  leather,  and  at  length  (horrible  to  tell)  on  the  bodies  of  the 
dead.  In  vain  those  who  retained  sufficient  strength  attempted 
sallies  by  day  and  night ;  Scipio  had  established  so  complete  a 
system,  that  additional  troops  were  always  ready  to  strengthen  any 
weak  point  which  might  be  assailed.  In  vain  did  the  young  men 
of  Lubia  endeavour  to  relieve  their  brave  neighbours.  Scipio 
promptly  marched  to  that  place  with  a  division  of  light  troops, 
and,  having  compelled  the  government  to  surrender  400  of  the 
most  active  sympathisers,  he  cut  oft*  their  right  hands  and  returned. 
Such  was  the  cruelty  which  the  most  enlightened  men  of  Rome 
permitted  themselves  to  use  towards  barbarians.  Nor  does  any 
ancient  historian  whisper  a  word  of  reproach. 

§  11.  The  wretched  Numantians  now  inquired  on  whatjterms 
they  might  be  admitted  to  surrender.  The  reply  was,  that  on  that 
very  day  they  must  lay  down  their  arms,  and  on  the  next  appear 
at  a  given  place.  They  prayed  for  time  to  deliberate.  In  the 
interval  a  certain  number  of  brave  men,  resolved  not  to  submit 
on  any  terms,  put  themselves  to  death ;  the  remnant  came  forth 


496  CONQUEST  OF  THE  WORLD.  Book  V. 

from  the  gates.  Their  matted  hair,  squalid  apparel,  and  wasted 
forms  made  even  the  Romans  turn  away  in  horror  from  their  own 
work.  Scipio  selected  fifty  to  walk  in  his  triumphal  procession, 
and  sold  the  rest.  The  town  was  so  effectually  destroyed  that  its 
very  site  cannot  be  discovered. 

Such  was  the  destructive,  but  not  glorious  work,  which  earned 
for  Scipio  the  name  of  Numantinus,  as  the  ruin  of  Carthage  had 
given  him  a  better  title  than  adoption  to  that  of  Africanus. 

Commissioners  were  sent,  according  to  custom,  to  re-organise 
the  Spanish  Provinces.  The  conquests  of  Scipio  and  of  Dec.  Bru- 
tus were  comprehended  in  the  limits  of  the  Hither  Province,  and 
for  some  years  Spain  remained  in  tranquillity. 

There  was  no  enemy  now  left  on  the  coast-lands  of  the  Medi- 
terranean to  dispute  the  Sovereignty  of  Rome.  Nine  Provinces, 
each  fit  to  be  a  kingdom,  owned  her  sway,  and  poured  yearly  taxes 
into  her  revenue.  The  kings  of  Asia  Minor,  of  Syria,  of  Egypt 
were  her  obedient  vassals. 


CHAPTER    XLVIII. 

FIRST  SLAVE-WAR  IN  SICILY.       (133 131   B.C.) 

§  1.  Increase  of  Slaves.  §  2.  Fondness  of  the  Romans  for  agriculture :  decline 
of  agriculture.  §  3.  Immense  numbers  of  Slaves  brought  to  market.  §  4. 
The  Slaves  of  Apulia  become  banditti.  §  5.  Similar  state  of  things  in 
Sicily :  insurrection  breaks  out  near  Enna.  §  6.  King  Eunus.  §  7.  Enna 
taken  by  the  Slaves:  dreadful  scenes.  §  8.  Cleon  heads  another  rising 
near  Agrigentum.  §  9.  Defeat  of  a  Roman  Praetor :  spread  of  the  Insur- 
rection. §  10.  The  War  concluded  by  Rupilius :  fate  of  the  Slave-chiefs. 
§  11.  Propitiation  of  Ceres.  §  12.  Laws  of  Rupilius  for  improving  the 
state  of  Sicily. 

§  1.  While  Numantia  was  yet  defying  the  Roman  Generals,  a  war 
broke  out  near  home  of  a  more  dreadful  kind  than  any  distant 
contest  with  foreigners  could  be, — the  insurrection  of  the  Slaves  in 
Sicily.  Some  remarks  have  already  been  made  on  the  rapid 
increase  in  the  number  of  Slaves  which  attended  the  career  of 
Roman  conquest ;  and  it  was  observed  that,  while  domestic  Slaves 
usually  were  well  treated,  the  agricultural  Slaves  were  thrust  down 
to  a  condition  worse  than  that  of  the  oxen  which  laboured  on  the 
land.*  The  evils  which  such  oppression  might  engender  were 
now  proved  by  terrible  experience. 

§  2.  Every  one  knows  that  in  the  early  times  of  Rome  the 
work  of  the  'farm  was  the  only  kind  of  manual  labour  deemed 
worthy  of  a  free  citizen.  This  feeling  long  survived,  as  may  be 
seen  from  the  praise  bestowed  on  agriculture  by  Cicero,t  whose 
enthusiasm  was  caught  from  one  of  his  favourite  heroes,  old  Cato 
the  Censor,  whose  Treatise  on  Agriculture  has  been  noticed. 
The  taste  for  books  of  farming  continued.  Varro  the  antiquarian, 
a  friend  of  Cicero,  has  left  an  excellent  treatise  on  the  subject. 
A  little  later  came  the  famous  Georgics  of  Virgil,  followed  at 
no  long  interval  by  Pliny's  notices,  and  then  by  the  elaborate 
Dissertations  of  Columella,  who  refers  to  a  great  number  of 
Roman  writers  on  the  same  subject.  It  is  manifest  that  the 
subject  of  agriculture  possessed  a  strong  and  enduring  charm  for 
the  Roman  mind. 

But,   from  the  times  of  the  Hannibalic  War,  agriculture  lost 

*  Chapt.  xxxvii.  §  5. 

f  "  Omnium  autem  rerum  ex  quibus  aliquid  acquiritur  nihil  est  agri  cul- 
ture melius,  nihil  uberius,  nihil  dulcius,  nihil  homine  hbero  dignius." — Be 
Off.  i.  42,  fin. 


498  CONQUEST  OF  THE  WORLD.  Book  Y. 

ground  in  Italy.  When  Cato  was  asked  what  was  the  mosl; 
profitable  kind  of  farming,  he  said,  "  Good  grazing."  What  next? 
"  Tolerable  grazing."  What  next  ?  "  Bad  grazing."  What  next? 
"Corn-growing."*  Later  writers,  with  one  accord,  deplore  the 
diminished  productiveness  of  land. 

This  result  was  due  in  part,  no  doubt,  to  war,  but  much  more 
to  other  causes.  Corn  could  be  imported  with  facility  from  the 
southern  lands  of  Sicily,  from  Egypt,  and  from  Numidia,  while  » 
great  part  of  Italy  was  little  suited  for  the  production  of  grain-crops. 
These  causes  found  a  powerful  assistant  in  the  growth  of  large 
estates,  and  the  profitable  tmployment  of  Slaves  as  shepherds  and 
herdsmen. 

§  3.  A  few  examples  will  show  the  prodigious  number  of  Slaves 
that  must  have  been  thrown  into  the  market  after  the  Second 
Punic  War.  To  punish  the  Bruttians  for  the  fidelity  with  which 
they  adhered  to  the  cause  of  Hannibal,  the  whole  nation  were 
made  Slaves;  150,000  Epirotes  were  sold  by  -^milius  Paullus; 
50,000  captives  were  sent  home  from  Carthage,  These  numbers 
are  accidentally  preserved  ;  and  if,  according  to  this  scale,  we 
calculate  the  hosts  of  unhappy  men  sold  in  slavery  during  the 
Syrian,  Macedonian,  Illyrian,  Grecian,  and  Spanish  Wars,  we  shall 
be  prepared  to  hear  that  Slaves  fit  only  for  unskilled  labour  were 
plentiful  and  cheap. 

There  was  also  a  Slave-trade  regularly  carried  on  in  the  East. 
The  barbarous  tribes  on  the  coasts  of  the  Black  Sea  were  always 
ready  to  sell  their  own  flesh  and  blood ;  Thrace  and  Sarmatia 
were  the  Guinea  Coast  of  the  Romans.  The  entrepot  of  this  trade 
was  Delos,  which  had  been  made  a  fi'ee  port  by  Rome  after  the 
conquest  of  Macedonia.f  Gtrabo  tells  us  that  in  one  day  10,000 
slaves  were  sold  there  in  open  market.  Such  were  the  vile  uses 
to  which  was  put  the  Sacred  Island,  once  the  treasury  of  Greece, 
when  her  states  were  banded  together  to  secure  their  freedom 
against  the  Persian. 

§  4.  It  is  evident  that  hosts  of  slaves,  lately  free  men,  and 
many  of  them  soldiers,  must  become  dangerous  to  the  owners. 
Nor  was  their  treatment  such  as  to  conciliate.  They  were 
turned  out  upon  the  hills,  made  responsible  for  the  safety  of  the 
cattle  put  under  their  charge,  and  compelled  to  provide  them- 
selves with  the  common  necessaries  of  life.  A  body  of  these 
wretched  men  asked  their  master  for  clothing :  "  What,"  he 
asked,  "  are  there  no  travellers  with  clothes  on  ?"  The  atrocious 
hint  was  soon  taken  :  the  shepherd  slaves  of  Lower  Italy  became 
banditti,  and  to  travel  through  Apulia  without  an  armed  retinue 

*  Cicero  de  Offic.  ii.  25,  5.  f  Chapt.  xliv.  §  3. 


Chap.  XLYIII.  FIRST  SLAVE-WAR  49& 

was  a  perilous  adventure.  From  assailing  travellers,  the  ma- 
rauders began  to  plunder  the  smaller  country-houses;  and  all  but 
the  rich  were  obliged  to  desert  the  country  and  flock  into  the 
towns.  So  early  as  the  year  185  b.c,  7000  slaves  in  Apulia  were 
condemned  for  brigandage  by  a  Praetor  sent  specially  to  restore 
order  in  that  land  of  pasturage.  When  they  were  not  employed 
upon  the  hills,  they  were  shut  up  in  large  prison-like  buildings 
(erffastula),  where  they  could  talk  together  of  their  wrongs,  and 
form  schemes  of  vengeance. 

§  5.  The  Sicilian  landowners  emulated  their  Italian  brethren ; 
and  it  was  their  tyrannical  conduct  that  led  to  the  frightful  insur- 
rection, which  reveals  to  us  somewhat  of  the  real  state  of  society 
which  existed  under  the  rule  of  Rome. 

In  Sicily,  as  in  Lower  Italy,  the  herds  are  driven  up  into  the 
mountain  pastures  during  the  summer  months,  and  about  Octo- 
ber return  towards  the  plains.  The  same  causes  which  were  at 
work  in  Italy  were  at  work,  on  a  smaller  scale,  in  Sicily.  The 
city  of  Enna,  once  famous  for  the  worship  of  Demeter,  had  be- 
come the  centre  of  a  pastoral  district,  and  of  the  neighbouring 
landowners,  Damophilus  was  the  wealthiest.  He  was  famous  for 
the  multitude  of  his  Slave-herdsmen,  and  for  his  cruel  treatment  of 
them,  and  his  wife  Megallis  emulated  her  lord  in  the  barbarities 
which  she  practised  on  the  female  Slaves.  At  length  the  cup  was 
full,  and  400  of  his  bondsmen,  meeting  at  Enna,  took  counsels  of 
vengeance  against  Damophilus. 

§  6.  At  Enna  there  lived  another  rich  proprietor,  named 
Antigenes;  and  among  his  Slaves  was  a  Syrian,  known  by 
the  Greek  name  of  Eunus  (F.vvovg).  This  man  was  a  kind  of 
wizard,  who  pretended  to  have  revelations  of  the  future,  and 
practised  a  mode  of  breathing  fire,  which  passed  for  a  superna- 
tural power.  At  length  he  gave  out  that  his  Syrian  gods  had 
declared  to  him  that  he  should  be  king  hereafter.  His  master 
treated  him  as  a  jester,  and  at  banquets  used  to  call  him  in  to 
make  sport  for  his  guests ;  and  they,  entering  into  his  humour, 
used  to  beg  him  to  remember  them  when  he  gained  his  sceptre. 
But  to  the  confederate  Slaves  of  Damophilus,  Eunus  seemed  in 
truth  a  Prophet  and  a  King  sent  to  deliver  them.  They  prayed 
him  to  become  their  leader,  he  accepted  their  offer;  and  the  whole 
body  entered  the  city  of  Enna,  with  Eunus  at  their  head  breathing 
fire. 

§  7.  The  wretched  city  now  felt  the  vengeance  of  men  brutalised 
by  oppression.  Clad  in  skins,  armed  with  stakes  burnt  at  the 
end,  with  reaping-hooks,  spits,  or  whatever  arms  rage  supplied, 
they  broke  into  the  houses,  and  massacred  all  persons  of  free 
condition,  from   the  old  man  and  matron  to  the  infant   at  the 


500  CONQUEST  OF  THE  WORLD.  Book  Y. 

breast.  Crowds  of  Slaves  joined  them ;  every  man's  foes  were 
those  of  his  own  household.  Damophilus  was  dragged  to  the 
Theatre  and  slain.  Megallis  was  given  over  to  the  female  Slaves, 
who  first  tortured  her,  and  then  cast  her  down  the  crag  on  which 
the  city  stands. 

Eunus  thus  saw  the  wildest  of  his  dreams  fulfilled.  He  as- 
sumed the  diadem,  took  the  royal  name  of  Antiochus,  and  called 
his  followers  Syrians.  The  ergastula  were  broken  open,  and 
numbers  of  Slaves  sallied  out  to  join  him.  Soon  he  was  at  the 
head  of  10,000  men.  He  showed  no  little  discretion  in  the 
choice  of  officers.  Achseus,  a  Greek,  was  made  General  of  the 
army,'  and  he  exerted  himself  to  preserve  order  and  moderate 
excesses. 

§  8.  A  few  days  after  the  massacre  a':  Enna,  Cleon,  a  Cilician 
Slave,  raised  a  similar  insurrection  near  Agrigentum.  He  also  was 
soon  at  the  head  of  several  thousand  men. 

The  Romans  in  Sicily,  who  had  looked  on  in  blank  dismay,  now 
formed  hopes  that  the  two  leaders  might  quarrel, — hopes  soon 
disappointed  by  the  tidings  that  Cleon  had  acknowledged  the 
sovereign  authority  of  King  Antiochus. 

§  9.  There  was  no  Roman  magistrate  present  in  Sicily  when  the 
insurrection  broke  out.  The  Praetor  of  the  last  year  had  returned 
to  Italy ;  and  his  successor  now  arrived,  ignorant  of  all  that  was 
passing.  He  contrived  to  collect  8000  men  in  the  island,  and  took 
the  field  against  the  Slaves,  who  by  this  time  numbered  20,000. 
He  was  utterly  defeated,  and  the  insurrection  spread  over  the 
whole  island. 

The  consternation  at  Rome  was  great.  No  one  could  tell  where 
the  evil  would  stop.  Movements  broke  out  in  various  parts  of  the 
empire  ;  but  the  magistrates  were  on  the  alert,  and  all  attempts 
were  crushed  forcibly.  At  Rome  itself  one  hundred  and  fifty 
Slaves,  detected  in  organising  an  outbreak,  were  put  to  death 
without  mercy, 

§  10.  The  insurrection  seemed  to  the  Senate  so  serious  that 
they  dispatched  the  Consul,  Q.  Fulvius  Flaccus,  colleague  of 
Scipio  in  the  year  133  b.c,  to  crush  it.  But  Flaccus  ob- 
tained no  advantage  over  the  insurgents.  In  the  next  year 
L.  Calpurnius  Piso  succeeded  in  wresting  Messana  from  the 
enemy,  and  advanced  to  Enna,  a  place  strongly  defended  by 
nature,  which  he  was  unable  to  take.  His  successor,  P.  Rupilius, 
a  friend  of  Scipio,  began  his  campaign  with  the  siege  of  Tauro- 
menium.  The  Slaves  offered  a  desperate  resistance.  Reduced 
to  straits  for  want  of  food,  they  devoured  the  children,  the 
women,  and  at  length  began  to  prey  upon  each  other.  Even 
then   the   place  was   only  taken   by  treachery.     All  the  Slaves 


Chap.  XLVIII.  FIRST  SLAVE-WAR.  601 

taken  alive  were  put  to  the  torture  and  thrown  down  a  precipice. 
The  Consul  now  advanced  to  Enna,  the  last  stronghold  of  Eunus. 
The  fate  of  the  insurgents  was  inevitable.  Cleon  of  Agrigentum 
chose  a  soldier's  death,  and  sallying  forth  with  all  who  breathed 
the  same  spirit  as  himself,  he  died  fighting  valiantly.  Of  the 
end  of  Achseus  we  are  not  informed.  Eunus,  with  a  body- 
guard of  600  men,  fled  to  the  neighbouring  hills ;  but,  despairing 
of  escape,  the  greater  part  of  the  wretched  men  slew  one  another. 
The  mock  king  himself  was  taken  in  a  cave,  with  his  cook,  baker, 
bathing-man,  and  jester.  He  showed  a  pusillanimity  far  unlike 
the  desperate  courage  of  the  rest,  and  died  eaten  by  vermin  in  a 
dungeon  at  Murgantia. 

§  11.  Thus  was  crushed  for  a  time  this  perilous  insurrection, 
the  result  of  the  Slave-system  established  by  Roman  conquest. 
The  well-being  of  Sicily  had  even  now  been  so  seriously  impaired 
that  extraordinary  measures  were  deemed  necessary  for  restoring 
order.  The  Sibylline  Books  were  consulted.  The  oracular  page 
ordered  the  propitiation  of  "  Ceres  the  most  ancient ;"  and  a 
solemn  deputation  of  priests  proceeded  to  the  august  Temple  of 
the  Goddess  in  the  city  of  Enna.  This  circumstance,  seemingly 
unimportant,  becomes  significant,  when  it  is  considered  that  the 
war  really  originated  in  the  neglect  of  agricultural  labours,  and 
was  at  its  height  during  the  notable  year  in  which  Tib.  Gracchus 
was  bringing  to  all  men's  knowledge  the  reduced  condition  of  the 
farmers  of  Italy. 

§  12.  Ten  Commissioners  were  sent  to  assist  Rupilius  in  draw- 
ing up  laws  for  the  better  regulation  of  the  agricultural  districts. 
The  code  formerly  established  by  Hiero  at  Syracuse  was  taken  as 
the  basis  of  their  legislation,  a  measure  which  gave  great  satisfac- 
tion to  all  the  Greek  Communities.  The  whole  land  was  required 
to  pay  a  tithe  of  its  produce  to  the  Romans  except  the  five  free 
cities  and  some  others  which  were  allowed  to  pay  a  fixed  annual 
sum.  The  collection  of  these  tithes  was  to  be  let  to  Roman 
contractors.  But  to  prevent  extortion,  Courts  of  Appeal  were 
provided.  All  disputes  between  citizens  of  the  same  town  were 
left  to  be  decided  in  the  town  courts;  those  between  citizens 
of  diff'erent  towns,  by  judges  drawn  by  lot  under  the  eye  of 
the  Praetor ;  those  between  a  town-community  and  an  individual, 
by  the  Senate  of  some  other  city  ;  those  between  a  Roman  citizen 
and  a  Sicilian,  by  a  judge  belonging  to  the  same  nation  as  the 
defendant.  There  can  be  no  doubt  that  the  general  condition  of 
the  Sicilian  landholders  was  considerably  improved  by  this  system  ; 
and  agriculture  again  flourished  in  Sicily  as  it  had  done  in  forme i 
times. 


Tomb  on  the  Appian  Way, 


CHAPTEE    XLIX. 

THE  CONDITION  OF  ROME  AND  HER  PEOPLE  AT  THE  CLOSE  OF  THJ 
PERIOD  OF  CONQUEST. 

§  1.  Rise  of  a  New  Nobility.  §  2.  Control  of  Public  Purse  now  in  hands 
of  Senate.  §  3,  Precariousness  of  Senatorial  power.  §  4.  Growth  of  a 
wealthy  Class,  not  noble.  §  5.  Knights  equo  publico  et  privato:  new 
Equestrian  Order  created  by  C.  Gracchus.  §  6  The  free  citizens  con- 
sumed by  the  wars.  §  7.  Those  who  returned  migrated  to  the  towns. 
§  8.  Increase  of  large  estates.  §  9.  How  these  estates  were  furnished 
with  labour:  Metayers.  §  10.  Growing  division  between  the  City  and 
the  Rural  Tribes:  what  was  meant  by  "Men  of  the  People"  a\  Rome. 
§  11.  Influence  of  the  Nobility  in  the  Comitia. 

§  1.  An  attempt  was  made  to  review  the  condition  of  Rome  and 
her  subjects  at  the  point  of  time  when  she  had  just  passed 
through  the  terrible  ordeal  of  the  Hannibalic  AVar.  Since  that 
we  have  followed  her,  for  more  than  a  century  and  a  half,  in  her 
rapid  ascent  to  absolute  dominion.  And  here  again  we  may 
pause  to  note  the  changes  that  had  taken  place  in  her  political 
and  social  system.  For  though  no  violent  changes  are  recorded, 
yet  silently  and  surely  great  alterations  had  been  wrought  in 
almost  all  sorts  and  conditions  of  Roman  citizens. 


OiiAf .  J.UX.  SENATORIAL  POWER.  503 

We  have  had  continually  to  recognise  the  increasing  power 
of  the  Senate  and  the  growth  of  a  New  Nobility,  as  compact 
as  the  old  Patrician  Oligarchy,  and  wielding  a  mightier  power. 
The  mark  of  Nobility  was  not  now,  as  of  old,  birth  within  the 
pale  of  the  Patriciate,  but  birth  within  the  number  of  those 
families  who  could  count  up  successive  honours  for  generations. 
Those  were  now  most  noble  who  possessed  the  longest  file  of 
images,  that  is  those  whose  ancestors  had  held  the  greatest 
number  of  Curule  offices. 

§  2.  That  which  secured  political  supremacy  to  the  Senate  wag 
what  is  familiarly  called  the  power  of  the  Purse.  No  people  can 
be  free  unless  they  have  some  control  over  the  expenditure  of 
public  money  ;  and  at  Rome  all  financial  matters  were,  as  we 
have  seen,  wholly  in  the  hands  of  the  Senate.  In  earlier  times 
this  great  Council  was  obliged  to  levy  a  war-tax  upon  the  People, 
which  served  as  a  check  upon  its  power.  But  the  large  sums 
which  poured  into  the  treasury  for  the  next  few  years  made 
this  tax  lighter  every  year,  till  with  the  conquest  of  Macedon 
it  ceased  altogether.  Henceforth,  therefore,  there  was  not  even 
an  indirect  control  over  the  public  purse,  and  no  hindrance  was 
offered  to  a  vote  for  declaring  war.  Even  Cato,  m  his  deter- 
mination to  destroy  Carthage,  lent  himself  to  the  policy  of  his 
Order.  All  lucrative  employments  were  seized  by  the  members 
of  the  great  Senatorial  families.  It  was  only  when  difficult  ser- 
vices were  required,  such  as  the  conquest  of  Macedon,  or  the 
reduction  of  Carthage  and  Numantia,  that  the  Senate  were 
obliged  to  resort  to  the  services  of  independent  men  like  JEmilius 
Paullus  or  his  son  Scipio. 

§  3.  But  while  the  Senatorial  Nobility  seemed  to  be  in  secure 
possession  of  nearly  all  honours,  there  were  not  wanting  signs 
to  show  that  this  possession  was  precarious.  In  the  first  place 
there  had  grown  up  of  late  years  a  body  of  wealthy  families  who 
were  debarred  from  political  honours ;  and  in  the  second  place, 
the  condition  of  the  Rustic  Population  was  every  day  becoming 
so  bad  as  to  excite  the  sympathy  of  the  generous,  and  to  alarm 
the  fears  of  the  selfish. 

§  4.  The  wealthy  class  of  which  we  speak  was  chiefly  composed 
of  the  tax-collectors,  public  contractors,  and  other  persons 
engaged  in  commercial  pursuits.  Just  before  the  second  Punic 
War  a  law  had  been  passed  to  make  it  illegal  for  Senators  to 
engage  in  any  kind  of  commercial  adventure;  and  to  supply  the 
constant  demand  caused  by  the  wars  that  followed.  Companies 
were  formed,  with  a  sufficient  capital  to  undertake  contracts  for 
supplying  the  army  and  navy„  When  one  province  after  another 
was  conquered,  similiar  Companies  contracted  to  collect  the  im- 


504  CONQUEST  OF  THE  WORLD.  Book  V 

posts  laid  upon  the  new  subjects  of  Rome,  and  this  soon  became 
a  large  and  profitable  businesSo  The  provincial  imposts  were 
put  up  to  public  auction ;  the  Company  which  offered  the 
largest  sum,  if  they  could  give  proper  security,  received  the 
contract;  they  paid  into  the  Treasury  the  sum  which  they  had 
offered,  and  all  that  they  collected  over  and  above  this  sum  they 
divided  among  themselves :  a  system  well  contrived  to  encourage 
extortion.  It  was  from  this  wealthy  class  of  contractors  and 
commercial  men  that  C.  Gracchus  created  a  new  order  of  citi^ 
zens  to  balance  the  Senators.  This  was  the  Equestrian  Order, 
the  members  of  which  were  called  Equites  or  Knights, — a  new 
application  of  an  old  name  which  demands  explanation. 

§  5.  It  has  been  noticed  that  by  the  institutions  attributed  to 
King  Servius  the  Equites  were  raised  to  the  number  of  3600. 
They  were  the  wealthiest  men  at  Rome,  and  formed  a  real  body 
of  Knights  or  Chivalry,  who  served  on  horseback  in  the  army  of 
the  city,  as  all  the  other  Centuries  served  on  foot.  They  were 
furnished  with  a  horse  at  the  public  expense,  or  rather  by  a  special 
tax  laid  on  the  property  of  widows  and  orphans,  who  were  exempt 
from  all  other  dues. 

As  the  City  increased  in  power  there  were  many  citizens  who 
were  as  wealthy  as  the  Equites,*  and  yet  were  not  of  their  num- 
ber; and  at  the  siege  of  Veil  many  of  these  citizens  came  forward 
and  offered  to  serve  as  horse-soldiers  at  their  own  expense. 
Hence  arose  the  distmction  of  Knights  with  a  Public  and  Knights 
with  a  Private  Horse.  After  this  time,  the  Cavalry  seem  to 
have  been  regularly  furnished  by  families  of  a  certain  amount 
of  property ;  and  the  horse  bestowed  by  the  State  became  a 
badge  of  honour,  which  was  retained  by  Senators  and  Consulars, 
though  they  were  no  longer  liable  to  serve  in  the  army.  The 
whole  system  was  remodelled,  as  it  appears,  in  the  Censorship  of 
Fabius  and  Decius,  who  were  commissioned  to  counteract  the 
measures  of  Appius  Claudius.  It  was  then  ordained  that  on  the 
day  of  the  battle  of  Regillus  the  Knights  who  had  a  public 
horse,  clad  in  purple  and  wreathed  with  olive,  should  ride  in 
procession  from  the  Temple  of  Mars  outside  the  city,  to  the 
portico  of  the  Temple  of  Castor  and  Pollux  in  the  Forum,  and 
there  dismounting  should  lead  their  horses  past  the  Censors, 
who  had  power  to  deprive  any  man  of  his  rank  by  taking  away 
his  horse.  Such  a  punishment  was  inflicted  on  Livius  and  Nero, 
the  conquerors  of  Metaurus,  each  upon  the  other,  and  upon 
L.  Scipio  by  Cato.     In  process  of  time  the  distinction  between 

*  The  Census  of  the  Equites  in  earlier  times  is  not  known,  but  was  (it 
may  be  presumed)  larger  than  that  of  the  First  Class.  Augustus  fixed  it  at 
400,000  sesterces  (about  3500Z,) ;  see  Horace,  1  Epist.  i.  58 


Chap.  XLIX.  RURAL   POPULATION.  605 

the  titular  Equites  and  the  horse-soldiers  of  the  army  became 
more  and  more  pronounced,  and  the  possession  of  a  public  horse 
became  q,  sort  of  honorary  distinction  held  in  high  esteem.  The 
Cavaliers  became  distinct  from  the  Cavalry. 

But  a  great  and  complete  change  took  place  when  C.  Gracchus 
raised  to  the  Equestrian  Order  all  who  possessed  a  certain 
Arr^.ount  of  property,  and  thus  created  a  sort  of  Lesser  Nobility 
to  counterbalance  the  Senate.  After  this,  as  it  seems,  a  man 
lost  his  place  in  the  Equestrian  Order  by  becoming  a  Senator; 
and  the  Equites  were  either  wealthy  contractors  and  merchants, 
or  young  men  of  Senatorial  families,  who  had  not  themselves 
reached  Senatorial  dignity.  The  antagonism  of  the  Equites  and 
the  Senate  forms  one  of  the  most  striking  points  in  the  internal 
history  of  Rome  for  the  next  fifty  years.  And  here  we  find 
one  of  the  quarters  from  which  the  dominion  of  the  Senate  was 
threatened. 

§  6.  More  immediate  danger  was  to  be  apprehended  from  the 
state  of  the  Rural  Population,  not  only  in  the  Roman  territory 
itself,  but  throughout  the  allied  cities  of  Italy. 

In  the  early  times  of  Rome  military  service  was  a  privilege, 
confined  to  persons  of  a  certain  property.  Citizens  with  a 
fixed  yearly  income  of  smaller  amount  than  gave  a  position  in 
the  Classes  were  employed  on  board  the  ships ;  but  those  who 
had  no  appreciable  property  were  used  only  as  slingers  and 
archers  to  skirmish  in  front  of  the  regular  battalions  of  the 
Legion.  And  the  same  practice  seems  to  have  prevailed  in  the 
Italian  Communities,  who  always  furnished  more  than  half  the 
Roman  armies.  In  the  great  defeats  of  the  Hannibalic  War, 
therefore,  the  losses  fell  not  on  mercenary  armies ;  but  on  the 
substantial  burgesses  of  the  towns  and  the  stout  yeomen  of  *he 
country.  There  can  be  no  doubt  that  in  this  dreadful  war  the 
rural  inhabitants  of  the  Roman  Territory,  and  of  Italy  generally, 
must  have  been  more  than  decimated.  And  it  was  probably  due 
to  this  cause  that,  from  the  time  of  Flamininus,  Proletarians 
began  to  be  enrolled  in  the  legions  along  with  the  wealthier  citi- 
zens.*' Italy  was  drained  of  her  best  blood,  and  many  a  farm 
lost  the  stout  limbs  of  its  proprietors. 

§  7.  To  this  must  be  added  that  the  wars,  being  now  carried 
on  beyond  seas,  drew  off*  the  legionaries  from  their  country  work 
much  more  completely  than  the  Italian  wars.  The  men  could  no 
longer  return  home  when  the  campaign  was  over,  but  were  kept  for 
several  years  in  foreign  lands ;  and  even  if  they  returned  to  their 
country  they  had  often  contracted  licentious  tastes  and  formed 

*  That  Flamininus  originated  the  practice  appears  probable  from  Plu- 
tarch.    Vit.  Flamin.  c.  18. 

22 


506  CONQUEST  OF  THE  WORLD.  Book  V. 

irregular  habits  which  ill  suited  the  frugal  life  of  an  Italian  hus- 
bandman. Those,  therefore,  who  had  small  estates  were  eager  to 
turn  them  into  money,  that  they  might  enjoy  the  irregular 
pleasures  of  the  City ;  those  who  had  nothing  to  sell  migrated 
without  hindrance.  Thus  the  Rural  Population  was  more  and 
more  thinned,  while  the  towns,* and  Rome  most  of  all,  swarmed 
with  needy  and  reckless  men,  ready  for  outrage. 

§  8.  The  small  proprietors  found  it  extremely  easy  to  part  witb 
their  estates  and  holdings.  For  the  great  Senatorial  families  were 
every  day  growing  richer  by  the  commands  and  governments 
which  were  multiplied  after  every  successive  war;  and,  being 
prohibited  from  commerce,  they  were  glad  to  invest  their  gains 
in  buying  up  land  in  the  neighbourhood  of  their  own  estates. 
From  this  time  forth  began  those  Latifundia  or  Great  Estates 
which  Pliny  believed  to  be  the  real  cause  of  the  depopulation 
and  decay  of  Italy. 

§  9.  It  might  appear,  indeed,  that  these  estates,  being  stript 
of  their  labourers,  would  not  be  very  valuable.  But  this  was 
compensated  by  the  great  abundance  and  cheapness  of  Slaves, — 
a  point  which  has  been  sufficiently  illustrated  in  our  account  of 
the  Sicilian  Slave-war.  Whole  districts  were  thrown  into  pas- 
turage because  free  labourers  were  wanting,  and  their  place  was 
supplied  by  wretched  captives,  who,  though  unequal  to  the  labours 
of  the  plough  or  spade,  were  able  to  watch  flocks  and  tend  herds. 
Even  when  tillage  was  still  found  profitable  in  Italy,  it  changed 
its  character.  It  was  then,  probably,  that  what  is  called  the 
metayer  system,  which  prevails  so  largely  there  at  the  present 
day,  first  took  its  rise ;  the  system,  that  is,  in  which  the  tenant 
and  landlord  are  partners  in  the  crops,*  the  landlord  furnishing 
land,  farm-buildings,  and  seed,  the  tenant  supplying  the  farm- 
implements  and  the  labour. 

Here,  then,  was  a  second  cause  of  discontent,  which  rendered 
the  established  order  of  things  insecure,  and  might  at  any  time 
cause  peril  to  the  government  of  the  Senate. 

§  10.  Meantime,  with  the  decline  of  the  Rural  Population,  the 
Population  of  the  City  had  constantly  been  increasing.  Even  in 
the  time  of  the  Samnite  Wars  the  Censor  Appius  had  found  the 
Freedmen  sufficiently  numerous  to  form  a  powerful  support  of  the 
Patricians  against  the  Plebeians.  So  we  shall  find  them  in  the 
next  half-century  generally  taking  part  with  the  Nobility  against 
the  champions  of  the  Rural  Population, — a  fact  of  great  importance 
in  estimating  the  relation  of  parties  at  Rome.  The  people  of  the 
city,  contemptuously  called  the  Forensic  Mob,  were  mostly  con- 

*  Metayer  properly  means  Partner.    The  Latm  term  was  Partiaritts. 


Chap.  XLIX.     INFLUENCL  OF  NOBILITY  IN  OOMITIA.  507 

fined  to  four  votes  out  of  thirty-five,  and  therefore  in  a  general 
way  they  had  little  weight  against  the  country  people,  who  had 
thirty-one  votes  out  of  thirty-five.  It  is,  therefore,  the  Country 
Tribes  which  in  Roman  history  are  commonly  known  by  the 
name  of  "  the  People,"  and  it  is  this  part  of  the  nation  which 
supported  the  patriotic  statesmen  who  endeavoured  to  restore 
the  old  yeomanry  of  Italy ;  while  the  haughtiest  of  the  aristo- 
cracy are  allied  with  the  Tribes  of  the  City.  It  was  Appius,  the 
proud  Patrician,  who  endeavoured  to  spread  the  latter  over  all 
the  Tribes ;  it  was  by  the  popular  Censors,  Fabius  and  Decius, 
that  they  were  thrown  back  into  the  Four  City  Tribes.  When 
they  had  again  broken  these  bonds,  the  rule  of  Fabius  and  Decius 
was  renewed  by  a  man  branded  by  Livy  with  the  name  and  charac- 
ter of  demagogue,  namely  C.  Flaminius,  who  fell  at  the  Lake 
Trasimene ;  and  it  was  the  father  of  the  Gracchi  who  confined 
them  even  to  a  single  Tribe.  Cato,  the  most  popular  man  of  his 
day,  was  all  in  favour  of  the  rural  population,  and  it  was  their 
sufferings  that  first  awakened  the  sympathies  of  Tib.  Gracchus. 
We  must  not,  then,  import  our  notions  of  "popular  men" 
into  this  portion  of  Roman  history.  By  "popular  men"  we 
mean  those  who  favour  the  people  of  the  towns ;  at  Rome  the 
term  meant  those  who  supported  the  people  of  the  country. 
There  was,  properly  speaking,  no  large  and  independent  Middle 
Class,  consisting  of  shopkeepers  and  small  traders  of  all  kinds, 
such  as  are  found  in  all  parts  of  Western  Europe ;  for  these 
crafts  were  filled  by  the  Freedmen  and  dependents  of  the  rich. 
The  conflict  lay,  therefore,  between  the  Nobility  and  the  country 
voters,  though  in  a  few  years  the  Equestrian  Order  stepped  in  as 
a  New  Nobility  to  embroil  the  strife. 

§  11.  An  important  consequence  of  this  relation  of  parties  was 
that  by  dexterous  management  the  Nobility  were  able  to  obtain 
great  influence  in  the  Comitia.  Popular  choice  was  already  much 
limited  by  the  fact  that  wealth  was  required  for  the  discharge  of 
public  office.  It  was  further  limited  by  the  fact  that  at  many 
seasons  of  the  year  the  country  people  of  the  more  distant  Tribes 
could  not  leave  their  harvesting  to  give  their  votes  at  Rome.  In 
this  case  the  great  Landowners,  and  all  who  were  not  obliged  per- 
sonally to  labour  on  their  estates,  represented  the  country  tribes. 
Thus  we  may  understand  why,  at  some  seasons,  the  Nobility  car- 
ried elections  against  the  will  of  the  popular  party,  while  at  other 
times  this  party  obtained  easy  victories  over  the  Nobility. 


Medallion  of  Terence. 


CHAPTER    L. 


MANNERS    AND    MORALS  :     LITERATURE    AND    ART. 

§  1.  Vain  attempts  to  check  immorality  by  the  Censorship,  and  by  Law. 
§  2.  Religioa  §  3.  Public  opinion :  Literature.  §  4.  Ennius.  §  5. 
Comedy.  §  6.  Plautus  and  Terence.  §  7.  Characteristics  of  their  Plays. 
§  8.  Csecilius  and  Afranius,  §  9.  Tragedy :  Pacuvius  and  Attius.  §  10. 
Reasons  why  the  Drama  had  little  success  at  Rome.  §  11.  Satire :  Luci- 
lius.    §  12.  Prose  Writers.    §  13.  Study  of  Law  and  Oratory.    §  14.  Art. 

§  1.  Enough  has  been  said  in  more  than  one  chapter  of  the  fore- 
going Book  to  prove  the  rapid  decline  in  morality  which  followed 
the  Punic  Wars.  The  rankness  of  vice  was  felt  by  all  Romans 
of  better  feeling  and  truer  patriotism.  In  consequence  of  the 
growing  corruption  of  the  age,  an  attempt  was  made  to  check 
the  evil  in  a  manner  characteristic  of  the  Roman  mind,  namely, 
by  the  moral  superintendence  of  the  Censors.  Cato,  the  very 
type  of  a  Roman,  wielded  this  enormous  power  without  com- 
promise ;  and  if  penal  Edicts  could  have  arrested  social  changes 
or  enforced  moral  obligations,  the  Censorial  power  in  the  hands 
of  such  a  man  as  Cato  must  have  done  it.  But  though  his 
spirit  descended,  in  some  measure,  upon  succeeding  Censors, 
the  undertaking  proved  vain. 

Sumptuary  Laws,  Laws  against  Bribery,  and  the  like,  were 
also  tried  by  those  who  still  clung  to  the  hope  of  reviving  the 
old  Roman  simplicity.  The  history  of  all  nations,  or  rather  the 
history  of  human  nature,  would  teach  us  the  vanity  of  such  en- 
deavours. They  were  not  more  successfnl  at  Rome  than  they 
have  since  been  in  other  lands. 


Chap.  L.  LITERATURE.  509 

§  2.  It  must  not,  however,  be  imagined  that  there  were  no 
exceptions  to  the  rule  of  corrupt  and  licentious  living,  which 
began  to  prevail  at  Rome  in  this  period.  In  the  foregoing  chap- 
ters many  such  have  been  specified,  and  if  the  records  of  the 
time  were  more  complete,  names  now  forgotten  might  be 
added  to  the  list.  But  in  the  most  upright  Romans,  such  as 
Cato,  there  is  something  harsh  and  repulsive ;  and  now,  more 
remarkably  than  ever,  was  their  acknowledgment  of  social  duties 
confined  to  the  circle  of  their  own  countrymen.  Nothing  can 
be  more  detestable  than  the  public  morality  of  Rome  through- 
out her  career  of  conquest.  No  arts  were  too  base  to  be  used 
by  her  statesmen  and  generals.  In  the  fulfilment  of  positive 
contracts,  indeed,  their  good  faith  was  much  greater  than  the 
Greeks  were  accustomed  to ;  and  Polybius,  in  a  passage  already 
cited,  gives  them  high  praise  in  this  particular.  But  the  re- 
ligious feelings  which  he  attributes  to  them  were  fast  decaying. 
Those  who  lived  in  open  profligacy  could  know  nothing  of 
religion  but  its  formalities,  which  it  was  necessary  for  every 
Roman  to  observe,  because  they  were  inextricably  entangled 
with  political  business  and  military  enterprises.  Men  of  edu- 
cation sought  a  substitute  in  Greek  Philosophy ;  and  here  it 
may  be  noticed  that  the  best  Romans,  such  as  JEmilius  Paullus 
and  the  younger  Scipio,  professed  the  stern  and  practical  doc- 
trines of  the  Stoic  school. 

§  3.  Nor  was  the  progress  of  corruption  checked  by  the  great 
Censor  of  modern  times,  Public  Opinion.  This  force  can  never 
fiilly  operate  in  large  communities  except  through  the  Press. 
Whatever  be  the  abuses  of  the  Press,  and  they  are  great,  its  uses 
are  greater  far.  At  Athens  the  place  of  this  potent  instrument 
was  in  some  measure  supplied  by  the  free  and  vigorous  satire 
of  the  Comic  Poets.  But  at  Rome  even  this  was  wanting.  The 
rude  Roman  took  little  pleasure  in  exquisite  poetry  and  keen 
wit,  such  as  that  with  which  Aristophanes  or  Eupolis  enchained 
the  ear  of  an  Athenian  audience;  nay,  the  wild  buff*oonery 
with  which  even  Attic  poets  were  obliged  to  amuse  the  multi- 
tude, failed  to  please  those  whose  youth  had  been  spent  in  the 
camp  and  on  the  battle-field.  Yet  there  was  a  Literature  at 
Rome,  and  we  will  here  resume  the  account  of  it  from  the  point 
at  which  we  before  broke  oft. 

§  4.  It  was  said  that  the  native  poetry  of  Rome  suddenly  gave 
way  to  an  invasion  from  Greece ;  and  that  Naevius,  though  he 
piade  a  brave  stand  against  the  prevailing  taste,  yet  lived  to  see 
the  triumph  of  Ennius,  an  avowed  Hellenist.  The  vigour  and 
force  with  which  the  new  poet  used  the  heroic  metre  of  Homer 
may  be  seen  from  a  few  specimens,  which  Virgil  borrowed  and 


510  COUQUEST  OF  THE  WORLD.  Book  V. 

incorporated  with  slight  alteration  in  his  great  Epic*  Ennius, 
like  Livius  and  Naevius,  wrote  Tragedies  and  Comedies,  which 
he  translated  from  the  Greek.  But  the  work  on  which  his 
fame  rested  was  his  great  Epic  poem  entitled  the  Annals  of  Rome, 
in  eighteen  books.  The  first  six  of  these  contained  a  rapid  nar- 
rative of  the  early  History  :  the  seventh  began  with  the  Second 
Punic  War,  so  that  to  this  great  theme  the  bulk  of  the  Poem 
was  devoted.  He  boasts  that  he  was  the  first  who  abandoned 
the  rude  metre  used  "by  Fauns  and  Bards,"  and  studied  the 
elegancies  of  style;  and  he  is  acknowledged  by  Lucretius  as 
the  poet 

Who  first  from  lovely  Helicon  brought  down 
The  leaves  of  an  imperishable  crown, 
For  all  Italia's  sons  to  hold  in  high  renown. 

Nor  was  his  boast  empty.  It  is  manifest  that  Ennius,  by  his 
Poem  on  the  Punic  Wars,  formed  and  settled  the  Latin  language, 
much  as  Shakspere  and  the  Translators  of  the  Bible  formed  and 
settled  English.  No  doubt  Virgil  culled  the  fairest  flowers ;  but 
even  the  fastidious  taste  of  Horace  could  recognise  true  poetic 
spirit  in  some  lines  of  Ennius,  though,  at  a  later  period  of  his 
life,  he  sneered  at  the  old  bard's  pretensions.f  The  devotion  of 
Cicero  to  Ennius  is  absolute.  So  long  did  his  popularity  last, 
that  Seneca,  writing  in  the  time  of  Nero,  calls  the  Roman  People 
Populus  Ennianus,  and  portions  of  his  poems  were  commonly 
recited  in  the  theatres  down  to  the  time  of  the  Emperor 
Aurelius. 

§  6.  Meantime,  besides  Tragedy,  of  which  we  have  spoken, 
there  had  arisen  at  Rome  a  Comic  Drama,  of  high  excellence. 
Comic  entertainments  of  a  rude  kind  had  prevailed  from  early 
times.  But  the  Fescennine  Dialogues  and  the  Atellane  Mimes, 
of  which  we  spoke  in  a  former  page,  had  no  relation  to  what 
wa.  called  Comedy  at  Rome.     This,   like  Tragedy,  was  merely 

*  As, "  Postquam  Discordia  tetra 

Belli  ferratos  postes  portasque  refregit." — Ennius. 
"  Impulit  ipsa  manu  portas,  et  cardine  verso 
Belli  ferratos  rupit  Saturnia  postes." — Virgil. 

"  Qui  coelum  versat  stellis  fulgentibus  aptum." — Ennius. 
"  Axem  humero  torquet  stellis  ardentihus  aptum." — Yirgil. 

Quae  neque  Dardaniis  campis  potuere  perire, 
"  Nee  quum  capta  capi,  nee  quum  combusta  cremari." — Ennius. 

"  Num  Sige'is  occumhere  campis, 

Num  capti  potuere  capi  ?  num  incensa  cremavit 
Troja  viros?" — Virgil. 
\  He  recognises  the  poetic  spirit  in  1  Serm.  iv.  60  sq.;  he  adopts  a  depre- 
ciatory tone  in  2  Epist.  i.  50  sq. 


Chap.  L  LITERATURE.  511 

transplanted  from  Greece.  Probably  all  the  old  poets  from 
Livius  Andronicus  to  Ennius,  who  translated  Greek  Tragedies 
for  the  Roman  stage,  also  translated  Greek  Comedies.  Nsevius, 
as  we  have  seen,  tried  a  more  independent  course,  and  was  per- 
secuted for  his  pains.  The  Comedies,  in  which  he  attacked  the 
Metelli  and  others,  must  have  rather  resembled  the  Old  Comedy 
of  Athens,  in  which  it  was  usual  to  indulge  in  the  most  open 
personalities;  while  the  Roman  Comic  Dramas  known  to  us  are 
borrowed  from  the  New  Comedy  of  Meander  and  Diphilus,  in 
which  the  characters  represent  not  particular  persons,  but  whole 
classes  of  society.  It  is  evident,  at  once,  that  such  dramas  would 
have  little  eifect,  as  will  appear  when  we  have  given  some  ac- 
count of  the  chief  Comic  Poets  and  their  works. 

§  6.  T.  Maccius  Plautus  was  a  native  Italian,  having  been 
born  at  Sarsina,  a  petty  town  of  Umbria,  near  the  close  of  the 
First  Punic  War.  His  father  was  a  Freedman  :  he  led  a  careless, 
jovial  life,  frequenting  taverns,  and  entering  into  the  humours  of 
the  people,  rather  than  seeking  the  patronage  of  the  great.  His 
plays  were  not  without  reward ;  but  he  was  sometimes  obliged 
to  labour  like  a  slave  for  his  daily  bread.  He  died  in  184  b.c.  at 
a  good  old  age.     Twenty  of  his  comedies  still  remain. 

P.  Terentius  Afer  appears  to  have  been  born  at  Carthage 
about  the  year  195  b.c,  and  was  therefore  some  half-century 
younger  than  Plautus.  In  his  youth  he  was  the  slave  of  a 
wealthy  Roman,  named  P.  Terentius  Lucanus,  whose  first  names 
he  adopted  (according  to  custom)  on  obtaining  his  freedom. 
His  first  play  was  the  Andria,  which  he  finished  in  his  twenty- 
seventh  year,  and  it  won  him  the  acquaintance  and  patronage  of 
Scipio  ^milianus  and  Laelius,  who  were  then  young  men,  study- 
ing Greek  under  Polybius.  His  Adelphi  was  acted  (by  a  strange 
abuse)  at  the  funeral  games  of  ^milius  Paullus,  and  the  charge 
that  he  was  assisted  in  translating  from  Diphilus  by  his  young 
patrons  is  at  least  not  discountenanced  by  the  poet.*  He 
died  at  the  early  age  of  thirty-four;  and  probably  the  six 
comedies  which  we  still  possess  entire  were  all  that  he  ever 
wrote. 

§  7.  The  characteristic  excellences  of  the  two  poets  correspond 
with  the  manners  of  their  lives.  As  far  as  the  plots  go,  there  is 
little  to  praise.  The  same  generic  characters  appear  and  reap- 
pear in  every  play.     Both  Plautus  and  Terence  content  them- 

*  For  he  says  in  the  Prologue : — 

"  Nam  quod  isti  dicunt  malevoli,  homines  nohiles 
Eum  adjutare  adsidueque  una  scribere. 
Quod  illi  maledictum  vehemens  esse  existimant, 
Earn  laudem  hie  maximam  ducit,"  &c. 


512  CONQUEST   OF   THE    WORLD.  Book  V. 

selves  with  giving  us,  at  second  hand,  weak  fathers  who  leave 
their  sons  to  the  care  of  roguish  slaves;  and  represent  the 
sons  as  determined  to  woo  and  win  penniless  girls,  in  which  aim 
>hey  were  aided  by  the  clever  knavery  of  the  slaves.  In  the 
end,  a  reconciliation  is  brought  about  by  the  discovery  that  the 
dreaded  mistress  is  the  lost  daughter  of  a  brother  or  some  par- 
ticular friend  of  the  father-,  so  that  the  young  man  gains  his 
point,  and  the  slave,  instead  of  being  punished  for  his  trickei;*^ 
is  rewarded  for  his  adroitness.  Sometimes  a  Captain  Bobadl/, 
such  as  in  Greece  were  common  after  the  Macedonian  Wars, 
stupid,  braggart,  and  rich  with  plunder,  is  made  a  butt  for  all 
kinds  of  jokes,  verbal  and  practical,  and  he  is  attended  by  a 
Parasite,  who  flatters  him  extravagantly,  and  is  rewarded  (as  his 
name  shows)  by  a  place  at  the  Captain's  table. 

But  the  tone  and  manner  in  which  these  unpromising  charac- 
ters were  employed  by  the  two  writers  are  extremely  different. 
Plautus,  coarser  and  more  free-spoken,  admits  much  of  broad 
Roman  humour,  and  introduces  many  Roman  customs  into  his 
scenes.  Terence,  veiling  even  immoral  thoughts  in  a  style  polished 
almost  to  coldness,  keeps  closer  to  his  Attic  original,  and  seldom 
ventures  to  mar  its  unity  by  foreign  admixture.  The  Parasite 
in  Plautus  tickles  his  master's  vanity  by  a  coarseness  of  flattery 
that  would  have  put  Falstaff"  to  the  blush :  the  Parasite  of 
Terence  falls  into  his  lord's  vein  with  such  easy  assentation,  that 
a  less  stupid  man  might  be  deceived.*  The  Son  of  Plautus, 
thwarted  in  his  desires,  prays  for  his  father's  death,  that  he  may 
bestow  the  inheritance  on  his  mistress  :\  the  Son  of  Terence, 
grieved  for  the  deceit  he  has  practised  upon  his  father,  breaks  into 
passionate  self-reproach.J  There  is  a  racy  freshness  in  the  style 
of  Plautus  which  well  deserves  the  praise  bestowed  by  Cicero,  and 
was  so  admired  by  some  Roman  critics,  as  to  draw  from  them  the 
extravagant  praise,  that,  "  if  the  Muses  spoke  Latin,  they  would 

*  In  the  Miles  Gloriosus  of  Plautus,  the  Parasite  flatters  Pyrgopoliniees 
thus : — 

"  You  broke,"  he  says. 


And 


In  India  with  your  fist  an  elephant's  arm." 


again: 


I  do  remember — ^let  me  see — ^an  hundred 

Cfyphiolathronians,  and  thirty  Sardians, 

And  threescore  Macedonians — that's  the  number 

Of  men  you  slaughtered  in  a  single  day. 
Pyrgop.     What's  the  sum  total  of  the  men  ?" 
Parasite.  Seven  thousand  T 

The  Parasite  in  the  Eunuchus  of  Terence  is  much  more  delicate  in  his  flflttery 

JMostellaria,  Act  i.  Sc.  3,  1.  '76. 
As  Pamphiius  in  the  Andria,  Act  v.  Sc.  3. 


Chap.  L.  LITERATURE.  613 

use  the  tongue  of  Plautus  :"  and  if  Horace  speaks  slightingly  of 
him,  as  of  Ennius,  it  must  be  said  that  he  was  provoked  by  the 
fashion  which  in  his  day  prevailed  of  over-rating  the  old  Roman 
writers.  The  style  of  Terence  is  a  very  model  of  precision, 
elegance,  and  purity,  as  is  testified  by  Cicero  and  by  Caesar, 
though  the  latter  laments  a  certain  deficiency  of  comic  vigour, 
which  made  him  only  "  half  a  Menander."* 

§  8.  Besides  these  two  famous  writers,  may  be  mentioned  Q. 
Csecilius,  a  Comic  poet,  who  died  about  two  years  before  the 
Andria  of  Terence  was  acted,  and  who  was  coupled  with  Terence 
in  a  manner  that  implies  his  excellence.!  He  was  a  Milanese 
by  birth,  and,  like  Terence,  came  to  Rome  as  a  slave. 

Another  Comic  poet  of  somewhat  later  date  deserves  particular 
notice.  This  was  L.  Afranius,  who  ventured,  like  Nsevius,  to 
write  Comedies  on  Roman  subjects,  though  he  still  seems  to  have 
drawn  upon  Menander  for  his  dialogue.]; 

§  9.  To  those  short  notices  of  the  Comic  Poets,  we  may  add 
a  still  shorter  account  of  the  two  Tragic  writers  who  flourished 
at  the  same  time. 

Pacuvius,  sister's  son  of  Ennius,  was  born  in  the  year  before 
Hannibal  crossed  the  Alps,  and  lived  to  the  age  of  eighty,  so 
that  he  died  about  the  same  time  with  Terence.  Most  of  his 
Tragedies,  like  those  of  his  predecessors,  were  borrowed  from  the 
Greek.  But  he  wrote  one  play  named  Paullus,  of  which  the  hero 
was  the  conqueror  of  Macedon. 

Attius,  or  Accius,  began  to  bring  forward  plays  in  the  year  of 
the  death  of  Pacuvius  (139  B.C.).  He  also,  besides  his  Greek  trans- 
lations, produced  two  plays  with  Roman  arguments,  The  Brutus 
and  The  Decius.  The  subjects  were  the  Delivery  of  Rome  from 
the  Tarquins,  and  the  Self-sacrifice  of  that  Decius  who  fell  at  the 
battle  of  Sentinum.  They  were  produced,  as  the  name  of  the  first 
testifies,  under  the  patronage  of  Dec.  Brutus  Callaicus,  who  carried 
the  Roman  arms  to  the  verge  of  the  Atlantic,  and  who  entered 

*  "  Quicquid  come  loquens  atque  omnia  dulcia  dicens." — Cicero,  Fragm. 

"  Tu  quoque,  tu  in  summis,  o  dimidiate  Menander, 
Poneris,  et  merito,  puri  sermonis  amator. 
Lenibus  atque  utinam  scriptis  adjuncta  foret  vis 
Comica,  ut  aequato  virtus  polleret  honore 
Cum  Graecis,  neque  in  hac  despectus  parte  jaceris." — Caesar  ap.  Sueton. 

•j-  "  Vincere  Csecilius  gravitate,  Terentius  arte." — Horat.  2.  Epist.  i.  59. 
This  was  the  popular  opinion,  not  Horace's. 

\  "  Dicitur  Afrani  toga  convenisse  Menander,"  says  Horace  (2  Epist.  i, 
57).  Comedies  in  which  the  Dramatis  Personae  were  Roman,  and  wore  Roman 
dresses,  were  called  Fahulm  Togatce^  while  those  in  which  the  Greek  names 
and  dresses  were  retained,  which  was  usually  the  case,  were  called  Palliata. 

22* 


614  CONQUEST   OF   THE   WORLD.  Book  V. 

into  a  generous  rivalry  with  Scipio  in  patronage  of  Poetry.*  The 
few  remains  of  Attius  are  terse  and  vigorous  ;  and  the  loss  of  his 
historical  plays  cannot  but  be  matter  of  regret.f 

§  10.  Enough  has  been  said  to  show  that  this  literature  can 
have  produced  very  little  effect  upon  the  manners  and  morals  of 
Rome.  It  was  wholly  of  foreign  growth.  What  interest  could 
the  people  at  large  take  in  the  Grecian  dramas  ?  "  What  was 
Hecuba  to  them,  or  they  to  Hecuba?"  The  Roman  Drama 
was  an  exotic,  which  subsisted  by  the  patronage  of  the  great 
men,  who  spoke  Greek  as  readily  as  Latin.  The  Roman  Dra- 
matic Poets  were  mostly  Slaves  or  Freedmen,  whose  object  was 
to  please  the  great  family  to  which  they  were  attached.  When 
any  one,  as  Naevius,  attempted  to  tread  a  freer  course,  his  mouth 
was  stopped  by  persecution. 

The  common  life  and  interests  of  a  Roman  citizen  every  year 
made  him  less  disposed  for  intellectual  amusements.  From 
childhood  he  was  used  to  the  splendid  games,  which  every  suc- 
ceeding ^dile  tried  to  make  more  splendid.  Triumph  after 
triumph  raised  a  love  of  gorgeous  exhibitions,  which  was  ill- 
satisfied  by  the  poetry  and  action  of  the  Stage.  Above  all,  the 
bloody  sports  of  the  gladiatorial  combats,  which  were  first 
exhibited  at  the  funeral  games  of  a  Brutus  (264  b.c),  created 
a  craving  for  strong  and  real  excitements,  which  no  dramatic 
illusions  could  supply.  This  tendency  in  the  vulgar  was  seconded 
by  the  old  Roman  spirit,  which  regarded  the  Drama  as  a  foreign 
innovation,  calculated  to  enervate  and  corrupt.  Dramatic  repre- 
sentations at  Rome  were  but  occasional,  and  the  Theatres  were 
but  temporary  booths,  removed  when  the  festival-time  was 
past.  In  the  year  155  b.c.  the  Censor  Cassius  wished  to  per- 
petuate the  memory  of  his  office  by  building  a  stone  Theatre ; 
but  the  Consul  P.  Scipio  Nasica,  a  rigid  stickler  for  old  Roman 

*  These  Historical  Plays  were  no  doubt  the  di-amas  known  under  the 
name  of  the  Fahulm  Prcetextatce,  because  the  chief  persons  wore  the  Prcetextot 
or  State-robe  of  Senators. 

f  Popular  opinion  represented  Pacuvius  as  the  Euripides,  Attius  as  th« 
Sophocles  of  Roman  Tragedy : — 

"  Aufert 

Pacuvius  docti  famam  Senis,  Attius  alti" — Horat.  2  Epist.  i.  66. 

Horace  commends  the  fashion  of  plays  on  subjects  of  Roman  history : — 

"  Nee  minimum  meruere  decus,  vestigia  Grseea 
Ausi  deserere,  et  celebrare  domestica  facta." — Ars  Poet.  286. 

One  of  the  vigorous  sayings  of  Attius  is  the  famous  Tyrant's  maxim,  "  Oderint 
dum  metuant."  The  pithy  line — "  Virtute  sis  par,  dispar  fortunae  patris" — 
has  been  amplified  by  Virgil  into — 

"  Disce,  puer,  virtutem  ex  me  verumque  laborem, 
-I'^ortimam  ex  aliis." 


Chap.  L.  LITERATURE.  516 

customs,  interfered  to  prevent  the  work;  nor  was  any  stone 
Theatre  erected  at  Rome  till  the  second  Consulship  of  Pompey 
the  Great,  exactly  one  century  later.  But  the  Theatres,  such  as 
they  were,  were  not  so  much  used  for  dramatic  purposes  in  the 
proper  sense  of  the  word,  as  for  the  representation  of  gorgeous 
spectacles  and  magnificent  processions.  In  a  tragedy,  whose 
subject  was  the  Fall  of  Troy,  it  was  not  the  fate  of  Priam  or 
the  sorrows  of  Andromache  that  touched  the  hearts  of  the  audi^ 
ence,  but  a  host  of  soldiers  in  foreign  arms  and  strange  apparel 
that  amused  their  eyes.  In  Horace's  time  this  corruption  of 
taste  had  reached  its  height.  The  taste  of  the  people,  he  says, 
is  all  for  bear-baiting  and  boxing-matches.  Nor  could  the 
educated  classes  boast  of  a  better  taste.  The  love  of  military 
shows  and  spectacles  had  overpowered  all  merely  intellectual 
pleasures.* 

§  11.  One  species  of  Poetry  remains  to  be  mentioned,  which 
arose  in  the  same  period,  and  for  which  alone  the  Romans  can 
claim  the  merit  of  original  invention, — that,  namely,  which  Horace 
and  Juvenal  have  made  so  well  known  under  the  name  of  Satire. 
It  originated,  doubtless,  with  those  rustic  effusions  called  the 
Fescennine  Dialogues,  which  had  served  from  early  times  to 
attack  the  foibles  and  fashions  of  the  day.  This  rude  instru- 
ment was  taken  up  by  a  great  poet,  who  used  it  so  as  not  only 
to  assail  and  censure,  but  also  to  convey  positive  instruction.f 
This  Poet  was  named  C.  Lucilius.  He  was  born  at  Suessa 
Aurunca  in  148  b.c,  served  in  the  Equites  under  Scipio  in  the 
Numantine  war,  and  continued  on  intimate  terms  with  the 
younger  Laelius,  after  the  death  of  his  more  illustrious  friend. 
He  died  about  the  year  103  b.c.  at  Naples,  to  which  place  he  had 
retired  from  the  civil  broils  which  disturbed  the  City.  The 
muse  of  Lucilius  was  very  fluent.  Of  his  numerous  Satires  only 
fragments  now  remain  ;  but  many  of  these  show  that  he  pos- 
sessed a  vigour  of  thought  and  pungency  of  style  not  unworthy 
of  the  master  of  Horace  and  Juvenal.  In  the  Augustan  age, 
indeed,  the  admiration  for  Lucilius  was  so  great,  that  Horace 
thought  it  necessary  to  moderate  the  fervour  of  his  admirers, 
and  gave  so  much  offence  that  he  was  obliged  to  enter  into  an 

*  See  Hor.  2  Bpist.  i.  185  sqq. 

f  Its  originality  is  expressly  asserted  by  Horace,  who  calls  Lucilius 
"Greeds  intacti  carminis  auctor"  (1  Serm.  x.  68).  Juvenal's  definition  of 
Satire  is  well  known : 

"  Quicquid  agunt  homines, — votura,  timor,  ira,  cupido, 
Gaudia,  diseursus, — nostri  est  farrago  libelli." — Sat.  i.  86. 
The  word  Satira  or  Satura  is  said  to  mean  a  medley, — a  sense  well  suited  to 
this  definition. 


516  CONQUEST  OF   THE   WORLD.  Book  V. 

explanation  of  the  Satire  which  he  had  written  upon  the  first 
writer  of  Satires.* 

§  12.  Little  need  here  be  added  with  respect  to  Prose  Litera- 
ture. It  became  a  fashionable  employment  for  Romans  of  high 
family  to  compose  narratives  of  portions  of  Roman  history,  after 
the  example  set  by  Fabius  Pictor  and  Cincius  Alimentus.  The 
instruction  of  the  people  could  but  little  be  consulted,  when 
books  were  all  written  by  hand,  and  were,  therefore,  both  scarce 
and  costly.  But  any  such  purpose  was  disavowed  by  the  fact, 
that  most  of  these  chroniclers  wrote  in  Greek,  just  as  the  English, 
French,  and  German  authors  of  the  Middle  ages  wrote  in  Latin. 

§  13.  The  study  of  law  had  before  this  begun  to  be  common 
at  Rome,  and  men  little  fitted  for  military  life  courted  popular 
favour  by  giving  legal  advice  to  numerous  clients.  But  this 
subject  belongs  properly  to  the  succeeding  age.  Men  of  the 
Forum  were  still  expected  to  take  the  command  of  armies,  even 
when  their  inefficiency  was  certain.  Such  was  the  case  with  the 
Consuls  who  began  the  Third  Punic  War. 

But  there  was  a  kindred  pursuit,  which  already  brought  fame 
and  profit  to  those  who  professed  it,  namely,  the  art  of  Public 
Speaking.  The  practice  of  indicting  great  off'enders  before  the 
people,  or  prosecuting  them  in  the  Law-courts,  encouraged  Fo- 
rensic Oratory.  Deliberative  or  Parliamentary  speaking  found 
an  open  field,  not  only  in  the  Senate,  but  in  the  great  Assemblies 
of  the  People.  And  the  faculties  of  the  Romans  seem  to  have 
readily  adapted  themselves  to  the  requirement.  In  his  work  on 
the  Orators  of  Rome,f  Cicero  enumerates  some  even  of  this 
early  date,  whose  speeches  were  still  thought  worth  reading. 
Such  was  Appius  Claudius  the  Censor,  whose  dying  eloquence 
led  the  Senate  to  reject  the  persuasive  offers  of  Cineas;  such 
was  Sergius  Galba,  whose  pathetic  language  procured  his  own 
acquittal  from  the  charge  of  oppression  in  Spain ;  such  was  old 
Cato,  for  many  years  the  favourite  orator  of  the  Forum.  The 
study  of  the  art  of  Speaking  was,  indeed,  the  chief  part  of  a 
young  Roman's  education.  When  he  had  gone  through  some 
grammatical  teaching,  and  read  some  of  the  old  poets,  he  passed 
into  the  school  of  a  Rhetorical  master,  and  learned  to  repeat 
famous  speeches,  such  as  those  of  Galba,  and  to  frame  speeches 
of  his  own  on  imaginary  subjects.  But  the  old  Romans  objected 
to  these  novel  practices.  Greek  Rhetoricians  were  their  chief 
abomination.  In  the  year  161  b.c,  a  Decree  of  the  Senate  was 
launched  even  against  Latin  Philosophers  and  Rhetoricians ;  and 

*  The  first  attack  was  in  1  Serm.  iv.  8  sq.  The  explanation  is  1  Serm.  x. 
1  sq.  "  Nempe  ineomposito,  Ac." 

f  Entitled  Brutus,  sive  de  Claris  Oratoribus  Libellus. 


Chap.  L.  ORATORY— ART.  517 

the  Praetor  Pomponius  was  instructed  to  see  that  no  such  persons 
remained  at  Rome.  Of  the  prompt  measures  taken  by  Cato 
to  remove  Carneades  six  years  later  we  have  spoken.  But  the 
fashion  was  gradually  tolerated  and  finally  prevailed. 

§  14.  Roman  Art  became  more  and  more  a  mere  name,  except  so 
far  as  engineering  and  building  came  into  that  province.  We  have 
nothing  to  add  here  to  the  remarks  made  in  a  former  chapter. 
The  story  of  Mummius  and  the  Corinthian  statues  is,  in  a  some- 
what grotesque  form,  an  epitome  of  genuine  Roman  taste  and 
feeling  in  respect  to  the  Fine  Arts. 


Bust  ef  Siuiius. 


The  Forum  from  the  Capitol. 

BOOK  VI. 
FIRST   PERIOD   OF    CIYIL   WARS. 


CHAPTER   LI. 

TIBERIUS    GRACCHUS.       (133   B.C.) 

§  1.  Necessity  of  Reform.  §  2.  Youth  and  education  of  Tib.  Gracchus.  §  S. 
Elected  Tribune.  §  4.  The  Country  Citizens  chiefly  interested  in  an 
Agrarian  Law.  §  5.  Provisions  of  the  Law  proposed  by  Gracchus.  §  6. 
Opposition  to  the  Law :  question  as  to  its  justice.  §  7.  Feeling  in  its 
favour:  Octavius,  a  Tribune,  undertakes  to  bar  it.  §  8.  Proceedings  at 
th«  First  Assembly.     §  9.  Efforts  of  both  parties.     §  10.  Proceedings  at 


Chap  Ll.  TiBERlUri   GRACCHUS.  519 

the   Second  Assembly.     §  11.  The  Third  Assembly :  Octavius  deposed, 
the  Law  passed,  Three  Commissioners  elected,    §  12.  Bequest  of  Attains: 
Gracchus  proposes  to  employ  it  in  stocking  the  new  allotments.     §  13. 
Accusations  against  Gracchus   in  the  Senate  :  decrease  of  popularity. 
§  14.  He  defends  his  own  conduct.     §  15.  Oifers  himself  for  re-election*, 
brings  forward  popular  measures.     §  16.  The  Comitia  adjourned:  prepa- 
rations  for  a  struggle.     §  1*7.  Tumult :  death  of  Gracchus.     §  18.   Esti- 
mate of  his  character. 
§  1.  It  appears  that  before  the  time  of  Scipio's  election  to  con- 
duct the  Numantian  War,  it  had  become  a  prevalent  opinion  that 
some  measures  were  necessary  to  arrest  the  social  evils  of  which 
we  have  spoken   above.     The  frightful   excesses  of  the   Servile 
War  called  attention  still  more  strongly  to  the  subject ;  and  in 
the  year  that  Scipio  achieved  the  conquest  of  Numantia  a  leader 
appeared   who   was   endowed  with    courage,  firmness,   self-confi- 
dence, ability,  eloquence,  and  every  requisite  for  political  success, 
except  a  larger  experience  and  a  larger  share  of  patience  and  self- 
control. 

§  2,  Ti.  Sempronius  Gracchus  was  son  of  one  of  the  few  Romans 
in  whom  public  spirit  prevailed  over  the  spirit  of  party.  Though 
personally  hostile  to  the  great  Scipio,  we  saw  him  interfere  be- 
tween him  and  his  foes.  After  the  death  of  Africanus,  the  chiefs 
of  the  party  off"ered  him  the  hand  of  Cornelia,  the  only  surviving 
daughter  of  the  hero ;  and  from  this  marriage  twelve  sons  and 
one  daughter  were  born  in  rapid  succession.  The  eldest,  Ti- 
berius, saw  the  light  about  166  b.c,  but  the  father  died  before 
his  eldest  son  reached  man's  estate,  and  Cornelia  was  left  a 
widow  with  her  children.  The  daughter  lived ;  but  of  all  the 
twelve  sons  only  two  grew  up, — Tiberius,  and  Caius  who  was 
nine  years  younger.  To  the  education  of  these  precious  relics 
Cornelia  devoted  all  the  energies  of  her  masculine  mind.  She 
even  refused  an  offer  to  share  the  throne  of  the  King  of  Egypt. 
Her  dearest  task  was  to  watch  the  opening  capacities  of  her  boys. 
Such  was  her  hope  of  their  greatness  that  she  used  to  say  she 
would  be  known  not  as  the  Daughter  of  Scipio,  but  as  the 
Mother  of  the  Gracchi. 

According  to  the  fashion  of  the  day,  Greek  teachers  were  called 
in  to  educate  the  boys.  Blossius  of  Cumae,  and  Diophanes  a 
Mitylensean  exile,  are  mentioned  as  the  instructors,  and  in  later 
life  as  the  friends,  of  Tiberius.  Scarcely  had  Tiberius  assumed 
the  garb  of  manhood  when  he  was  elected  into  the  College  of 
Augurs.  At  the  banquet  given  to  celebrate  his  installation, 
App.  Claudius,  the  Chief  of  the  Senate,  offered  him  his  daughter's 
hand  in  marriage.  When  the  proud  Senator  returned  home,  he 
told  his  wife  that  he  had  that  day  betrothed  their  daughter. 


520  CIVIL  WARS :  FIRST  PERIOD.  Book  VL 

"  Ah  !"  she  cried,  "  she  is  too  young  :  it  had  been  well  to  wait  a 
while, — unless  indeed  young  Gracchus  is  the  man."  Soon  after 
his  marriage  he  accompanied  Scipio  to  Carthage,  where  he  was 
the  first  to  scale  the  walls. 

The  personal  importance  of  Gracchus  was  strengthened  by  the 
marriage  of  Scipio  with  his  only  sister.  But  this  marriage 
proved  unhappy.  Sempronia  had  no  charms  of  person,  and  her 
temper  was  not  good;  Scipio's  austere  manners  were  little 
pleasing  to  a  bride ;  nor  were  children  born  to  form  a  bond  of 
union  between  them. 

§  3.  It  was  when  Gracchus  was  about  thirty  years  old  (137  b.c.) 
that  he  served  as  Quaestor  in  Spain.  Before  this,  when  he  tra- 
velled through  Etruria  to  join  the  army,  he  had  noted  her  broad 
lands  tilled  not  by  free  yeomen  as  of  old,  but  by  slaves.  Soon 
after  this  the  Slave  War  broke  out.  He  spoke  his  sentiments 
freely,  and  public  opinion  designated  him  as  the  man  who  was 
to  undertake  the  thankless  office  of  Reformer.  In  all  places  of 
public  resort  the  walls  were  covered  with  inscriptions  calling  on 
Gracchus  to  vindicate  the  rights  of  all  Roman  citizens  to  a  share 
in  the  State  lands.  He  presented  himself  as  a  candidate  for  the 
Tribunate,  and  was  elected. 

§  4.  In  the  beginning  of  133  b.c.  he  entered  upon  office.  He 
had  already  prepared  men  for  his  projected  legislation  by  elo- 
quent speeches,  in  which  he  compared  the  present  state  of  Italy 
with  her  olden  time,  deplored  the  decay  of  her  yeomen  and 
farmers,  and  the  lack  of  free  men  to  serve  in  the  legions.  All 
his  arguments  pointed  towards  some  measures  for  restoring  the 
class  of  small  landed  proprietors  who  were  dwindling  fast  away. 

§  5.  In  a  short  time  his  plan  was  matured  and  his  Bill  brought 
forward.  He  proposed  to  revise  the  Licinian  Law  of  364  b.c,  by 
which  it  was  enacted  that  no  head  of  a  family  should  hold  more 
than  500  jugera  (nearly  320  acres)  of  the  Public  Land ;  but  to 
render  the  rule  less  stringent,  he  added  that  every  son  of  the 
family  might,  on  becoming  his  own  master,  hold  half  that  quantity 
in  addition.  Whoever  was  in  possession  of  more  was  to  give  up 
the  excess  at  once  to  the  State ;  but  to  obviate  complaints  of 
injustice,  he  proposed  that  those  who  gave  up  possession  should 
be  entitled  to  a  fair  compensation  for  any  improvements  they 
had  made  during  the  term  of  their  possession.  All  Public  Lands 
were  to  be  vested  in  three  Commissioners  [Triumviri),  who  were 
to  be  elected  by  the  Tribes.  Their  business  was  to  distribute 
the  Public  Lands  to  all  citizens  in  needy  circumstances :  and 
to  prevent  lands  so  distributed  being  again  absorbed  into  the 
estates  of  the  rich  Landowners,  the  sale  of  the  new  allotmente 
was  altogether  prohibited. 


Chap.  LL  TIBERIUS   GRACCHUS.  52 ^ 

§  6.  The  greater  part  of  these  Public  Lands  had  fallen  into  the 
hands  of  the  rich  Landowners.  They  had  held  them  on  pay- 
ment of  a  small  yearly  rent,  for  generations :  and  many  of  these 
persons  had  forgotten  perhaps  that  their  possession  could  be 
disturbed.  After  the  first  surprise  was  over,  the  voices  of  these 
Landholders  began  to  be  heard ;  but  as  yet  the  majority  of  the 
Senate  showed  no  disfavour  to  the  law  of  Gracchus.*  The  per- 
sons interested  alleged  that  the  measure,  though  it  pretended 
only  to  interfere  with  State  lands,  did  in  fact  interfere  with 
the  rights  of  private  property ;  for  these  lands  were  held  on 
public  lease  and  had  been  made  matters  of  purchase  and  sale, 
moneys  were  secured  on  them  for  the  benefit  of  widows  and 
orphans,  tombs  had  been  erected  on  them :  if  this  law  passed, 
no  man's  land  could  be  called  his  own. 

If  Gracchus  had  proposed  a  forcible  and  immediate  resump- 
tion of  all  State  lands,  without  compensation  for  moneys  spent 
on  them,  these  arguments  would  have  had  more  weight.  Rights 
arise  by  prescription ;  and  if  the  State  had  for  a  long  course  of 
time  tacitly  recognised  a  right  of  private  property  in  these  lands, 
it  would  have  been  a  manifest  injustice  thus  abruptly  to  resume 
possession.  But  the  Licinian  Law  was  evidence  that  the  State 
claimed  a  right  to  interfere  with  the  tenure  of  the  Public  Lands. 
That  the  Romans  felt  no  doubt  about  the  right  is  shown  by  the 
fact  that  in  framing  his  law  Tiberius  was  assisted  by  his  father- 
in-law  App.  Claudius,  the  Chief  of  the  Senate,  and  by  P.  Mucins 
Scsevola,  Consul  of  the  year,  the  best  lawyer  at  Rome,  and  a  man 
of  unquestionable  integrity.  The  right  was  clear :  the  only 
question  was  as  to  the  expediency  of  the  measure. 

^  1.  It  is  certain  that  the  Law  would  be  carried  in  all  the 
country  Tribes,  because  it  was  precisely  in  these  Tribes  that  the 
strength  of  Gracchus  lay,  and  all  his  arguments  show  that  he 
knew  it.  It  was  to  the  country  people,  who  had  lost  or  were 
afraid  of  losing  their  little  tenements,  that  he  spoke.  "  The  wild 
animals  oi  Italy,"  said  he,  "  have  their  dens  and  lairs  :  the  men 
who  have  fought  for  Italy  have  air  and  light, — nothing  more. 
They  are  styled  masters  of  the  world,  though  they  have  not  a 
clod  of  earth  they  can  call  their  own."  One  course  only  remained 
open  to  the  Landholders  for  thwarting  the  bold  Tribune,  and  this 
was  to  gain  over  one  of  his  brother  Tribunes  to  interpose  the 
fatal  veto.  They  fixed  on  M.  Octavius.  For  a  time  he  was 
inexorable,  but  at  length  he  gave  way  to  their  arguments ; 
and  on  the  night  before  the  day  on  which  the  Law  was  to  be 

*  Appius  calls  his  opponents  not  Senators  {jiovTiEVTai  or  yipovrec),  but  ol 
KTrj/xaTtKol  or  ol  TtAovatot,  Lat.  Possessores, — wealthy  Landholders. 


522  CIVIL  WARS :    FIRST   PERIOD.  Book  VI. 

proposed,  the  holders  of  Public  Lands  went  to  rest  with  lightened 
hearts. 

§  8.  The  morning  came.  The  Forum  was  crowded  with  people 
expecting  the  completion  of  the  great  measure  which  was  to  re- 
store some  share  in  the  broad  lands  of  Italy  to  the  sons  of  those 
who  had  won  them.  Strange  faces  were  seen  everywhere  :  vine- 
dressers from  Campania  and  the  Auruncan  hills,  peasants  from 
the  Sabine  and  ^quian  valleys,  farmers  of  valley  and  plain  from 
the  Clanis  to  the  Vulturnus. 

Gracchus  rose.  His  speech  was  received  with  loud  applause 
by  the  eager  multitude.  When  he  had  ended,  he  turned  to  the 
clerk,  and  bade  him  read  over  the  words  of  the  Law  before  it 
was  put  to  the  vote.  Then  Octavius  stood  up  and  forbade  the 
man  to  read.  Gracchus  was  taken  by  surprise.  After  much 
debate  he  broke  up  the  Assembly,  declaring  that  he  would  again 
bring  on  his  defeated  Bill  upon  the  next  regular  day  of  meeting. 

§  9.  This  intervening  time  was  spent  in  preparing  for  the  con- 
test. Gracchus  retaliated  upon  the  veto  of  Octavius  by  laying 
an  interdict  on  all  public  functionaries,  shut  up  the  courts  of 
justice  and  the  offices  of  police,  and  put  a  seal  upon  the  doors 
of  the  Treasury.  Further,  he  struck  the  compensation  clauses 
out  of  his  Bill,  and  now  simply  proposed  that  the  State  should 
resume  possession  of  all  lands  held  by  individuals  in  contraven- 
tion of  the  Licinian  Law. 

§  10.  On  the  day  of  the  second  Assembly  Gracchus  appeared  in 
the  Forum  escorted  by  a  body-guard.  Again  he  ordered  the  clerk 
to  read  the  Bill ;  again  Octavius  stood  forth,  and  barred  all  pro- 
ceedings. A  violent  scene  followed,  and  a  riot  seemed  inevitable, 
when  two  Senators,  friends  of  Gracchus — one  named  Fulvius 
Flaccus — earnestly  besought  him  to  refer  the  whole  matter  to 
the  Senate.  Gracchus  consented.  But  his  late  impatient  con- 
duct had  weakened  whatever  influence  his  name  possessed  in 
the  great  Council,  and  his  appearance  was  the  signal  for  ^  burst 
of  reproaches.  He  hastily  left  the  House,  and  returning  to  the 
Forum  gave  out  that  on  the  next  day  of  Assembly  he  would  for 
the  third  time  propose  his  measure ;  and  that,  if  Octavius 
persisted  in  opposition,  he  would  move  the  People  to  depose 
their  unfaithful  Tribune. 

§  II.  As  the  day  approached,  Gracchus  made  every  effort  to 
avoid  this  desperate  necessity ;  but  Octavius  repelled  every  ad- 
vance, and  on  the  morning  of  the  third  Assembly,  Gracchus  rose 
at  once  and  moved  that  Octavius  should  be  deprived  of  the  trust 
which  he  had  betrayed. 

The  country  Tribe,  which  obtained  by  lot  the  prerogative 
pf  voting  first,  was  called,  and  its  suffrage  was  unanimous  for  the 


Chap.  LI.  TIBERIUS   GRACCHtTS.  623 

deposition  of  Octavius ;  sixteen  Tribes  followed  in  the  same  sense ; 
the  eighteenth  would  give  a  majority  of  the  thirty-five,  and  its 
vote  would  determine  the  question.  As  this  Tribe  came  up  to 
vote,  Gracchus  stopped  the  proceedings,  and  besought-  Octavius 
not  to  force  on  the  irrevocable  step.  The  Tribune  wavered  :  but 
he  caught  the  eye  of  one  of  his  rich  friends,  and  turned  coldly 
from  Tiberius.  Then  the  eighteenth  Tribe  was  called,  and  by 
its  vote  Octavius  was  in  a  moment  stripped  of  his  sacred  office. 

The  Bill  itself  was  then  passed  by  acclamation,  and  three 
Commissioners  destined  to  execute  its  provisions  were  elected, — 
Tiberius  himself,  his  father-in-law  App.  Claudius,  his  brother 
Caius,  then  a  youth  of  twenty,  serving  under  Scipio  in  Spain. 
The  Law  was  not  deemed  safe  unless  it  was  intrusted  for  execu- 
tion to  Tiberius  and  his  kinsmen. 

§  12.  In  a  few  weeks  Gracchus  had  risen  to  the  summit  of 
power.  He  seldom  stirred  from  home  without  being  followed 
by  a  crowd.  The  Numantian  War  and  the  Servile  War  still  lin- 
gered, and  the  government  of  the  Senate  was  not  in  a  condition 
to  defy  attack.  That  body  now  was  thoroughly  alarmed,  and 
Gracchus  soon  proceeded  to  measures  which  touched  them  in 
their  tenderest  point.  Attalus  Philometor,  King  of  Pergamus, 
the  last  of  the  line  of  Eumenes,  was  just  dead,  and  had  bequeathed 
his  kingdom  with  all  his  lands  and  treasure  to  the  Roman  People. 
In  ordinary  times  the  Senate,  as  the  administrator  of  all  foreign 
and  financial  aff"airs,  would  at  once  have  assumed  the  disposition 
of  this  bequest ;  but  Gracchus  promptly  gave  notice  that  he  would 
propose  a  Bill  to  enact  that  the  moneys  of  Attalus  should  be 
distributed  to  those  who  were  to  receive  allotments  of  Public 
Land,  in  order  to  assist  them  in  purchasing  stock,  in  erecting 
farm-buildings,  and  the  like ;  and  he  added  that  he  would  bring 
the  subject  of  its  future  government  before  the  People  without 
allowing  the  Senate  to  interfere.  He  thus  openly  announced  a 
revolution. 

§  13.  When  Gracchus  next  appeared  in  the  Senate-house,  he 
was  accused  of  receiving  a  purple  robe  and  diadem  from  the 
envoy  of  the  late  King  of  Pergamus.  T.  Annius,  an  old  Senator, 
who  had  been  Consul  twenty  years  before,  openly  taxed  the 
Tribune  with  violating  the  Constitution.  Gracchus,  stung  to 
the  quick  by  this  last  assault,  indicted  the  old  Consular  for 
treason  against  the  majesty  of  the  People.  Annius  appeared ; 
but  before  Gracchus  could  speak,  he  said  :  "  I  suppose,  if  one  of 
your  brother  Tribunes  off'ers  to  protect  me,  you  will  fly  into  a 
passion  and  depose  him  also."  Gracchus  saw  the  eff'ect  pro- 
duced upon  his  hearers,  and  broke  up  the  Assembly. 

Moreover,  many  of  his  well-wishers  had  been  alarmed  by  a 


624  CIVIL  WARS:    FIRST   PERIOD.  Book  VL 

Law,  by  which  he  had  made  the  Triumviri  absolute  judges, 
without  appeal,  on  disputed  questions  with  regard  to  property 
in  land.  Many  allotments  of  Public  Land  had  been  granted, 
of  which  the  titles  had  been  lost ;  and  every  person  holding 
under  such  condition  saw  his  property  placed  at  the  mercy  of 
irresponsible  judges. 

§  14.  Gracchus  felt  that  his  popularity  was  shaken,  and  at  the 
next  Assembly  he  thought  it  necessary  to  make  a  set  speech  to 
Tindicate  his  conduct  in  deposing  Octavius.  The  sum  of  his 
arguments  amounts  to  a  plea  of  necessity.  It  is  true  that  the 
Constitution  of  Rome  provided  no  remedy  against  the  abuse  of 
power  by  an  officer,  except  the  shortness  of  time  during  which 
he  held  office  and  his  liability  to  indictment  at  the  close  of  that 
time.  The  Tribunician  authority,  originally  demanded  to  protect 
the  People,  might  have  turned  against  the  People.  But  was  not 
it  open  to  Gracchus  to  propose  a  Law  by  which  the  veto  of  a 
single  Tribune  might  be  limited  in  its  effect  ?  Or  might  he  not 
have  waited  patiently  for  the  election  of  new  set  of  Tribunes, 
and  taken  care  that  all  were  tried  friends  of  his  Law  ?  Instead 
of  this  he  preferred  a  coup-d'etat,  and  thus  set  an  example  which 
was  sure  to  be  turned  against  himself. 

§  15.  The  violent  language  of  Nasica  and  his  party  made  it 
plain  that  in  the  next  year,  when  his  person  was  no  longer  pro- 
tected by  the  sanctity  of  the  Tribunician  office,  he  would  be 
vigorously  assailed.  He  therefore  determined  to  offer  himself 
for  reelection  at  the  approaching  Comitia  of  the  Tribes.  But 
his  election  was  far  from  secure.  Harvest-work  occupied  the 
country  voters ;  many  had  grown  cold  ;  the  mass  of  those  who 
resided  in  the  city  were  clients  and  dependents  of  the  Nobility. 
It  was  to  regain  and  extend  his  popularity  that  he  now  brought 
forward  three  measures  calculated  to  please  all  classes  except 
the  Senatorial  families.  First,  he  proposed  to  diminish  the 
necessary  period  of  Military  Service.  Secondly,  he  announced  a 
reform  of  the  superior  Law-courts,  by  which  the  juries  were  to 
be  taken  not  from  the  Senators  only,  but  from  all  persons  pos- 
sessing a  certain  amount  of  property, — a  measure  which  was*  sure 
to  please  the  wealthy  contractors  and  tax-collectors.  Thirdly, 
he  provided  an  Appeal  in  all  cases  from  the  law-courts  to  the 
Assembly  of  the  People. 

V  These  measures,  which  in  altered  forms  were  afterwards  carried 
by  his  brother  Caius,  were  only  brought  forward  by  Tiberius. 
But  this  was  enough.     His  popularity  returned  in  full  tide. 

§  16.  When  the  day  of  the  election  came,  the  Prerogative 
Tribe  gave  its  vote  for  Gracchus  and  his  friends;  so  also  the 
next.      But  it  was  objected  that  the  same  man   could  t^of  b^ 


Chap.  LI.  TIBERIUS    GRACCHUS.  525 

chosen  in  two  successive  years ;  and  after  a  hot  debate  the 
Assembly  was  adjourned  till  next  day. 

It  wanted  yet  some  hours  of  nightfall.  Gracchus  came  forth 
into  the  Forum,  clad  in  black,  and  leading  his  young  son  by  the 
hand.  In  anticipation  of  his  untimely  end,  he  committed  his 
precious  charge  to  his  fellow  citizens.  All  hearts  were  touched. 
The  people  surrounded  him  with  eager  gesticulations,  and 
escorted  him  home,  bidding  him  be  of  good  cheer  for  the  mor- 
row. Many  of  his  warmest  adherents  kept  guard  at  his  doors 
all  night. 

§  17.  The  adjourned  Assembly  met  next  morning  upon  the 
Capitol,  and  the  area  in  front  of  the  Temple  of  Jupiter  was  filled 
chiefly  by  the  adherents  of  Gracchus,  among  whom  the  Tribune 
was  himself  conspicuous,  in  company  with  his  Greek  friend  and 
preceptor  Blossius  of  Cumse.  The  Senate  also  assembled  hard 
by  in  the  Temple  of  Faith.  Nasica  rose  and  urged  the  presiding 
Consul  to  stop  the  reelection.     But  Scaevola  declined.* 

On  this,  Fulvius  Flaccus  left  the  Senate,  informed  Gracchus  of 
the  speech  of  Nasica,  and  told  him  that  his  death  was  resolved 
upon.  Then  the  friends  of  Gracchus  girded  up  their  gowns  and 
armed  themselves  with  staves,  for  the  purpose  of  repelling  force 
by  force.  In  the  midst  of  the  uproar  Gracchus  raised  his  hand 
to  his  head.  His  enemies  cried  that  he  was  asking  for  a  crown. 
Exaggerated  reports  were  carried  into  the  Senate-house,  and 
Nasica  exclaimed,  "  The  Consul  is  betraying  the  Republic : 
those  who  would  save  their  country,  follow  me !"  So  saying, 
he  drew  the  skirt  of  his  gown  over  his  head,  after  the  manner 
used  by  the  Pontifex  Maximus  in  solemn  acts  of  worship.  A 
number  of  Senators  followed,  and  the  people  respectfully  made 
way.  But  the  Nobles  and  their  partisans  broke  up  the  benches 
that  had  been  set  out  for  the  Assembly,  and  began  an  assault 
upon  the  adherents  of  Gracchus,  who  fled  in  disorder.  Gracchus 
abandoned  all  thoughts  of  resistance  :  he  left  his  gown  in  the 
hands  of  a  friend  who  sought  to  detain  him,  and  made  towards 
the  Temple  of  Jupiter.  But  the  priests  had  closed  the  doors ; 
and  in  his  haste  he  stumbled  over  a  bench  and  fell.  As  he  was 
rising,  one  of  his  own  colleagues  struck  him  on  the  head  with 
a  stool ;  another  claimed  the  honour  of  repeating  the  blow ;  and 
before  the  statues  of  the  old  kings  at  the  portico  of  the  Temple 
the  Tribune  lay  dead.  Many  of  his  adherents  were  slain  with 
him :  many  were  forced  over  the  wall  at  the  edge  of  the  Tar- 
peian  Rock,  and  were  killed  by  their  fall.  Not  fewer  than  three 
hundred  lost  their  lives  in  the  fray. 

*  Piso,  the  other  Consul,  was  employed  in  evtinguishing  the  Slave-war  in 
Sicily.— Chapt.  xlviii.  §  11. 


526  CIVIL   WARS:   FIRST   PERIOD.  Book  YL 

Caius  had  just  returned  from  Spain,  and  asked  leave  to  bury 
his  brother's  corpse.  This  was  refused.  The  triumphant  party 
ordered  the  bodies  of  Tiberius  and  his  friends  to  be  thrown  into 
the  Tiber  before  morning. 

Thus  flowed  the  first  blood  that  was  shed  in  civil  strife  at 
Rome. 

§  18.  Tiberius  Gracchus  must  be  allowed  the  name  of  Great, 
if  greatness  be  measured  by  the  eff'ects  produced  upon  society 
by  the  action  of  a  single  mind,  rather  than  by  the  length  of  time 
during  which  power  is  held,  or  the  success  that  follows  upon 
bold  enterprises.  He  held  office  not  more  than  seven  months  ;* 
and  in  that  short  time  he  so  shook  the  power  of  the  Senate,  that 
it  never  entirely  recovered  from  the  blow.  His  nature  was 
noble ;  his  views  and  wishes  those  of  a  true  patriot.  But  he 
was  impatient  of  opposition,  and  by  his  abrupt  and  violent  con- 
duct provoked  a  resistance  which  he  might  have  avoided. 
When  the  moment  of  action  came,  his  temper  was  too  gentle, 
or  his  will  too  irresolute,  to  take  the  bold  course  which  his  own 
conduct  and  that  of  the  Senate  had  rendered  necessary. 

When  Scipio,  in  the  camp  before  Numantia,  heard  of  his  kins- 
man's end,  he  exclaimed  in  the  words  of  Homer : — 

"  So  perish  all  and  every  one  who  dares  such  deeds  as  he  !" 

But  the  sequel  will  show  that  it  was  not  so  much  of  the  political 
measures  of  Gracchus  that  Scipio  disapproved,  as  of  the  impa- 
tience which  he  had  shown  and  the  violence  which  he  had  used 
in  carrying  them.  Such  defects  of  character  were  of  all  most 
displeasing  to  a  soldier  and  a  Stoic. 

*  For  the  Tribunes  entered  on  office  on  the  IV.  Id.  Decembr. — thfi  lOth 
of  December ;  and  the  new  (election  was  held  in  the  July  following, 
f   6>f  aTTo/lotro  KOl  dl/iog,  one  Toiavrd  ye  f)i^oi. — Od.  i.  47. 


Tomb  on  the  Appian  Way. 

CHAPTER  LII. 

RETURN    AND    DEATH    OF    SCIPIO    THE    YOUNGER.       (133-129  B.C.) 

§  1.  Prevalence  of  the  moderate  Party  in  the  Senate :  P.  Crassus  elected 
1'riumvir  to  succeed  Tib.  Gracchus  :  Nasica  obliged  to  quit  Rome.  §  2. 
A  Commission  issued  to  try  the  accomplices  of  Gracchus.  §  3,  Scipio 
returns  from  Spain :  his  sympathies  with  the  Italian  yeomen.  §  4,  His 
opposition  to  the  Citv  populace.  §  5.  Scipio  and  Crassus  competitors  for 
command :  Crassus  elected :  Censorship  of  Metellus  and  Pompeius,  two 

'  Plebeians.  §  6.  Death  of  Crassus  in  Asia,  and  of  App.  Claudius :  Fulvius 
Flaccus  and  Carbo  elected  Triumviri  in  their  stead.  §  7.  Proceedings  of 
Carbo  to  give  effect  to  the  Agrarian  Law.  §  8.  Arbitrary  decisions  on 
tenure  of  Public  Lands  :  great  offence  given  to  the  Italians.  §  9.  They 
entreat  Scipio  to  tmdertake  their  cause:  failure  of  his  scheme.  §  10. 
Speech  of  Scipio  in  the  Senate  :  intention  to  speak  in  the  Forum  next  day  : 
he  is  found  dead  in  his  bed.  §  11.  Suspicions  of  murder.  §  12.  Character 
of  Scipio. 

§  1.  The  struggle  had  now  commenced  between  the  Oligarchy  and 
Democracy.  This  struggle  was  to  last  till  the  Dictator  Sylla  for  a 
time  restored  the  Senate  to  sovereignty,  which  was  wrested  from 
them  again  by  a  Dictator  yet  more  potent  than  Sylla.  But  we 
should  be  wrong  to  assume  that  the  Senate  and  the  Oligarchy 


528  CIVIL   WARS:   FIRST   PERIOD,  Book  Vi. 

were  always  identical.  At  times  they  were  so,  for  at  times  the 
violent  party  among  the  Nobles  were  in  command  of  a  majority 
in  the  Senate ;  but  a  moderate  party  always  existed,  who  stood 
between  the  Nobility  and  the  Democracy.  It  was  the  violent 
party,  headed  by  Nasica,  not  the  body  itself,  which  was  respon- 
sible for  the  death  of  Gracchus.  The  Senate  did  not  support 
them. 

The  People  were  allowed  to  proceed  quietly  to  the  election  of 
a  new  Commissioner  in  the  place  of  Gracchus,  and  their  choice  fell 
on  P.  Licinius  Crassus,  brother  by  blood  of  the  Consul  Scaevola, 
who  had  been  adopted  into  the  family  of  the  Crassi.  His 
daughter  had  lately  been  married  to  young  Caius  Gracchus,  and 
he  now  became  the  acknowledged  leader  of  the  party. 

Nor  did  the  Senate  attempt  to  shield  Nasica  from  popular 
indignation.  He  was  branded  as  the  murderer  of  Gracchus,  and 
his  friends  advised  him  to  quit  Italy,  though,  as  Chief  Pontifex, 
he  was  prohibited  from  doing  so.  Not  long  time  after  he  died 
at  Pergamus,  and  Crassus  succeeded  him  in  the  Pontificate. 

§  2.  But  in  the  course  of  the  next  year  (132  b.c.)  the  Senate 
was  induced  to  give  the  new  Consuls  a  Commission  to  inquire 
into  the  conduct  of  those  who  had  abetted  Gracchus.  They 
began  their  proceedings  by  associating  with  themselves  C. 
L?elius,  a  man  of  known  moderation.  Before  the  inquiry  com- 
n  uijced,  Laelius  sent  for  Blossius,  and  questioned  him  privately 
as  to  his  part  in  the  late  disturbances.  He  excused  himself 
on  the  ground  that  he  had  only  followed  the  Tribune's  orders 
"  That,"  said  Laelius,  "  is  no  expuse.  What  would  you  have 
done  if  he  had  ordered  you  to  set  the  Capitol  on  fire?" 
"Gracchus,"  replied  Blossius,  "could  never  have  given  such  an 
order."  "But  if  he  had?"  insisted  Laelius.  "Then,"  said 
Blossius,  "  I  would  have  done  it."  This  bold  partisan,  however, 
was  suffered  to  escape.  Diophanes  of  Mitylene,  another  of  the 
preceptors  of  Gracchus,  was  arrested  by  the  Consuls  and  put  to 
death.  Others  also  lost  their  lives,  and  some  escaped  death  by 
exile.  These  whole  proceedings  were  in  violation  of  the  Laws 
of  Appeal ;  for  the  Consuls  had  no  legal  power  to  try  and  con- 
demn within  the  City. 

§  3.  It  was  not  probably  till  the  autumn  of  this  year  that 
Scipio  celebrated  his  Numantian  triumph.  It  was  not  gorgeous 
with  spoils  and  a  long  train  of  captives,  for  the  Numantians  had 
buried  themselves  and  their  possessions  beneath  the  ruins  of 
their  city.  But  the  presence  of  Scipio,  at  this  moment,  was  or 
might  be  pregnant  with  results ;  and  as  he  passed  in  procession 
to  the  Capitol,  many  eyes  turned  to  him  with  expectation.  It 
might  be  thought  that   his  approval  of  the  death  of  Gracchus 


Chap.  LII.  SCIPIO  AND  CRASSUS.  6^C 

sufficiently  indicated  what  part  he  intended  to  take.  But  it  was 
possible  for  him  to  disapprove  of  the  conduct  of  Gracchus  with- 
out disapproving  of  his  purpose.  The  countrymen  of  Latium 
and  Italy  had  fought  under  him  at  Carthage  and  at  Numantia. 
It  was  known  that  among  the  rest  he  had  shown  especial  honour 
to  a  young  soldier  of  Arpinum,  of  humble  birth  and  rude  man- 
ners. On  one  occasion  he  had  invited  this  youth  to  supper,  and 
placed  him  by  his  side;  and  when  some  flatterer  asked  where 
a  general  could  be  found  to  succeed  him,  "  Perhaps  here,"  h« 
said,  laying  his  hand  on  the  young  soldier's  arm.  The  name  of 
the  youth  was  C.  Marius. 

§  4.  Whatever  doubt  might  rest  on  Scipio's  intentions,  he 
soon  made  it  clear  that  he  had  no  intention  of  holding  out  a 
hand  to  the  Civic  Populace.  One  of  the  partisans  of  Gracchus, 
by  name  C.  Papirius  Carbo,  a  man  of  ready  wit,  but  in  character 
turbulent,  reckless,  and  unprincipled,  hoped  to  raise  himself  to 
importance  by  means  of  this  rabble.  He  was  Tribune  for  the 
year,  and  had  carried  a  law  for  extending  the  use  of  the  ballot 
into  the  legislative  assemblies  of  the  People.  He  now  brought 
forward  another  bill,  making  it  legal  to  reelect  a  Tribune  to  a 
second  year  of  office.  Scipio  and  Lselius  opposed  the  measure, 
and  the  former  spoke  so  warmly  against  it,  that  it  was  rejected 
by  the  Tribes,  though  young  C.  Gracchus  made  his  first  public 
speech  in  its  favour.  It  was  then  that  Carbo  publicly  demanded 
of  Scipio  what  he  thought  of  the  death  of  Gracchus.  "  That  he 
was  rightly  put  to  death,"  Scipio  promptly  replied.  At  these 
words  an  angry  shout  was  raised.  Scipio  turned  sternly  to  the 
quarter  from  which  it  came, — "  Peace,"  he  said,  "  ye  stepsons  of 
Italy  :  remember  who  it  was  that  brought  you  in  chains  to 
Rome." 

§  5.  Early  in  the  following  year,  however  (131  b.c),  an  incident 
occurred  which  also  parted  Scipio  from  Crassus.  The  Consuls 
for  the  year  were  Crassus  himself  and-L.  Valerius  Flaccus.  The 
former  was  Pontifex  Maximus,  the  latter  was  Flamen  of  Mars. 
It  happened  that  one  Aristonicus,  a  bastard  son  of  the  last 
Attains,  had  raised  an  insurrection  in  the  mountain-districts  near 
Pergamus,  and  matters  had  become  so  serious,  that  a  Consular 
army  was  required.  Both  Consuls  were  eager  for  command; 
but  by  reason  of  their  sacred  offices  they  were  both  legally 
unable  to  leave  Italy,  and  Scipio's  tried  skill  in  war  pointed  him 
out  as  the  fittest  man  for  command.  Yet  such  was  the  popu- 
larity of  Crassus,  that  out  of  thirty-five  Tribes,  two  only  voted 
for  Scipio  and  the  rest  for  him.  Considering  a  vote  of  the  People 
as  superior  to  the  law,  he  completed  his  levies  and  set  out  for 
Pergamus,  never  to  return.     Scipio  retired  from  Rome  in  disgust. 

23 


530  CIVIL  WARS  :  FIRST  PERIOD.  Book  VL 

In  this  same  year  the  Censorship  was  held  by  Q.  Metellus  and 
Q.  Pompeius, — an  event  noted  by  all  the  historians  as  memor- 
able, since  now  for  the  first  time  two  men  of  plebeian  blood 
were  elected  to  the  most  august  magistracy  of  the  State.  It  is 
rather  matter  of  wonder  that  an  artificial  distinction,  which  for 
all  practical  purposes  was  obsolete,  should  have  been  so  long 
retained  in  the  Censorship,  than  that  it  should  now  have  ceased. 

§  6.  If  Crassus  had  returned,  he  might  have  taken  more  active 
steps  to  diminish  the  violence  which  the  democratic  leaders  were 
beginning  to  encourage.  But  early  in  the  year  130  b.c.  he  was 
defeated  by  Aristonicus  in  a  pitched  battle,  and  taken  prisoner. 
The  Roman  statesman  and  jurist,  deeming  slavery  intolerable, 
purposely  struck  the  barbarian  who  had  captured  him  in  the 
face  with  his  sword-belt,  and  was  instantly  cut  down.  His  head 
was  carried  to  Aristonicus :  his  body  interred  at  Smyrna. 

About  the  same  time  died  App.  Claudius.  The  natural  leader 
of  the  Gracchan  party  would  now  have  been  C.  Gracchus.  But 
this  young  man  had  withdrawn  from  public  life  at  the  advice 
of  his  mother  Cornelia.  Consequently  fresh  power  fell  into  the 
hands  of  the  reckless  Carbo,  who  was  supported  by  Fulvius 
Flaccus ;  and  the  whole  character  of  the  party  became  more 
positively  democratic. 

§  7.  These  leaders  sought  to  recover  their  popularity  with 
the  country  Tribes  by  calling  the  Agrarian  Law  into  fresh  life. 
Of  the  three  Commissioners  elected  for  the  year  C.  Gracchus 
still  appeared  on  the  list ;  the  vacancies  made  by  the  deaths  of 
Crassus  and  App.  Claudius  were  filled  by  Carbo  and  Flaccus. 

The  rich  Landholders  had  endeavoured  to  baffle  the  law  by 
passive  resistance.  To  foil  this  policy,  Carbo  and  his  colleagues 
issued  a  proclamation,  calling  for  informations  against  all  who 
had  not  duly  registered  themselves  as  holders  of  Public  Land. 
The  call  was  readily  obeyed,  and  the  Triumvirs  were  soon  over- 
burdened with  names.  The  next  step  was  to  decide  on  the 
rights  of  the  present  holders,  and  to  determine  the  boundaries 
between  the  private  and  the  public  lands  in  each  estate.  This 
was  a  task  of  extreme  delicacy,  and  here  the  loss  of  Crassus  was 
sensibly  felt.  The  ignorant  and  reckless  Carbo  raised  up  a  host 
of  formidable  opponents. 

§  8.  Portions  of  the  Public  Land  had  often  been  alienated  by 
^ant  or  sale.  The  holders  were  now,  in  consequence  of  Carbo's 
proclamation,  suddenly  called  upon  to  produce  their  title-deeds, 
which  in  many  cases  were  missing ;  so  that  a  vast  number  of 
these  holders  were  liable  to  be  stripped  of  lands  which  were 
undoubtedly  their  own.  Further,  in  cases  where  persons  held 
property  partly  public  and  partly  private,  there  were  often  no 


Chap.  LII.  SCIPIO.  531 

documents  to  show  which  part  was  public  and  which  private. 
The  Commissioners  acted  in  the  most  arbitrary  way,  and  exas- 
perated a  vast  number  of  persons  throughout  all  Italy ; 
and  thus  a  new  popular  party  was  called  forth,  which  exer- 
cised a  most  important  inftuence  on  the  events  of  the  next 
fifty  years.  In  Carbo's  rash  haste  to  win  the  Roman  coun- 
trymen he  recked  not  of  the  hostility  of  Latins  and  Italians ; 
'and  those  who  had  lately  worshipped  Gracchus  now  rose 
)ike  one  man  to  oppose  those  who  now  pretended  to  represent 
Gracchus. 

§  9.  These  new  opponents  of  the  Agrarian  Law  had  no  mind 
to  join  the  Roman  oligarchs,  but  turned  to  Scipio  and  suppli- 
cated him  to  undertake  their  cause.  They  had  claims  upon 
him,  for  they  had  volunteered  to  fill  his  army  when  the  Senate 
had  no  money  to  give  him,  and  he  had  always  manifested  sym- 
pathy with  them.  Averse  as  he  was  from  party  politics,  he 
did  not  shrink  from  the  task,  and  the  moderate  party  in  the 
Senate  welcomed  his  return.  He  began  by  moving  that  a 
Decree  should  issue  for  withdrawing  from  the  Triumvirs  the 
judicial  power  with  which  they  had  been  invested  by  Gracchus, 
and  transferring  the  jurisdiction  to  the  Consuls.  The  Decree 
passed,  and  the  task  was  committed  to  C.  Sempronius  Tuditanus, 
a  man  of  refined  taste,  fonder  of  art  and  literature  than  of 
business.  But  news  came  of  a  movement  among  the  lapydes,  a 
people  on  the  Illyrian  frontier;  and  Tuditanus  eagerly  seized 
this  excuse  for  hastening  to  Aquileia,  feeling  confident  that  he 
could  better  cope  with  barbarous  enemies  than  with  the  more 
barbarous  perplexities  of  the  law. 

All  proceedings  were  thus  cut  short.  The  Senate  had  taken 
away  jurisdiction  from  the  Triumvirs;  the  Consul  to  whom  it 
was  committed  had  fled.  General  discontent  arose.  Scipio  was 
accused  of  having  betrayed  Roman  interests  to  the  Italians.  His 
enemies  spread  reports  that  he  had  sold  himself  to  the  Oligarchy, 
that  he  intended  to  repeal  the  Sempronian  Law  by  force,  and  let 
loose  his  Italian  soldiery  upon  the  People  of  Rome. 

§  10.  Scipio  felt  that  it  was  necessary  to  explain  his  motives, 
and  announced  his  purpose  of  delivering  set  speeches,  one  day  in 
the  Senate,  and  the  day  after  in  the  Forum.  The  first  only  of 
these  purposes  was  fulfilled.  By  his  speech  in  the  Senate  he 
pledged  himself  to  maintain  the  rights  of  the  Latins  and  Italians 
against  the  Triumvirs,'  and  to  prevent  the  unjust  assumption  of 
the  lands  that  had  been  granted  to  them.  The  Senate  loudly 
applauded ;  and  Scipio  was  escorted  home  by  the  mass  of  the 
Senators  with  a  jubilant  crowd  of  Italians.  Many  thought  this 
the  most  glorious  day  of  his  life. 


632  CIVIL  WARS:    FIRST   PERIOD.  Book  VL 

He  retired  to  rest  early,  in  good  health.  In  the  morning  he 
was  found  dead  in  his  bed.  By  his  side  lay  the  tablets  on  which 
he  had  been  noting  down  the  heads  of  the  oration  which  he  had 
intended  to  make  next  day. 

§  11.  The  death  of  Scipio  struck  consternation  into  the  hearts 
of  the  Senators.  Metellus  exclaimed  that  he  had  been  murdered. 
It  is  said  that  on  the  neck  marks  as  of  strangulation  appeared; 
and  when  he  was  carried  out  to  burial  the  head  was  covered, 
contrary  to  custom.  At  the  moment  suspicion  attached  to 
C.  Gracchus,  and  to  his  sister  Sempronia,  the  wife  of  Scipio. 
But  these  unfounded  rumours  soon  passed  over;  and  it  was 
confidently  affirmed  that  Carbo  was  the  murderer.  Cicero  speaks 
of  it  as  an  undoubted  fact ;  the  character,  as  well  as  the  subse- 
quent history,  of  the  man  justifies  the  belief. 

§  12.  Thus  died  the  younger  Africanus.  No  public  honours 
attested  his  public  services.  The  funeral  feast  was  furnished  in 
the  most  thrifty  manner  by  his  nephew  Q.  Tubero,  a  rigid  Stoic, 
who  was  glad  thus  to  remind  the  people  of  their  ingratitude. 

Scipio  possessed  no  lofty  genius  like  the  great  man  whose  name 
he  bore ;  yet  there  was  at  Rome  no  one  of  his  own  time  to  be  com- 
pared with  him.  To  say  that  he  was  the  best  general  of  the  day 
is  little  praise,  for  military  talent  was  at  that  time  scarce ;  but 
no  doubt  his  abilities  for  war  would  have  won  him  glory  in  the 
best  times  of  the  Republic.  His  disinterested  generosity  has 
been  already  noticed  ;  at  his  death  he  was  found  to  be  no  richer 
than  when  he  succeeded  to  the  inheritance  of  the  great  Scipio. 
His  love  of  the  country  and  his  habitual  reserve  led  him  to  shun 
public  life.  But  the  austere  manner  and  severe  gravity  which  he 
commonly  aff'ected  gave  way  among  his  friends;  and  there  is 
nothing  that  more  raises  our  esteem  for  Scipio  than  the  warm 
attachment  borne  to  him  by  such  men  as  Polybius,  as  well  as 
Lselius,  Rupilius,  and  others,  whom  Cicero  has  introduced  into 
his  beautiful  dialogues.*  Scipio  has  usually  been  represented  as 
a  stift'  adherent  of  the  Oligarchy,  but  the  facts  of  history  dis- 
prove this  opinion.  He  might  have  lived  some  years  to  mo- 
derate the  fury  of  party  strife,  to  awe  the  factious,  and  to  sup- 
port just  claims ;  for  at  his  death  he  numbered  no  more  than 
six-and-fifty  years.  His  death  at  this  moment  was  perhaps  the 
greatest  loss  that  the  Republic  could  have  suffered. 

*  The  Laelius  (de  Amicitia),  and  the  Republica.     The  time  at  ^?'hich  the 
latter  is  supposed  to  be  held  is  just  before  the  death  of  Scipio. 


Walls  of  Rome,  from  the  inside. 


CHAPTER  LIII. 


CAIUS    GRACCHUS    AND    HIS    TIMES.       (128 121   B.C.) 

1.  General  calm:  Project  for  reconciling  Romans  Avith  Italians:  Law  of 
Pennus  for  expelling  Italians  from  Rome.  §  2.  C.  Gracchus  Quaestor  in 
Sardinia.  §  3.  Fulvius  Flaccus :  his  Bill  for  enfranchising  Italians :  he 
is  sent  into  Transalpine  Gaul.  §  4.  Revolt  of  Fregellae,  quelled  by  Opimius. 
§  5.  Attempt  to  detain  C.  Gracchus  in  Sardinia :  he  is  elected  Tribune. 
§  6.  Former  and  present  character  of  Caius :  his  eloquence.  §  7.  Laws 
against  his  brother's  enemies.  §  8.  Measures  to  improve  condition  of 
People: — (1.)  Agrarian  Law.  (2.)  Law  for  selling  corn  cheap  to  Popu- 
lace. §  9.  Measures  to  abridge  power  of  Senate : — (1.)  Transference  of 
Judicial  Power  from  Senators  to  Equites,  (2.)  Assignment  of  Consular 
Provinces  before  Election.  (3.)  Public  works.  §  10.  Purposes  and  Re- 
sults of  Sempronian  Laws.  §  11.  Election  of  Fannius  as  Consul:  0. 
Gracchus  reelected  to  Tribunate.  §  12.  Bill  for  enfranchising  Italians. 
§13.  Unpopularity  of  proposal  to  enfranchise  Italians  :  Fannius  :  Drusus. 
§  14.  Addition  to  Agrarian  Law  by  C.  Gracchus  :  Drusus  outbids  him. 
§  15.  Colonies  in  Provinces :  proposal  to  colonise  Carthage  :  Gracchus  and 
Flaccus   sent   to   found   it.     §  16.    They   return   to  Rome   in   tim«  for 


534  CIVIL    WARS:   FIRST   PERIOD.  Book  VI 

Consular  Elections:    Opimius  Consul.     §17.   Ill  report  from  Carthage -. 
Assembly  of  Tribes  on  Capitol :  tumult :  during  night  Opimius  collects 
an  armed  force  upon  the  Capitol:  Flaccus  occupies  Aventine.     §  18.  At- 
tack on  Aventine :  death  of  Gracchus  and  Flaccus.     §  19.  Persecution: 
Cornelia,  mother  of  the  Gracchi. 
§  1.  The  sudden  death  of  Scipio  was  followed  by  a  calm.     The 
turbulent  Carbo  vanished  from  the  scene,  till  nine  years  later  he 
re-appears'  as  a  champion  of  the  violent   oligarchical  party.     C. 
Gracchus  was   still    living   in  retirement.     Fulvius   Flaccus  was 
content  to  let  the  Agrarian  Law  sleep  in  face  of  the  portentous 
difficulties  created  by  the  measures  of  the  Triumvirs.     Nor  was 
there  anything  in  foreign   affairs  ta  ruffle  the  general  calm.     But 
under   this   external   tranquillity   a   leaven  of   agitation   was   at 
work.     It  was  not  to  be  expected  that  the  new-born  jealousy 
v/hich  had  sprung  up  between  the  Romans  on  the  one  side  and 
the  Latins  and  Italians  on  the  other,  would  fall  asleep.     Proposals, 
however,  were  set  afloat  for  reconciling  these  two  opposing  inter- 
ests.    The  Italians  were  led  to  hope  that  they  might  be  made 
citizens  of  Rome,  on  condition    that  they  should  not  resist  the 
execution  of  the  Agrarian  Law. 

But  the  burgesses  of  Rome  soon  perceived  that  the  admission 
of  the  Latins  and  Italians  to  the  Roman  franchise  would  reduce 
them  to  comparative  insignificance.  All  the  benefits  now  de- 
rived from  the  Provinces  by  Romans  exclusively  must  then  be 
shared  with  a  vastly  increased  number  of  citizens,  and  the  profits 
as  well  as  the  power  of  a  Roman  must  be  materially  diminished. 
In  the  year  126  b.c.  a  large  number  of  Italian  strangers  flocked 
to  Rome,  eager  for  the  promised  boon.  But  by  this  time  public 
opinion  at  Rome  was  so  far  changed  that  M.  Junius  Pennus,  one 
of  the  Tribunes,  brought  forward  what  we  may  call  a  severe 
Alien- Act,  by  which  all  strangers  were  compelled  to  quit  Rome. 
The  successors  of  Gracchus,  however,  remained  constant  to  their 
new  policy,  and  Caius  himself  was  induced  to  speak  in  public  for 
the  second  time.  But  he  was  unsuccessful.  The  Law  of  Pennus 
was  passed ;  and  from  this  time  may  be  dated  that  angry  con- 
test of  feeling  between  Romans  and  Italians  which  after  thirty- 
eight  years  found  vent  in  a  bloody  war. 

§  2.  When  Caius  delivered  this  speech  he  was  Quaestor- elect  for 
the  next  year.  He  was  appointed  to  serve  under  the  Consul 
L.  Aurelius  Orestes,  when  this  officer  undertook  to  reduce  the 
Sardinian  mountaineers,  who  had  been  subjugated  by  the  father 
of  young  Gracchus  fifty  years  before.*  After  the  first  year's 
operations  Orestes  was  at  a  loss  for  supplies  and  clothing ;  and 
from  this  difficulty  he  was  relieved  by  his  Quaestor,  who  by  the 
*  B.C.  177.     See  Chapt.  xli.  §  9. 


Chap.  LIII.  G.  GRACCHUS.       N5.  C^;  _.:,  535 

memory  of  his  father  and  his  own  persuasive  eloquence  induced 
the  Sardinian  colonists  to  give  voluntarily  what  the  soldiers 
wanted.  Shortly  after,  envoys  arrived  at  Rome  from  Micipsa, 
Bon  of  Masinissa,  offering,  from  respect  (as  they  said)  for  the 
name  of  Gracchus,  to  send  supplies  of  corn  to  Sardinia.  The 
Senate  angrily  dismissed  the  embassy.  Orestes  was  directed  to 
remain  as  Proconsul  in  his  Province,  and  his  Quaestor  was  ordered 
to  continue  in  office  for  a  second  year. 

§  3.  Meanwhile  the  country  party  had  succeeded  in  carry- 
ing the  election  of  their  present  chief,  Fulvius  Flaccus,  to  the 
Consulship  for  125  B.C.  He  was  a  man  with  little  force  of 
oratory,  but  his  activity  and  audacity  gave  him  power,  and  his 
unchangeable  attachment  to  the  memory  of  Ti.  Gracchus  made 
him  respectable.  No  sooner  was  he  in  the  Consul's  chair  than 
he  gave  full  proof  of  his  headlong  temerity  by  giving  notice  of  a 
bill  for  extending  the  Franchise  to  all  the  Latin  and  Italian  Allies. 
It  was  a  Reform  Bill  sweeping  beyond  all  example.  No  addition 
had  been  made  to  the  Roman  territory  or  the  number  of  Tribes 
since  241  b.c,  a  period  of  one  hundred  and  sixteen  years,  and 
now  at  one  stroke  it  was  proposed  to  add  to  the  register  a 
population  much  more  numerous  than  the  whole  existing  number 
of  Roman  burgesses.  The  Tribes  felt  their  interests  to  be  at 
stake,  and  the  measure  of  Flaccus  was  highly  unpopular  at  Rome. 

At  this  moment,  the  Senate  adroitly  contrived  to  detach 
Flaccus  upon  foreign  service.  The  people  of  Massilia,  old  allies 
of  Rome,  sent  to  demand  protection  against  the  Salluvians,  a 
Ligurian  tribe  of  the  Maritime  Alps,  and  Flaccus  was  ordered 
to  take  command  of  the  army  destined  to  relieve  them.  He 
remained  in  Gaul  for  more  than  tvvo  years,  and  was  honoured 
with  a  triumph  m  the  year  123  b.c.  Meantime  his  great  mea- 
sure for  extending  the  Franchise  fell  to  the  ground. 

§  4.  But  the  hopes  excited  by  the  impetuous  Consul  were  not 
easily  relinquished.  The  excitement  was  great  throughout  Italy, 
and  in  one  of  the  Latin  Colonies  the  smouldering  fire  burst  into 
flame. 

Fregellae  was  a  large  and  flourishing  city  on  the  Latin  road. 
It  was  one  ef  the  eighteen  Colonies  which  had  remained  faithful 
to  Rome  in  the  Hannibalic  War.  It  had  seen  the  full  Franchise 
conferred  on  its  neighbours  at  Formise,  Fundi,  and  Arpinum  at 
the  close  of  that  war.  And  now  the  cup  was  dashed  from  the 
very  lip.  Fregellae  flew  to  arms,  without  concert  with  any  other 
towns;  and  L.  Opimius,  one  of  the  Praetors,  a  man  of  prompt 
resolution  and  devoid  of  pity,  was  ordered  by  the  Senate  to 
crush  the  insurrection.  The  gates  were  opened  to  him  by  trea- 
chery.    Opimius  took  his  seat  in  the  Forum,  and  exercised  a 


536  CIVIL  WARS:    FIRST  PERIOD.  Book  VI 

fearful  vengeance  on  the  inhabitants,  for  which  he  was  rewarded 
by  the  Senate  with  a  triumph.  The  walls  were  pulled  down, 
and  the  Colony,  stripped  of  all  its  rights,  was  reduced  to  the  con- 
dition of  a  mere  market-town  (conciliahulum).  The  example  of 
Fregellae  for  a  time  silenced  the  claims  of  the  Italians. 

§  5.  Thus  triumphant,  the  Senate  determined  to  keep  the 
chiefs  of  the  Gracchan  party  absent  from  Rome.  Flaccus  had 
not  yet  finished  his  Gallic  wars ;  and  an  order  was  sent  to 
detain  C.  Gracchus  for  a  third  year  in  Sardinia.  But  the  young 
Quaestor  perceived  the  drift  of  this  order,  and  returned  to  Rome 
about  the  middle  of  the  year  124  b.c,  to  the  no  small  consterna- 
tion of  the  Senate.  He  was  instantly  summoned  before  the 
Censors  then  in  office  to  account  for  his  conduct,  in  order  that 
he  might  be  branded  with  a  public  stigma,  and  thus  disqualified 
from  taking  his  seat  in  the  Senate-House.  He  made  his  de- 
fence to  the  people  in  a  set  speech,  in  which  he  declared  that 
the  Senate  had  no  right  to  keep  him  employed  as  Quaestor  for 
more  than  one  year.  "  No  one,"  added  he,  "  can  say  that  I  have 
received  a  penny  in  presents,  or  have  put  any  one  to  charges 
on  my  own  account.  The  purse  which  I  took  out  full  I  have 
brought  back  empty;  though  I  could  name  persons  who  took 
out  casks  filled  with  wine  and  brought  them  home  charged  with 
money."  He  was  triumphantly  acquitted,  and  at  once  came 
forward  as  candidate  for  the  Tribunate.  The  Senate  exerted  all 
their  influence  to  prevent  his  election,  and  succeeded  so  far  that 
his  name  stood  only  fourth  on  the  list.  But  as  soon  as  he  en- 
tered office,  no  one  disputed  his  title  to  be  first. 

§  6.  The  die  was  now  cast.  For  ten  years  he  had  held  back 
from  public  life ;  but  the  vexatious  course  pursued  by  the  Senate 
roused  him  to  action ;  the  pent-up  energy  of  his  passionate 
nature  burst  forth,  and  he  threw  aside  all  restraints  both  of  fear 
and  of  prudence. 

Hitherto  there  had  been  no  proof  of  the  young  speaker's 
powers.  Twice  only  had  he  spoken  in  public,  and  both  times 
he  had  been  on  the  losing  sidfc.  But  years  of  diligent  study 
had  passed ;  and  he  became  the  greatest  orator  that  Rome  had 
yet  seen.  Much  as  Cicero  disliked  Gracchus,  he  speaks  with 
lively  admiration  of  his  genius,  and  laments  the  loss  which  Latin 
literature  had  sustained  by  his  early  death.  The  care  which  the 
young  orator  bestowed  on  preparation  was  extraordinary  :  he  was 
the  first  that  used  regular  gesticulation  :  in  his  most  fiery  out- 
bursts his  voice  was  so  modulated  as  never  to  oftend  the  ear.* 

*  The  story  was  that  he  always  had  a  slave  at  his  elbow  who  gave  him  the 
right  note  by  a  pitch-pipe. — Cicero  de  Oratore,  iii.  61.  But  Cicero  himself  is 
puzzled  by  this  curious  device, — "  cujus  ego  nondum  plane  rationem  intelligo." 


Ohap.  LIII.  C.  GRACCHUS.  537 

§  7.  His  first  measures  are  marked  by  that  which  was  the 
ruling  passion  of  his  life, — a  burning  desire  to  avenge  his  brother's 
death.  Nasica  was  beyond  his  reach.  But  others,  who  had 
persecuted  the  friends  and  followers  of  Tiberius,  were  yet  alive, 
and  he  inveighed  against  their  cruel  severity  on  all  occasions. 
"Your  ancestors,"  he  exclaimed,  "suffered  not  their  Tribunes 
to  be  trampled  down.  But  you, — you  let  these  men  beat  Tibe- 
rius to  death,  and  murder  his  friends  without  a  trial !" 

Accordingly  he  brought  a  bill  before  the  Tribes  aimed  at 
Popillius,  who  had  been  the  head  of  the  special  Commission 
appointed  after  the  death  of  Tiberius.  It  declared  any  magis- 
trate guilty  of  treason  who  had  punished  a  citizen  capitally 
without  the  consent  of  the  People.  Before  it  passed,  Popillius 
left  Rome;  and  the  Tribes,  on  the  motion  of  Caius,  banished 
him  from  the  soil  of  Italy. 

The  young  Tribune  next  moved  that  any  one  who  should 
have  been  deprived  of  office  by  a  vote  of  the  People  should  be 
incapable  of  holding  any  other  office, — an  enactment  evidently 
pointed  at  his  brother's  old  opponent  Octavius.  Fortunately 
for  the  honour  of  Gracchus,  he  was  stopped  in  his  career  of 
vengeance  by  the  intercession  of  his  mother. 

§  8.  Hg  now  turned  his  thoughts  to  measures  of  a  public 
nature,  and  brought  forward  a  series  of  important  bills,  long 
known  as  the  Sempronian  Laws,  so  sweeping  in  their  design,  as 
to  show  that  he  meditated  no  less  than  a  revolution  in  the 
government  of  Rome.  They  may  be  divided  into  two  classes : 
first,  those  which  were  intended  to  ameliorate  the  condition  of 
the  People ;  secondly,  those  which  aimed  at  diminishing  the 
power  of  the  Senate. 

(1.)  Foremost  in  the  first  class  we  may  place  a  bill  for  renew- 
ing and  extending  the  Agrarian  Law  of  his  brother,  which  was 
coupled  with  a  measure  for  planting  new  Colonies  in  divers  parts 
of  Italy,  and  even  in  the  Provinces.  As  the  execution  of  this 
law  was  deferred  till  the  next  year,  we  will  defer  further  mention 
of  it  here.  This  enactment  was  evidently  intended  to  conciliate 
the  country  Tribes. 

(2.)  The  second  Sempronian  Law  was  the  famous  measure  by 
which  the  State  undertook  to  furnish  corn  at  a  low  price  to  all 
Roman  citizens.  It  provided  that  any  one  possessing  the  Roman 
franchise  should  be  allowed  to  purchase  grain  from  public  stores 
at  61  ases  the  modius,  or  about  25  ases  the  bushel ;  the  losses 
incident  to  such  sale  being  borne  by  the  Treasury. 

Public  measures  for  distributing  corn  in  times  of  scarcity  had 
long  been  familiar  to  Roman  statesmen ;  and  individuals  had 
more  than  once  sought  popularity  by  doles  to  the  poor.     But 

23* 


538  CIVIL  WARS :  FIRST  PERIOD.  Book  VL 

now,  for  the  first  time,  was  a  Right  established  by  Law.  The 
necessary  results  of  such  a  measure  must  have  been,  and  were, 
very  fatal.  Fifty  years  later,  it  was  found  necessary  to  limit  the 
quantity  sold  to  five  modii  (1}  bushels)  a  month  for  each  person; 
and  40,000  citizens  were  habitual  purchasers.  Successive  dema- 
gogues reduced  the  price,  till  the  profligate  Clodius  enacted  that 
these  1|  bushels  should  be  given  away  without  any  payment. 
The  Dictator  Caesar  found  «o  fewer  than  320,000  citizens  in  the 
monthly  receipt  of  this  dole.  He  reduced  the  number  to 
150,000  :  and  Augustus  fixed  it  at  a  maximum  of  200,000  souls.* 
Such  was  the  mass  of  paupers  saddled  upon  the  Imperial  govern- 
ment by  the  unwise  law  of  Gracchus. 

§  9.  We  now  pass  on  to  the  measures  which  aimed  at  de- 
priving the  Senate  of  the  great  administrative  power  which  of 
late  years  it  had  engrossed. 

(1.)  The  first  of  these  touched  their  Judicial  power.  It  has 
been  mentioned,  that  by  the  famous  Calpurnian  Law  (149  b.c.) 
all  Provincial  Magistrates  accused  of  corrupt  dealings  in  their 
government  were  to  be  tried  before  the  Praetor  Peregrinus  as 
presiding  Judge,  and  a  Jury  of  Senators.  This  was  the  first 
regular  and  permanent  Court  of  Justice  established  at  Rome.f 
The  principle  of  the  Calpurnian  Law  was  gradually  extended  to 
other  grave  offences ;  and  in  all  the  superior  courts  the  Juries 
were  composed  of  Senators. 

These  Courts  had  given  little  satisfaction.  In  all  important 
cases  of  corruption,  especially  such  as  occurred  in  the  Provinces, 
the  off'enders  were  themselves  Senators.  Some  of  the  Judges  had 
been  guilty  of  like  offences,  others  hoped  for  opportunities  of 
committing  like  offences ;  extortion  was  looked  upon  as  a  venial 
crime ;  prosecutions  became  a  trial  of  party  strength,  and  the 
culprit  was  usually  absolved. 

Gracchus  now  took  the  Judicial  power  altogether  out  of  the 
hands  of  the  Senate,  and  transferred  it  to  a  body  of  Three  Hun- 
dred persons,  to  be  chosen  periodically  from  all  citizens  who 
possessed  the  Equestrian  rate  of  property.^  By  this  measure 
he  smote  the  Senate  with  a  two-edged  sword.  For  not  only  did 
he  deprive  it  of  the  means  of  shielding  its  own  members,  but  he 
also  gave  a  political  constitution  to  a  rival  Order.  The  Eques- 
trian Order,  as  a  political  body,  entirely  distinct  from  a  mere 
military  class,  now  first  received  distinct  recognition. 

*  200,000  persons,  receiving  monthly  1|-  bushels,  would  receive  in  the 
year  376,000  quarters.  Taking  wheat  at  50s.  the  quarter,  the  corn-bounty 
Would  cost,  in  our  money,  937,500^.  per  annum 

+  Hence  these  permanent  courts  were  called  Qucectiones  perpetita. 

ij:  This  Register  was  called  the  Album  Judicum 


Chap.  Lilt  C.   GRACCHUS.  539 

It  is  doubtful  whether  this  measure  of  reform  was  followed  by 
the  good  effects  intended  by  Gracchus.  If  the  governors  of 
Provinces  were  Senators,  the  farmers  of  the  taxes  were  Equites, 
The  new  Juries  had  their  personal  reasons  for  acquitting  cor- 
rupt magistrates ;  for  without  the  countenance  of  these  magis- 
trates they  could  not  demand  money  from  the  Provincials  be 
yond  what  was  strictly  legal.  The  constitution  of  these  Jurie^^ 
formed  a  chief  ground  of  political  contest  for  the  next  fifty 
years. 

(2.)  Another  measure  which  fettered  the  power  and  patronage 
of  the  Senate  was  the  Sempronian  Law  for  the  assignment  of 
the  Consular  Provinces.  Hitherto  the  Senate  had  refrained  from 
determining  these  Provinces  till  after  the  elections ;  and  they 
thus  had  a  ready  way  of  marking  displeasure  by  allotting  unpro- 
fitable governments  to  Consuls  whom  they  disliked.  But  Grac- 
chus now  ordained  that  the  two  Consular  Provinces  should  bo 
fixed  before  the  elections,  and  that  the  new  Consuls,  immediately 
upon  their  election,  should  settle  between  themselves  what  Pro- 
vinces each  was  to  administer,  either  by  lot  or  by  agreement 
(sortitio  or  comparatio).  It  was  a  wise  and  equitable  provision, 
which  remained  in  force  as  long  as  the  Republic  lasted, 

(3.)  A  great  blow  was  given  to  Senatorial  power  by  a  measure 
for  improving  the  roads  of  Italy.  Public  works  of  all  kinds  had 
hitherto  been  left  to  the  Censors,  subject  to  the  approval  of  the 
Senate.    Gracchus  now  transferred  the  business  to  the  Tribunes. 

§  10.  This  account  of  the  chief  Sempronian  Laws  shows  the 
spirit  which  animated  Gracchus.  It  is  plain  that  his  main  pur- 
pose was  to  diminish  the  increased  and  increasing  power  of  the 
Senate.  It  was  no  doubt  a  confusion  between  the  purposes  and 
the  results  of  the  Sempronian  Legislation  that  swelled  the  cry 
against  Gracchus  in  after  times.  It  is  clear,  however,  that  he  had 
no  chance  of  amending  the  corrupt  government  of  the.  Senatorial 
Oligarchy,  unless  he  first  weakened  their  power  ;  and  if  he  fancied 
that  administrative  functions  might  safely  be  controlled  by  a  large 
and  fluctuating  popular  Assembly,  something  may  be  forgiven 
to  political  inexperience.  Representative  bodies  are  a  modern 
indention;  and  the  wisest  of  the  ancients  found  no  h-alting-place 
between  Aristocracy  and  Democracy.  Gracchus  was  not  without 
misgivings  as  to  the  eflfects  of  his  legislation.  But  it  was  too 
late  to  draw  back  ,•  and  his  zeal  was  quickened  by  the  return  o^ 
Fulvius  Flaccus  from  Gaul. 

§11.  By  his  measures  Gracchus  had  so  won  all  suffrages,  that 
he  and  his  friend  Flaccus  were  absolute  masters  of  the  Comitia. 
The  elections  of  Curule  officers  for  the  next  year  were  at  hand, 
and  Gracchus  told  the  People  he  had  a  favour  to  ask.     Everjf 


S40  CIVIL  WARS:    FIRST  PERIOD.  Book  VI. 

one  expected  that  he  would  demand  his  own  election  to  some 
high  office :  but  to  the  surprise  of  all  he  proposed  as  Candidate 
for  the  Consulship  C.  Fannius,  an  old  comrade  of  his  brother. 
Fannius  was  elected  as  a  matter  of  course,  to  the  rejection  of 
L.  Opimius,  the  Senatorial  Candidate. 

The  Tribunician  elections  followed.  Flaccus,  though  he  had 
been  Consul,  appeared  as  Candidate  for  an  office  that  had  been 
raised  by  the  Gracchi  to  sovereign  power.  But  Gracchus  was  not 
by  his  side ;  for  it  had  been  made  illegal  that  the  same  man 
should  be  reelected  Tribune.  However,  there  were  not  can- 
didates enough  for  the  ten  places ;  and  the  People,  exercising 
the  absolute  right  of  choice  which  in  this  contingency  was 
allowed,  reelected  Gracchus  by  a  unanimous  vote.  Not  more 
than  seven  months  of  his  first  year's  Tribunate  were  over ;  and 
he  was  secure  of  power  for  the  next  seventeen  months  at 
least.  He  now  put  forth  all  the  tremendous  power  of  the 
office.  The  Senate  sate  powerless,  and  Caius  Gracchus  became 
for  a  time  the  virtual  sovereign  of  the  Empire. 

§  12.  Immediately  on  reelection,  Gracchus  came  forward  with 
a  Bill  for  extending  the  Roman  Franchise,  certainly  to  the  citi- 
zens of  all  Latin  Colonies,  probably  to  all  free  Italian  commu- 
nities. Here  we  recognise  the  hand  of  Flaccus,  who  had  in  his 
Consulship  raised  this  momentous  question,  and  resumed  the 
project  on  the  first  opportunity  after  his  return. 

There  can  be  no  doubt  that  some  change  in  this  direction  was 
necessary.  The  admission  of  the  Latins  and  Italians  to  full 
citizenship  would  infuse  a  quantity  of  new  blood  into  the  decay- 
ing frame  of  the  Roman  People ;  and,  by  extending  to  all  Italians 
the  benefits  of  the  Agrarian  law,  there  was  really  a  good  hope 
of  reviving  that  hardy  race  of  yeomen  who  were  regretted  by  all 
Roman  Statesmen.  Scipio  had  induced  the  Senate  for  a  moment 
to  take  up  this  cause ;  but  after  the  revolt  of  Fregellae,  all 
thoughts  of  an  extension  of  the  Franchise  had  been  dropped. 
The  difficulty  was  how  to  favour  the  Italians  without  provoking 
the  Roman  Tribesmen.  It  is  manifest  that  the  project  was  still 
unpopular  in  the  Forum,  for  Gracchus  laboured  to  show  that 
the  Roman  People  and  the  Italians  had  one  grievance  in  com- 
mon, namely,  the  tyranny  of  the  Senatorial  Oligarchy.  "  The 
^ther  day,"  he  told  them,  "  the  magistrates  of  Teanum  had  been 
stripped  naked  and  scourged,  because  the  Consul's  lady  com- 
plained that  the  public  baths  there  had  not  been  properly 
cleaned  for  her  use."  ..."  How  great  is  the  insolence  of  the 
young  Nobles,  a  single  example  would  show.  One  of  them  was 
travelling  through  Apulia  in  a  litter,  and  a  countryman,  meeting 
the  bearers,  asked  whether  they  had  got  a  dead  man  inside.     For 


Chap.  LIII.  C.  GRACCHUS.  541 

this  word,  the  young  lord  ordered  the  poor  man  to  be  beaten 
to  death  with  the  cords  of  the  litter." 

§  13.  The  chiefs  of  the  Senate  perceived  that  the  proposal  to 
enfranchise  the  Italians  had  sapped  his  popularity  at  Rome. 
The  Consul  Fannius,  notwithstanding  the  part  Gracchus  had 
taken  in  his  election,  vehemently  opposed  the  measure.  He 
declared  that  he  would  again  bring  forward  the  Alien-Act  of 
Pennus,  and  expel  all  foreigners  from  Rome.  The  Senate  soon 
after  ventured  a  step  further.  One  of  the  new  Tribunes,  M. 
Livius  Drusus  by  name,  a  young  man  of  high  birth,  rich,  elo- 
quent, ambitious,  and  determined,  undertook  to  thwart  the 
progress  of  his  great  colleague,  and  he  put  a  veto  on  the  law 
for  enfranchising  the  Latins. 

§  14.  We  must  now  return  to  the  Agrarian  Law.  In  further- 
ance of  this  Law,  Caius  proposed  to  plant  Colonies  in  divers 
parts  of  Italy ;  Capua  and  Tarentum  were  fixed  upon  as  the  first 
of  these  new  settlements;  but  here  he  showed  no  democratic 
tendencies;  for  no  allotments  were  given  to  citizens,  however 
poor,  unless  their  character  was  respectable;  and  only  a  small 
number  of  colonists  were  to  be  sent  to  each  place. 

Drusus  was  not  slow  to  take  advantage  of  these  unpopular 
provisions.  He  resolved  to  outbid  Gracchus,  and  the  agent  of 
the  Nobility  became  a  demagogue.  He  proposed  to  found  no 
fewer  than  twelve  Colonies  at  once,  each  to  consist  of  3000 
families,  to  be  chosen  without  respect  to  character.  All  these 
Colonists  were  to  hold  their  allotments  rent-free.  Drusus  openly 
avowed  that  he  made  these  propositions  in  favor  of  the  poor 
on  the  part  of  the  Senate;  and  declared  in  significant  terms 
that  he  would  not  himself  accept  any  part  in  the  honour  or  emo- 
lument to  be  derived  from  the  office  of  foundmg  these  Colonies, 
whereas  Gracchus  had  himself  superintended  all  the  public  works 
which  he  had  originated. 

§  15.  At  this  time,  plans  were  on  foot  for  extending  the  Italian 
system  of  colonisation  to  the  Provinces.  In  this  very  year,  C. 
Sextius  Calvinus,  who  had  succeeded  Flaccus  as  Proconsul  in 
Gaul,  founded  the  town  of  Aquae  Sextise,  still  called  Aix,  in 
Southern  Gaul ;  four  years  later  Narbo  Marcius,  or  Narbonne, 
was  planted  further  westward  in  the  same  country.  But  Grac- 
chus himself  was  the  first  who  had  proposed  to  plant  a  Colony 
beyond  the  Italian  Peninsula ;  and  the  place  he  fixed  upon  was 
Carthage.  The  plan  was  taken  up  by  the  Senate.  The  new 
Colony  was  to  be  called  Junonia,  and  it  was  dexterously  con- 
trived that  Gracchus  himself,  with  Flaccus  and  another,  should 
be  the  Commissioners  for  distributing  the  lands  and  marking 
the  limits  of  the  settlement*     In  this  way,  the  formidable  Tri- 


542  CIVIL   WARS:   FIRST  PERIOD.  Book  VI 

bune  and  his  most  active  supporter  were  obliged  to  quit  Rome 
just  when  their  presence  was  most  needed  to  revive  their 
drooping  popularity. 

§  16.  The  Commissioners  applied  themselves  to  their  task  with 
so  much  assiduity  that  they  returned  to  Rome  in  time  for  tiie 
Consular  elections.  The  ruthless  Opimius  was  again  candidate, 
and  Gracchus  exerted  himself  to  the  utmost  to  reorganise  his 
party,  but  in  vain.  Popular  feeling  was  strongly  marked  by  the 
triumphant  election  of  Opimius  to  the  Consulship,  in  company 
with  Q.  Fabius,  son  of  Scipio's  elder  brother,  a  man  personally 
hostile  to  Gracchus. 

The  Tribunician  elections  followed,  and  were  equally  signi- 
ficant of  the  temper  of  the  People.  Neither  Gracchus  nor 
Flaccus  was  reelected.  The  remainder  of  the  year  indeed  passed 
by  quietly.  But  at  the  beginning  of  the  year  121  b.c.  Opimius 
became  Consul,  and  it  was  evident  that  danger  was  at  hand. 

§17.  Gracchus  and  his  friends  prudently  refrained  from 
all  offensive  steps ;  but  as  he  would  give  no  grounds  for  pro- 
ceeding against  him,  Opimius  resolved  to  make  them.  News 
arrived  from  the  new  Colony  at  Carthage  to  the  effect  that  it 
had  been  planted  on  the  ground  cursed  by  Scipio :  the  wrath  of 
the  gods  had  been  shown  by  the  fact  that  wolves  had  torn  down 
the  boundary-posts.  The  Senate  met,  and  on  the  motion  of 
Opimius  ordered  the  Tribunes  to  call  a  meeting  of  the  Tribes 
upon  the  Capitol,  to  rescind  the  law  for  colonising  Carthage. 
The  place  was  ominous,  for  there  Ti.  Gracchus  had  been  slain. 

On  the  appointed  morning  the  impetuous  Flaccus  appeared 
with  a  large  retinue  armed  with  daggers.  Gracchus  followed 
with  a  considerable  suite.  Flaccus  spoke  vehemently  to  the 
Tribes,  while  Gracchus  stood  aloof  in  the  portico  of  the  Temple, 
in  which  Opimius  was  offering  sacrifice.  Here  he  was  encoun- 
tered by  a  retainer  of  the  Consul,  who  insolently  pushed  Gracchus 
aside,  crying,  "Make  way  for  honest  men."  Gracchus  cast  an 
angry  look  upon  the  man,  who  presently  fell  stabbed  to  the 
heart  by  an  unknown  hand.  A  cry  of  murder  was  raised,  and 
the  crowd  fled  in  alarm  to  the  Forum.  Gracchus  retired  to  his 
house,  regretting  the  rash  imprudence  of  his  followers.  Mean- 
time the  body  of  the  slain  man  was  paraded  before  the  eyes  of 
the  terrified  People.  The  Senate  armed  the  Consuls  with  i 
Decree,  by  which  Gracchus  was  proclaimed  a  public  enemy* 
and  Opimius  took  station  during  the  night  in  the  Temple  of 
Castor,  by  the  side  of  the  Forum.  He  summoned  the  Senate 
to  a  special  sitting  early  next  morning ;  and  also  sent  to  all  on 
whom  he  could  rely,  desiring  them  to  come  armed  to  the  Forum, 
pind  each  man  to  bring  two  armed  slaves,     W^ith  thig  force  he 


Chap.  LIII.  C.  GRACCHUS.  543 

occupied  the  Capitol  at  daybreak,  and  prepared  to  execute  the 
will  of  the  Senate. 

Gracchus  was  irresolute ;  but  Flaccus  summoned  to  his  house 
all  who  were  ready  to  resist  Senatorial  authority.  Here  he  armed 
them  with  the  Celtic  weapons  which  he  had  brought  home  from 
his  Gallic  campaigns,  and  kept  up  their  courage  by  deep  pota- 
tions of  wine.  Early  in  the  morning  he  occupied  a  strong  po- 
sition on  the  Aventine,  where  he  was  joined  by  Gracchus,  who 
sighed  over  the  necessity  of  using  force. 

§  18.  When  the  Senate  met,  the  popular  leaders  were  sum- 
moned to  attend  in  their  places,  and  explain  the  proceedings  of 
the  previous  day.  They  answered  by  proclaiming  liberty  to  all 
slaves  who  should  join  them.  Nothing  could  more  show  the 
desperate  aspect  which  the  struggle  had  assumed.  Yet  before 
blood  flowed,  Gracchus  insisted  on  trying  negotiation,  and 
Q.  Flaccus,  a  handsome  youth  of  eighteen,  son  of  the  ex-Tribune, 
was  sent.  But  already  the  Senate  had  invested  Opimius  with 
dictatorial  power.  The  only  answer  the  Consul  returned  was 
that  the  leaders  must  appear  before  the  Senate,  and  explain  their 
conduct ;  and  when  young  Quintus  came  back  with  a  fresh  mes- 
sage, Opimius  arrested  him.  He  now  set  a  price  on  the  heads 
of  Gracchus  and  Fulvius  Flaccus,  and  ordered  an  immediate  at- 
tack upon  the  Aventine.  Under  arms  appeared  the  noblest  men 
at  Rome,  P.  Lentulus,  Chief  of  the  Senate,  old  Metellus  Mace- 
donicus,  and  many  others.  For  their  leader  they  chose  not  the 
Consul,  but  L.  Junius  Brutus,  the  Spanish  conqueror.  The  attack 
was  opened  under  cover  of  a  shower  of  arrows  from  a  body  of 
Cretan  bowmen.  Little  or  no  resistance  was  offered.  Flaccus 
fled  with  his  eldest  son.  Gracchus  retired  into  the  Temple  of 
Diana,  where  he  was  hardly  prevented  from  putting  an  end  to 
his  own  life  by  two  faithful  friends,  the  Knights  Pomponius  and 
Laetorius.  Urged  by  them  to  flee,  he  threw  himself  on  his  knees, 
and  prayed  the  goddess  to  punish  the  unworthy  people  of  Rome 
by  everlasting  slavery.  All  three  then  took  their  way  down  to 
the  Porta  Trigemina,  hotly  pursued.  Pomponius  made  a  stand 
in  the  gateway  to  cover  his  friend's  escape  across  the  Sublician 
Bridge,  and  fell  pierced  with  many  wounds.  Laetorius  showed 
no  less  devotion  by  gallantly  turning  to  bay  upon  the  bridge 
till  he  knew  that  Gracchus  was  safe  over,  when  he  sprang  into 
the  river  and  perished.  Gracchus  with  a  single  slave  reached 
the  Grove  of  the  Furies,  and  here  both  were  found  dead.  The 
faithful  slave  had  first  held  the  sword  to.  his  master's  heart,  and 
then  fallen  upon  it  himself.  One  Septimuleius  cut  off"  the  head 
of  Gracchus,  and  was  rewarded  by  the  fierce  Opimius  with  its 
weight  in  gold, 


544  CIVIL   WARS:    FIRST   PERIOD.  Book  VI. 

Flaccus  and  his  eldest  son  had  found  shelter  in  the  bath- 
house of  a  friend.  The  Consul's  myrmidons  tracked  them,  and 
threatened  to  set  fire  to  the  house.  The  owner,  alarmed  for 
his  property,  allowed  another  to  disclose  the  secret,  though  he 
did  not  choose  to  speak  the  word  himself.  They  were  dragged 
forth  and  slain  with  every  mark  of  indignity.  The  handsome 
youth  who  had  been  arrested  before  the  assault  commenced  was 
allowed  to  put  himself  to  death. 

§  19.  Great  numbers  of  the  partisans  of  Gracchus  were  thrown 
into  prison,  and  put  to  death  without  trial.  The  stream  of  Tiber 
flowed  thick  with  corpses.  The  inconstant  mob  plundered  their 
houses  without  molestation.  The  widows  and  friends  of  the 
slain  were  forbidden  by  Consular  edict  to  wear  mourning. 
When  the  bloody  work  was  done,  the  City  was  purged  by  a  formal 
lustration ;  and  the  Consul,  by  order  of  the  Senate,  laid  the 
foundations  of  a  Temple  of  Concord.  Under  the  inscription 
placed  on  it  by  Opimius  was  found  next  morning  another  to  this 
effect : — 

Workers  of  Discord  raise  a  shrine  to  Concord.* 

But  none  dared  openly  avow  themselves  friends  of  the  Gracchi. 
The  son  of  Caius  died  soon  after ;  and  except  Sempronia,  the 
widow  of  Scipio,  none  of  the  race  remained.  Cornelia  retired  to 
Misenum,  where  she  lived  for  many  years,  not  so  much  sorrowing 
for  the  loss  of  her  sons  as  dwelling  with  delight  on  the  memory 
of  their  acts.  Many  visited  her  in  retirement,  chiefly  learned 
Greeks,  to  hear  the  story  of  the  bold  Reformers.  Calmly  and 
loftily  she  told  the  tale,  declaring  that  her  sons  had  found  worthy 
graves  in  the  Temples  of  the  Gods.  In  after  days  her  statue  in 
bronze  was  set  up  in  the  Forum,  with  the  Greek  sandals  on  her 
feet  which  had  been  made  a  reproach  to  her  illustrious  father. 
Beneath  it  were  placed  these  words  only : — To  Cornelia,  thk 
Mother  of  the  Gracchi. 

*  ipyov  (iTTovoiac  vaov  ofiovoiag  ■kolu. — Plut.    Vit   G.  Gracchi,  c.  17. 


CHAPTER  LIV. 

JUGURTHA    AND    HIS    TIMES.       (120 104  B.C.) 

(]  1.  Danger  of  delayed  Reformation.  §  2.  Indictment  of  Opimius  •  suicide 
of  Carbo.  §  3.  The  nobler  sort  in  the  Senate:  the  Metelli:  Scaurus, 
§  4.  Conquest  of  Balearic  Isles  :  Wars  in  Gaul :  Fabius  Allobrogicus.  §  5. 
Jugurtha.  §  6.  Murder  of  Hiempsal :  Numidia  divided  by  Senate  between 
Adherbal  and  Jugurtha.  §  1.  Murder  of  Adherbal.  §  8,  The  Tribune 
Memmius  forces  the  Senate  to  proclaim  War.  §  9.  Futile  campaign  of 
Bestia :  Jugurtha  summoned  to  Rome.  §  10.  Jugurtha  procures  murder 
ofMassiva:  is  ordered  to  quit  Rome.  §  11.  Metellus  appointed  to  com- 
mand. §  12.  Commission  of  inquiry:  Bestia,  Albinus,  and  others  put  to 
death.  §  13.  Severity  of  Metellus :  his  legate  C.  Marius.  §  14.  First 
campaign  of  Metellus.  §15.  Jugurtha  offers  to  treat:  diplomacy  of 
Metellus.  §  16.  Marius  depreciates  Metellus  :  he  is  elected  Consul.  §  17. 
Second  campaign  of  Metellus :  Cirta  taken  :  Jugurtha  takes  refuge  with 
Bocchus,  §  18.  Command  transferred  by  People  to  Marius.  §  19.  Return 
of  Metellus  to  Rome.  §  20.  Marius  completes  the  conquest  of  Numidia  : 
Sylla :  his  early  life.  §  21.  Sylla  sent  to  the  court  of  Bocchus  to  obtain 
the  person  of  Jugurtha:  Jugurtha  betrayed:  Sylla's  arrogance,  §  22. 
Triumph  and  reelection  of  Marius.     §  23.  Miserable  end  of  Jugurtha. 

§  1.  The  cruel  times  which  followed  made  the  best  men  of  both 
parties  regret  the  untimely  end  of  those  who  had  sacrificed 
wealth,  rank,  tranquillity,  in  the  hope  of  reforming  the  State  by 
peaceful  methods.  It  is  not  the  less  true  because  it  is  an  epi- 
gram, "  that  the  blood  of  the  Gracchi  was  the  seed  sown,  and 
Marius  was  the  fruit."  But  Marius,  though  the  most  ruthless, 
was  not  the  worst  of  the  successors  of  the  Gracchi.  So  savage 
were  the  party  quarrels  which  followed,  that  good  men  shrank 
in  despair  from  the  cause  of  Reform,  and  the  conduct  of  the 
popular  party  was  abandoned  to  needy  demagogues.  Such  is  the 
common  course  of  Revolutions.  They  begin  with  noble  aspira- 
tions ;  they  end  in  reckless  violence.  At  length  public  spirit  is 
lost,  and  all  men,  sighing  for  tranquillity,  seek  it  in  the  strong 
rule  of  an  armed  soldier.     It  is  a  thrice-told  tale. 

§  2.  As  the  murder  of  Tiberius  had  been  avenged  upon  Nasica, 
so  there  was  even  now  found  a  Tribune  bold  enough  to  indict 
Opimius.  The  accuser  bore  the  time-honoured  name  of  Decius ; 
the  defender  was  that  Carbo  who  was  more  than  suspected  of 
Scipio's  murder,  and  who  was  now  Consul  (120  b.c.)  :  his  elo- 
quence and  the  terror  that  prevailed  procured  an  acquittal.     But 


646  CIVIL  WARS:  FIRST   PERIOD.  Book  Vt 

Carbo,  though  he  earned  the  gratitude  of  the  Nobility  by  de- 
fending their  champion,  did  not  find  his  eloquence  equally 
effectual  in  defending  himself.  It  was  at  that  time  the  practice 
of  young  Romans  who  aspired  to  distinction  to  attract  public 
notice  by  indicting  some  great  offender  before  the  People. 
L.  Licinius  Crassus,  son  of  Crassus  the  Pontifex,  and  brother- 
in-law  of  C.  Gracchus,  though  only  one-and-twenty  years  of  age, 
felt  within  him  that  power  of  speech  which  in  later  days  gained 
him  the  appellation  of  the  Orator ;  and  he  singled  out  Carbo  for 
attack.  So  fierce  was  the  invective  of  the  young  accuser  that 
Carbo  put  an  end  to  his  own  life  by  poison. 

§  3.  The  Nobility  probably  cared  little  for  the  life  of  a  worth- 
less renegade.  The  best  men  in  the  Senate,  indeed,  regretted 
what  they  considered  the  necessity  of  taking  up  arms  against 
Gracchus.  First  among  these  was.  old  Metellus  Macedonicus, 
who  died  full  of  honours  and  years  seven  years  after  the  death 
of  C.  Gracchus.  He  left  four  sons.  Before  his  death  three  of 
them  had  been  Consuls ;  the  fourth  was  candidate  for  the  Con- 
sulship at  his  father's  death ;  but  his  two  nephews,  sons  of  his 
brother  Calvus,  were  more  distinguished  than  his  own  offspring. 
Qnintus  the  younger,  under  the  title  of  Numidicus,  shortly  after- 
wards became  the  most  eminent  man  in  the  ranks  of  the  Nobility. 
In  the  course  of  twenty  years  the  Metelli  enjoyed  six  Consulships 
and  four  Censorships,  besides  five  triumphs.  Such  an  aggre- 
gation of  honours  in  one  family  was  without  example.  Tb^ 
worst  ^lult  of  the  Metelli  was  pride ;  but  if  they  were  not  be- 
loved, they  were  at  least  respected  by  the  People. 

A  person  who  plays  a  large  part  in  the  events  of  the  next 
years  was  M.  .^milius  Scaurus,  a  man  of  more  dubious  charac- 
ter. Horace  names  him  with  some  of  the  greatest  men  of  olden 
time;*  Sallust  represents  him  as  disgracing  high  qualities  by 
an  inordinate  love  for  money.  The  facts  we  shall  have  to  re- 
cord will  show  that  in  his  earlier  days  he  was  infected  by  the 
corruption  of  his  compeers,  while  in  later  life  his  prudence  was 
so  great  as  to  stand  for  principle.  lie  was  born  in  163  b.c,  so 
that  at  the  fall  of  C.  Gracchus  he  had  reached  that  ripe  age 
which  was  required  for  the  Consulship.  Though  he  belonged 
to  a  great  Patrician  Gens,  his  family  was  so  obscure  that  he 
was  accounted  a  New  Man.  His  father  had  been  a  charcoal 
merchant,  and  left  his  son  so  poor  that  the  future  ruler  of  the 
Empire  had  at  one  time  contemplated  following  the  trade  of  a 
money-changer.     But  he  was  encouraged  to  try  the  chances  of 

*  Regulum,  et  Scauros,  animaeque  magnae 

Prodigum,  Poeno  superante,  Paullum, — 1,  GarDi.  iii.  37. 


CHAr.  LIV.  JUGURTHA.  547 

political  life;  and  in  115  b.c.  he  reached  the  Consulate.  By  his 
ability  and  discretion  he  so  won  the  confidence  of  the  Senate  that 
at  the  first  vacancy  he  was  named  Princeps.  He  was  a  man  less 
seen  than  felt.  His  oratory  wanted  fire ;  but  his  talents  for 
business,  and  his  dexterity  in  the  management  of  parties,  made 
him  the  most  important  person  in  the  field  of  politics  from  the 
fall  of  Gracchus  till  the  rise  of  Sylla. 

The  more  prudent  or  more  severe  among  the  Senators  be- 
lieved that  reform  in  the  State  might  be  averted  by  a  reformation 
of  Manners.  But  in  vain.  The  business  of  Jugurtha  brought 
into  full  light  the  venality  and  corruption  of  the  dominant 
statesmen. 

§  4.  We  have  said  little  of  the  Wars  of  Rome  since  the  fall  of 
Numantia  and  the  termination  of  the  Servile  War.  They  were 
not  considerable.  The  kingdom  of  Pergamus  had  formed  the 
tenth  Province.  The  eldest  son  of  old  Metellus  earned  the  title 
of  Balearicus  for  subduing  the  Balearic  Isles  (121  b.c);  his  eldest 
nephew  that  of  "Delmaticus  for  putting  down  an  outbreak  of  the 
Dalmatians  (117  b.c.) 

More  attention  was  excited  by  wars  in  the  South  of  Gaul,  ana 
more  permanent  effects  followed.  The  success  of  Fulvius 
Flaccus,  the  friend  of  the  Gracchi,  in  defending  Marseilles,  has 
been  already  noticed.  C.  Sextius,  who  succeeded  Flaccus  in 
123  B.C.,  secured  his  conquests  by  founding  the  colony  of  Aquae 
Sextiae,  which  under  the  name  of  Aix  still  attracts  visitors  for  the 
sake  of  its  hot  springs.  These  conquests  brought  the  Romans  in 
contact  with  the  Allobrogians,  between  the  Rhone  and  the  Isere ; 
and  this  people  threw  themselves  on  the  protection  of  Bituitus, 
chief  of  the  Arvernians  (Auvergne).  Q.  Fabius,  while  Opimius 
was  crushing  C.  Gracchus,  crossed  the  Isere.  A  desperate  battle 
ensued,  in  which  the  Proconsul,  with  30,000  men,  is  said  to  have 
so  completely  routed  200,000  Gauls,  that  in  the  battle  and  pur- 
suit no  less  than  130,000  fell.  Fabius  was  suffering  from  a 
quartan  ague,  but  in  the  heat  of  conflict  shook  off  his  disease. 
He  assumed  the  title  of  Allobrogicus  with  better  right  than 
many  who  were  decorated  with  these  national  surnames.  The 
war  was  now  carried  into  the  Arvenian  country,  and  the  great 
triumphs  of  Caesar  might  have  been  anticipated  by  some  Sena- 
torial Commander,  when  it  was  brought  to  a  sudden  end.  An 
enemy,  formidable  alike  to  Romans  and  Gauls,  well  known  a 
few  years  later  under  the  dreaded  names  of  Cimbrians  and 
Teutons,  had  appeared  on  the  north-eastern  frontier  of  Gaul, 
and  threatened  to  overrun  all  southern  Europe.  But  circum- 
stances deferred  for  a  time  the  conflict  between  Italy  and 
those  barbarous  hordes,   and  for  the  present  the  dominion  of 


548  CIVIL  WARS :    FIRST   PERIOD,  Book  VL 

Rome  was  firmly  established  in  the  southern  angle  of  Gaul, 
between  the  Alps  and  Pyrenees,  a  district  which  still  preserves 
its  Roman  name,  "  the  Province,"  in  the  French  Provence.  The 
whole  northern  coast  of  the  Mediterranean,  from  the  Pillars  of 
Hercules  to  Syria,  now  owned  the  sovereignty  of  Rome. 

§  5.  Attention  was  now  for  a  time  riveted  upon  the  affairs  of 
Africa.  The  kingdom  of  Masinissa,  as  we  said,  had  been  divided 
among  his  three  sons,  Micipsa,  Mastanarbal,  and  Golossa.  The 
Jast  two  had  died,  and  left  Micipsa  sole  King  of  Numidia.  The 
old  friendship  between  this  country  and  Rome  was  cemented  by 
the  flourishing  corn-trade  that  grew  up  there,  which  supplied  the 
failing  crops  of  Italy.  Micipsa  died  in  118  b.c,  leaving  two  sons, 
Adherbal  and  Hiempsal.  By  their  side  stood  their  cousin  Ju- 
gurtha,  a  bastard.  This  young  man  was  considerably  older 
than  his  cousins.  Sixteen  years  before  he  had  served  with 
credit  under  Scipio  at  Numantia.  The  young  nobles  of  Scipio's 
camp  suggested  to  the  African  Prince  that,  at  the  death  of  Mi- 
cipsa, he  should  purchase  the  support  of  Rome  and  seize  the 
Numidian  crown.  "  At  Rome,"  they  said,  "  all  things  might  be 
had  for  money."  The  intriguing  character  of  Jugurtha  escaped 
not  the  discernment  of  Scipio.  At  parting,  he  said :  "  Trust 
to  your  own  good  qualities,  and  power  will  come  of  itself  Seek 
it  by  base  arts,  and  you  will  lose  all."  Old  Micipsa  left  Ju- 
gurtha as  Regent  and  guardian  of  his  two  young  sons. 

§  6.  It  is  possible  that  if  the  two  Princes  had  submitted  pas- 
sively, Jugurtha  might  have  been  contented  with  the  substance 
without  the  title  of  sovereignty ;  but  Hiempsal  showed  a  spirit 
impatient  of  control.  When  Jugurtha  proposed  that  the  decrees 
made  by  Micipsa  in  the  last  five  years  of  his  dotage  should  be 
abrogated,  the  young  Prince  gave  a  ready  assent ;  "  for,"  said  he, 
"  with  these  will  fall  the  ordinance  by  which  you  claim  the 
Regency."  The  unscrupulous  Jugurtha  ordered  Hiempsal  to  be 
assassinated ;  and  Adherbal,  in  alarm,  took  up  arms.  The  people 
were  with  him,  but  the  soldiery  were  with  Jugurtha ;  and  Ad- 
herbal was  obliged  to  fly  into  the  Roman  province  of  Libyn, 
whence  he  took  ship  to  plead  his  own  cause  before  the  Senate. 
General  feeling  was  strong  in  his  favour ;  but  the  wily  Jugurtha 
bethought  him  of  the  advice  tendered  by  his  Roman  friends,  and 
sent  envoys  to  Rome  laden  with  gold.  Adherbal  was  heard 
with  cold  attention,  while  many  Senators  supported  the  claim 
of  Jugurtha.  It  was  decided  that  a  Commission  of  Ten  should 
be  sent  to  Numidia,  with  instructions  to  divide  the  kingdom  be- 
tween Adherbal  and  his  unscrupulous  cousin.  L.  Opimius,  a  fit 
instrument  for  such  work,  was  placed  at  the  head  of  the  Com- 
mission.    The  western  half,  which  had  been  the  patrimony  of 


Ohaf.  LIV.  JUGURTHA.  549 

Masinissa  and  supplied  the  famous  Numidian  cavalry,  was 
assigned  to  Jugurtha.  The  eastern  portion,  conterminous  with 
the  Roman  Province,  and  formerly  subject  to  Syphax,  was  given 
to  Adherbal. 

§  7.  Jugurtha  was  not  slow  in  using  his  advantage.  His  rival 
was  obliged  to  shut  himself  up  in  Cirta,  the  almost  impregnable 
city  which  formed  his  capital ;  but  the  Italian  mercenaries,  on 
whom  he  mainly  relied,  forced  him  to  surrender  on  condition 
that  his  life  should  be  spared.  No  sooner  had  Jugurtha  got 
possession  of  his  cousin,  than  he  ordered  him  to  be  put  to  death 
by  torture. 

§  8.  So  great  was  the  power  of  Jugurtha's  gold,  that  the 
matter  would  have  been  hushed  up,  had  not  C.  Memmius,  Tri- 
bune-elect, come  forward  in  the  Forum,  and  boldly  exposed  the 
iniquities  of  Jugurtha.  The  conscience-stricken  majority  of  the 
Senate  shrunk  back;  war  was  declared  against  tlic  faithless 
Numidian  Prince,  and  the  command  fell  by  lot  to  L.  Calpurnius 
Bestia,  one  of  the  Consuls-elect  for  the  next  year  (111  b.c). 

§  9.  The  first  campaign  was  conducted  with  so  much  remiss- 
ness, that  it  was  universally  believed  that  the  commanders  had 
received  bribes.  Memmius  promptly  brought  in  a  bill,  by  which 
the  Praetor  L.  Cassius  was  commissioned  to  bring  Jugurtha  to 
Rome  under  a  safe-conduct,  in  order  that  he  might  give  evidence 
against  the  persons  accused  of  corrupt  dealings.  Jugurtha  did 
not  hesitate  to  attend  Cassius  to  Rome,  where  he  appeared  in 
the  garb  of  a  suppliant.  The  People  would  have  executed  sum- 
mary vengeance  on  the  culprit,  had  not  Memmius  interfered  to 
maintain  the  sanctity  of  the  safe-conduct.  But  he  ordered 
Jugurtha  to  stand  forth,  detailed  at  length  the  crimes  with 
which  he  was  charged,  and  concluded  by  urging  him  to  place 
his  hopes  of  safety  in  a  simple  confession  of  the  truth.  When 
Memmius  resumed  his  seat,  one  of  his  colleagues,  C.  Baebius  by 
name,  rose  and  forbade  Jugurtha  to  reply.  It  was  manifest  that 
this  Tribunician  veto  had  been  purchased  by  African  gold,  and 
a  terrible  storm  arose  in  the  Forum.  But  Bsebius  stood  firm, 
and  the  sanctity  of  his  office  was  allowed  to  protect  his  un- 
worthy client. 

§  10.  But  it  was  found  impossible  to  obtain  the  votes  of  the 
People  to  any  peace  with  Jugurtha,  and  the  conduct  of  the  war 
for  the  next  year  (110  b.c.)  was  allotted  to  Sp.  Posthumius  Albi- 
nus.  Albinus  had  already  entered  into  negotiations  with  Mas- 
siva,  son  of  Golossa,  the  third  son  of  Masinissa.  Jugurtha  dis- 
covered the  intrigue,  and  procured  the  assassination  of  the 
young  Prince.  This  piece  of  efl^rontery  was  too  much  even  for 
the  Senate.     Jugurtha  received  an  order  to  quit  Rome  instantly. 


550  CIVIL  WARS:    FIRST  PERIOD.  Book  VI. 

He  obeyed ;  and  as  he  passed  out  of  the  gates,  he  looked  back 
and  said :  "  A  city  for  sale  if  she  can  find  a  purchaser !" 

§  11.  Albinus  was  baffled  at  every  point  by  the  dexterous 
African.  His  brother  Aulus  suffered  himself  to  be  surprised  by 
Jugurtha,  and  only  saved  his  army  by  allowing  it  to  pass  under 
the  yoke  and  agreeing  to  evacuate  Numidia.  But  the  Senate 
hastily  repudiated  the  engagements  made  by  Aulus,  and  the 
command  for  the  next  year  (109  b.c.)  was  conferred  upon  Q. 
Metellus,  nephew  of  old  Macedonicus. 

§  12.  It  was  time  for  the  Senate  to  show  that  they  had  up- 
right and  capable  men  in  their  ranks.  The  scandal  caused  by 
the  conduct  of  Numidian  affairs  was  so  great,  that  before  the 
departure  of  Metellus,  C.  Manilius,  Tribune  of  the  People, 
brought  forward  a  bill  for  appointing  a  Commission  of  Three, 
to  inquire  into  the  conduct  of  all  who  had  been  concerned  in  the 
two  last  campaigns.  Scaurus  was  placed  at  the  head  of  this 
Triumvirate.  Several  of  the  leading  Senators  were  found  guilty 
of  high  treason,  and  put  to  death  without  mercy.  Among  them 
were  Bestia  and  Albinus,  the  two  Consuls  who  had  conducted 
the  war,  and  one  whose  fate  can  excite  no  commiseration, — the 
cruel  and  corrupt  L.  Opimius. 

§  13.  Metellus  was  obliged  to  devote  much  time  to  restoring 
habits  of  discipline  by  the  same  severe  methods  which  had  been 
employed  by  Scipio.  In  this  work  he  was  much  assisted  by  his 
chief  lieutenant,  a  man  who  soon  after  became  famous  wherever 
the  name  of  Rome  was  known. 

Caius  Marius  had  already  reached  the  age  of  fifty.  He  was  a 
citizen  of  Arpinum,  a  Volscian  town,  which  had  been  incorpo- 
rated into  the  Roman  Tribes.  His  family  was  old  and  respect- 
able, but  he  was  the  first  who  obtained  imperial  honours.  In 
his  rustic  origin  and  habits  he  may  be  compared  to  Cato ;  but 
he  had  none  of  the  intellectual  ambition  which  distinguished 
that  singular  person.  He  scorned  the  custom  which  led  young 
Romans  to  study  Greek  and  cultivate  the  art  of  rhetoric  as  the 
readiest  way  of  rising  to  honours.  "  Greek,"  he  said,  "  was  the 
language  of  slaves :  he  would  none  of  it."  His  rough  temper 
and  coarse  manners  unfitted  him  for  political  life.  For  war  he 
possessed  an  instinctive  genius.  At  twenty -four  he  had  been 
designated  by  Scipio  as  the  future  general  of  Rome.*  But  the 
predominance  of  the  Senatorial  families,  and  his  own  poverty, 
made  it  difficult  for  him  to  rise.  In  119  b,c.,  when  he  was 
thirty-eight  years  old,  he  was  chosen  Tribune,  and  had  an  oppor- 
tunity of  showing  his  audacity.     He  had  brought  forward  a  bill 

*  Chapt.  lii.  §  6. 


Chap.  LIV.  JUGURTHA.  561 

for  taking  tlie  votes  more  easily  in  the  Centuriate  elections, 
which  was  opposed  by  the  Consul  Metellus,  elder  brother  of  that 
Metellus  who  now  commanded  against  Ju^irtha.  The  family  of 
Marius  was  dependent  upon  the  Metelli ;  but  the  dauntless  Tri- 
bune ordered  the  Consul  into  custody,  and  the  Senate  was  com- 
pelled to  allow  the  bill  to  pass. 

To  choose  such  a  man  for  his  lieutenant  is  a  proof  of  the 
integrity  and  the  discernment  of  Metellus.  It  is  true  that  he 
had  lately  allied  himself  to  the  oligarchy  by  a  marriage  with 
Julia,  an  aunt  of  the  great  Caesar.  But  the  affront  put  upon 
the  Consul's  brother  by  Marius  ten  years  before,  was  not  of  a 
kind  to  be  forgotten ;  and  the  proud  noble  can  have  had  little 
in  common  with  the  rough  soldier,  except  determination  to  con- 
duct the  war  with  honest  energy. 

§  14.  Late  in  the  year  Metellus  took  the  field.  The  ready  wit 
of  Jugurtha  soon  told  him  that  he  must  now  meet  force  by  force, 
and  by  a  skilful  disposition  of  his  troops  he  succeeded  in  sur- 
prising the  Romans  on  their  march.  But  after  a  long  and  harass- 
ing series  of  assaults,  the  Numidians  were  beaten  off,  and  left 
forty  elephants  dead.  This  was  the  only  engagement  like  a  battle 
on  which  Jugurtha  ventured  during  the  war.  He  henceforth 
relied  entirely  upon  his  fortresses,  of  which  Cirta,  his  capital,  now 
well  known  as  Constantine,  in  Algeria,  was  among  the  strongest. 
The  advance  of  Metellus  was  checked  by  the  fortress  of  Zama. 
The  season  was  too  far  advanced  for  a  siege,  and  Metellus  retired 
for  winter-quarters  into  the  Roman  Province. 

§  15.  Jugurtha  saw  that  his  cause  was  hopeless.  Personally 
he  might  long  elude  capture.  But  the  Romans  were  sure  to  gain 
possession  of  all  his  kingdom  and  all  his  strongholds,  and  he 
would  be  reduced  to  the  condition  of  a  homeless  wanderer.  He 
therefore  offered  to  treat;  and  Metellus,  though  his  term  of 
command  had  been  prolonged  to  another  year,  was  not  unwilling 
to  listen  to  overtures.  He  demanded  that  the  Prince  should 
give  pledges  of  good  faith,  by  paying  down  200,000  pounds  of 
silver,  by  giving  up  all  his  elephants  and  a  quantity  of  horses, 
and  by  surrendering  all  deserters.  These  demands  were  com- 
plied with,  and  then  Metellus  required  the  surrender  of  Jugur- 
tha's  own  person.  It  was  evident  that  the  worst  defeat  could 
hardly  reduce  him  to  greater  extremities.  He  at  once  put  aside 
counsels  of  peace,  and  disappeared  from  sight. 

§  16.  Meanwhile  the  conduct  of  Marius  began  to  excite  dis- 
trust in  the  mind  of  the  general.  When  he  named  the  rude 
soldier  his  lieutenant,  he  expected  doubtless  that  the  honour  of 
serving  under  a  Metellus  would  be  honour  sufficient.  But  the 
military  talents  of  Marius  had  become  manifest,  and  he  had  be- 


552  CIVIL   WARS:    FIRST  PERIOD.  Book  Vt 

come  a  favourite  with  tlie  soldiery.  "  If  he  had  half  the  army," 
he  used  to  say,  "he  would  soon  send  Jugurtha  in  chains  to 
Rome."  He  gave  out  that  he  meant  to  offer  himself  as  candi- 
date for  the  Consulship,  and  requested  leave  of  absence  as  soon 
as  he  could  be  spared.  "  It  will  be  time  for  you  to  seek  the 
Consulship,"  said  Metellus,  "  when  my  son  (a  youth  of  twenty ' 
years  old)  can  be  your  colleague :" — ungenerous  words,  that 
rankled  for  ever  in  the  heart  of  Marius. 

The  next  year's  campaign  had  begun  before  Marius  obtained 
leave  to  repair  to  Rome.  The  elections  were  to  come  on  in 
twelve  days.  In  less  than  a  week  he  reached  Rome,  and  there 
he  used  the  same  language  which  the  camp  had  been  accustomed 
to  hear :  "  Make  me  Consul,  and  you  shall  soon  have  Jugurtha, 
dead  or  alive,  at  Rome."  He  was  elected  by  an  overpowering- 
majority.  The  death  of  Gracchus  had  been  avenged.  The 
people  exulted  in  raising  to  the  chief  magistracy  one  whose  chief 
claim  was  that  he  was  a  New  Man  and  the  best  soldier  of  Rome. 

§  17.  The  second  campaign  of  Metellus  was  conducted  with 
vigour.  Marius  being  absent,  it  was  manifest  that  the  general 
was  not  wholly  indebted  to  his  lieutenant.  Cirta  surrendered. 
Jugurtha,  afraid  of  the  treachery  of  his  friends,  put  confidence 
in  none,  changed  his  quarters  daily,  and  suffered  no  one  to  know 
where  he  was  to  pass  tli^  next  night.  At  length  he  fled  to  the 
Court  of  Bocchus,  king  of  Mauritania,  whose  daughter  he  had 
married.  It  was  not  long  before  Metellus  heard  that  Bocchus 
was  advancing  with  a  large  army  to  Cirta,  and  he  prepared  to 
meet  this  new  enemy.  At  this  crisis  he  received  the  unwelcome 
news  that  Marius  was  on  his  way  to  supersede  him. 

§  18.  After  the  election  of  the  popular  favourite,  the  Senate  had 
decreed  that  Metellus  should  continue  in  command  till  the  Ju- 
gurthan  War  was  ended.  But  the  Tribune  Mancinus,  encouraged 
by  the  success  of  his  predecessors  Memmius  and  Mamilius,  moved 
in  the  Assembly  of  the  Tribes  that  the  command  should  be 
transferred  to  Marius ;  and  the  measure  passed  by  acclamation. 

Marius  immediately  set  about  his  prepa^tions.  He  harangued 
the  People  with  expressions  of  vehement  scorn  against  all  the 
Senatorial  commanders,  "  men  of  old  pedigree,  but  ignorant  of 
war ;  who  never  saw  an  army  till  they  became  generals,  and  then 
set  about  studying  Greek  books  of  tactics.*  He  was  a  New  Man; 
he  had  no  images  to  show ;  he  knew  no  Greek,  and  was  unfit  to 
figure  at  the  banquets  of  the  great ;  he  did  not  esteem  a  stage- . 
player  or  a  cook  better  men  than  an  honest  yeoman  :  but  he 
had  images  of  his  own, — spears,  trappings,  standards,  prizes  woa 
by  valour,  and  scars  upon  his  breast." 

*  "  Praeposteri  homines."     Sallust,  Bell.  Jug.  86. 


Chap.  LIV.  /UGHRTHA.  553 

He  did  not,  nowever,  confine  himself  to  words.  Though  he 
had  spoken  of  only  needing  half  the  army  of  Metellus,  he  made 
levies  on  a  large  scale ;  and  here  he  introduced  an  innovation 
which  demands  special  notice.  In  early  times  military  service 
was  confined  to  those  citizens  who  had  a  considerable  stake  in 
the  country.  Only  those  who  were  worth  4000  pounds  of  copper 
were  allowed  to  enlist.  After  the  Punic  War  the  area  of  service 
had  been  extended  by  Flamininus.  Marius  now  enlisted  eveii 
those  who  were  entered  on  the  Censor's  register  as  possessing  no 
appreciable  amount  of  property.*  Marius  shipped  the  infantry 
which  he  had  levied  at  once  for  Africa,  leaving  his  Quaestor,  L. 
Cornelius  Sylla,t  to  follow  with  the  cavalry. 

§  19.  Metellus  shed  tears  of  vexation  when  he  heard  that  he 
was  to  lose  the  prize  ;  and  not  choosing  to  undergo  the  humilia- 
tion of  surrendering  his  command  to  his  late  lieutenant,  he  took 
ship  for  Rome.  Here  he  was  well  received.  It  could  not  be 
concealed  that  Jugurtha  was  a  fugitive,  discrowned  and  landless, 
and  that  the  war  was  virtually  ended.  Metellus  without  arro- 
gance assumed  the  title  of  Numidicus.  Sallust,  a  bitter  enemy 
to  the  aristocracy,  allows  that  he  was  regarded  with  equal  favour 
both  by  Senate  and  People. 

§  20.  On  the  approach  of  Marius,  Bocchus  retired  into  his  own 
country.  The  chief  difficulty  now  remaining  was  to  get  posses- 
sion of  the  person  of  Jugurtha.  Marius  was  no  adept  in  diplo- 
matic arts-  and  probably  would  have  begun  a  war  with  the  Mauri- 
tanians.  But  he  had  with  him  one  who  was  second  to  none  in 
these  arts. 

L.  Cornelius  Sylla  had  just  arrived  with  the  cavalry.  This 
person  was  now  thirty-one  years  old,  twenty  years  younger  than 
the  general.  His  family,  though  a  branch  of  the  great  Cornelian 
Gens,  had  remained  without  honours  since  the  days  of  P.  Rufinus, 
who  had  been  ejected  from  the  Senate  by  the  stern  Curius  Den- 
tatus  for  possessing  more  than  ten  ounces  of  silver  plate.  Sylla 
had  inherited  little  from  his  father,  and  was  reduced  to  take  a 
mean  lodging  in  the  same  house  with  a  poor  freedman,  who 
in  his  greatness  reminded  him  of  the  fact.  He  made  himself 
master  of  the  Greek  literature  of  the  day,  and  in  early  years 
imbibed  a  taste  for  dramatic  art.  His  habits  were  dissolute,  as 
his  appearance  testified.  His  complexion,  naturally  fair,  became 
pallid  and  blotched ;  but  his  bright  blue  eyes  showed  the 
vigorous  spirit  within.  When  he  rode  into  the  camp  of  Marius 
he  had  seen  no  active  service,  and  the  stern  Consul  looked  with 

•  The  Capite  Censi.  f  More  correctly  written  SuUa,  But  we  retail* 
fch©  form  sanctioned  by  long  usage. 

24 


554  CIVIL  WARS:    FIRST   PERIOD.  Book  Y I. 

contempt  on  the  effeminate  debauchee  whom  lot  had  assigned 
him  as  a  Quaestor.  But  with  happy  versatility  Sylla  adapted 
himself  to  the  rough  manners  of  the  general,  and  entered  with 
ready  zest  into  the  joviality  of  the  soldiery.  His  aptitude  for 
business  was  such,  that  before  the  end  of  the  campaign  he  was 
the  chief  adviser  of  Marius. 

§  21.  As  the  army  was  retiring  to  winter  at  Cirta  it  was  sud- 
denly assaulted  by  Bocchus  and  his  Moors.  The  enemy  were 
beaten  off,  but  by  a  rapid  side  march  they  reached  Cirta  before 
Marius.  A  severe  conflict  followed,  in  which  the  Moors  were  at 
length  defeated  with  horrible  carnage.  Bocchus  now  began  to 
fear  that  the  next  spring  might  witness  an  invasion  of  his  own 
country,  and  the  winter  passed  in  negotiation.  Sylla  was  sent 
to  the  Moorish  capital,  but  even  his  dexterity  was  baflfled  by 
the  arts  of  Jugurtha,  and  he  returned  without  result.  In  a 
short  time,  however,  Bocchus  repented,  and  requested  that  Sylla 
might  be  sent  back  again.  But  the  monarch  still  hesitated. 
After  a  long  delay,  Bocchus  sent  for  Sylla  privately  by  night, 
and  proposed  to  banish  Jugurtha  from  his  kingdom.  Sylla 
replied  that  he  was  obliged  to  insist  upon  the  surrender  of  Ju- 
gurtha's  '  person.  Bocchus  still  hesitated.  It  is  said  that  he ' 
doubted  whether  he  should  give  up  Jugurtha  to  Sylla,  or  Sylla 
to  Jugurtha.  But  the  address  of  the  Roman  envoy  prevailed, 
and  he  did  not  depart  from  the  King's  presence  till  he  had  re- 
ceived promises  of  all  that  he  asked. 

Next  morning,  however,  the  doubts  of  Bocchus  returned.  For 
several  days  he  held  secret  interviews  alternately  with  Sylla  and 
with  the  envoy  of  Jugurtha,  giving  both  of  them  to  understand 
that  he  was  on  their  side.  But  it  was  necessary  for  the  wavering 
monarch  to  choose  his  part,  and  fear  of  Rome  prevailed.  He 
bade  Jugurtha  appear  at  a  specified  time  and  place  ;  and  the 
Prince  came,  expecting  to  triumph.  But  his  retinue  was  sur- 
rounded and  cut  down,  his  own  person  secured,  and  given  over 
to  the  Roman  envoy.  Sylla,  relieved  from  the  painful  anxiety 
of  many  days,  returned  triumphantly  to  Marius. 

Sylla  was  not  of  a  temper  to  waive  any  claims  of  his  own  in 
favour  of  his  general.  He  openly  asserted  that  he  was  the  real 
conqueror  of  Jugurtha,  and  had  a  signet-ring  cut  bearing  a  repre- 
sentation of  the  surrender  of  Jugurtha.  The  friends  of  Metellus 
encouraged  this  claim  ;  but  the  soldiery  and  the  people  regarded 
Marius  as  the  conqueror,  and  none  could  deny  that  he  was  the 
greatest  general  of  the  day. 

§  22.  It  was  on  the  Calends  of  January  104  b.c.  that  Marius 
entered  Rome  in  triumphal  procession,  and  passed  before  the 
gazing  crowd  to  deposite  in  the  Capitol  the  large  booty  which  he 


Chap.  LIY.  JUGURTHA.  555 

had  taken.  On  the  same  day  he  entered  upon  his  second  Con- 
sulate. His  reelection  was  against  the  law,  both  because  he  was 
absent  at  the  time  of  his  election,  and  because  less  than  two  years 
had  passed  since  the  termination  of  his  first  Consulship.  The 
circumstances  which  justified  this  double  suspension  of  the  law 
will  be  given  in  the  next  chapter. 

§  23.  Jugurtha  was  treated  in  a  manner  that  excites  compas- 
sion for  one  who  little  deserves  such  feelings.  When  he  walked 
before  the  triumphal  car  of  'Marius  he  seemed  sunk  in  stupor, 
from  which  he  was  roused  by  the  brutal  mob  tearing  off  his 
clothes,  and  plucking  the  gold  rings  by  force  out  of  his  ears.  He 
was  then  thrust  naked  into  the  state-dungeon  at  the  foot  of  the 
Capitoline.  "  Hercules,"  he  cried,  "  what  a  cold  bath  this  is !" 
Here  he  was  left  to  starve  for  six  days,  when  death  came  to  his 
relief.  His  kingdom  was  given  to  a  rival  prince  of  the  line  of 
Masinissa. 


Caius  Marius. 


CHAPTER  LV. 


THE  CIMBRIANS  AND  TEUTONS  (105 101   B.C.)  I    SECOND  SLAVE- 
WAR   IN   ITALY  (103 101   B.C.). 

§  1.  First  appearance  of  the  Cimbrians  and  Teutons.  §  2.  Defeat  of  three 
Roman  armies.  §  3.  Great  defeat  of  Mallius  and  Csepio  on  the  Rhone : 
Cimbrians  push  onward  into  Spain.  §  4.  Marius  appointed  to  the  com- 
mand :  his  stern  discipline.  §  6,  Third  and  fourth  Consulships  of  Marius: 
Catulus  his  colleague  in  the  last.  §  6.  Return  of  the  Cimbrians  from  Spain : 
the  Teutons  also  appear  in  Gaul,  but  turn  eastward  towards  Switzerland. 
§  7.  Marius  on  the  Rhone :  first  battle  of  Aix.  §  8.  Second  battle :  anni- 
hilation of  the  Teutons.  §  9.  Fith  Consulship  of  Marius.  §  10.  Catu- 
lus Proconsul :  driven  back  from  the  Adige  by  the  Teutons.  §  11. 
Catulus  joined  by  Marius  :  they  meet  the  Teutons  near  Vercellae.  §  12. 
Battle  of  'Vercellae :  annihilation  of  the  Teutons.  §  13.  Triumph  of  Marius 
and  Catulus.  §  14.  Second  Slave  "War  in  Sicily :  its  origin :  Salvius  in 
the  East.  §  15.  Athenio  in  the  East.  §  16.  Salvius  assume's  the  title  of 
King  and  the  name  of  Tryphon :  Athenio  submits.  §  1 7.  L.  LucuUus,  his 
little  success:  M'Aquillius  ends  the  war.  §18.  Strict  measures  to 
prevent  future  risings. 

§  1.  JuGURTHA  had  been  taken  prisoner  early  in  106  B.C.,  but 
Marius  remained  in  Africa  till  the  close  of  the  next  year.  In  the 
course  of  this  year  and  a  half  happened  the  events  which  justi- 
fied the  election  of  Marius  to  his  second  Consulship. 

It  has  been  noticed  in  the  preceding  chapter  that  Roman 
conquest  on  the  Rlione  had  been  checked  by  the  irruption  of 
barbarians  from  the  North.     It  was  a  few  years  before  the  out- 


Chap.  LV.  THE   CIMBRIANS   AND   TEUTONS.  557 

break  of  the  Jugurthan  war  that  vast  hordes  from  the  North 
of  Europe,  impelled  probably  by  want,  appeared  on  the  north- 
eastern frontier  of  Gaul.  The  chief  names  by  which  these  bar- 
barians were  known  were  those  of  Cimbrians  and  Teutons.  It 
cannot  be  ascertained  who  or  what  they  were.  Probably  the 
Teutons  were  an  association  of  German  tribes  under  one  common 
name.  The  Cimbrians  must  have  been  of  Celtic  origin,  though 
with  much  Teutonic  admixture.  Their  numbers  were  large; 
the  fighting  men  are  said  to  have  numbered  300,000.  The  Cim- 
brians led  the  way ;  many  smaller  tribes  followed  or  joined  them, 
as  the  Ambrons  from'  Germany,  the  Tectosages  from  the  south- 
west of  Gaul,  the  Tigurines  from  the  north  and  west  of  Switzer- 
land. 

§  2.  It  was  in  the  year  113  B.C.  that  the  Romans  first  came  in 
contact  with  a  host  of  Cimbrians  on  the  northern  frontier  of 
Istria,  and  suff'ered  a  great  defeat.  But  the  main  body  pressed 
westward  and  crossed  the  Rhine  at  the  crisis  when  war  was 
declared  against  Jugurtha  (111  b.c).  At  that  time  they  con- 
tented themselves  with  ravaging  Gaul.  Two  years  later  they 
appeared  on  the  frontier  of  the  Transalpine  Province,  and  de- 
manded a  gift  of  land.  The  Consul  Silanus,  colleague  of  Metellus, 
replied  by  giving  them  battle ;  but  he  also  was  defeated.  In 
107  B.C.  the  Tigurines  pressed  down  the  Rhone  from  their  Swiss 
valleys,  and  were  met  by  the  Consul  L.  Cassius  Longinus,  col- 
league of  Marius.  The  Helvetian  Tribe  shunned  the  conflict; 
but  Cassius  pursued  them,  and  as  he  was  incautiously  advancing, 
he  fell  into  an  ambuscade.  Great  part  of  his  army  was  slain, 
himself  among  the  number;  the  rest  were  made  to  pass  under 
the  yoke. 

§  3.  While  Marius  was  still  detained  in  Africa  after  the  cap- 
ture of  Jugurtha,  still  worse  tidings  reached  Rome.  The  suc- 
cessive defeats  just  noticed  had  thoroughly  alarmed  the  Senate, 
and  large  levies  had  been  made  for  the  year  105  b.c.  Q.  Ser- 
vilius  Caepio,  the  Consul  of  that  year,  had  held  command  on  the 
lihone,  and  gained  an  evil  reputation  by  the  sack  of  Tolosa  (Tou- 
louse), the  chief  city  of  the  Tectosages,  which  he  had  assailed 
without  provocation.  So  great  was  the  plunder  he  took,  that 
"Toulouse  gold"  became  a  proverbial  expression  for  ill-gotten 
/-gains.  He  was,  however,  high  in  the  favour  of  the  Senate,  and 
jhe  was  continued  in  command  as  Proconsul ;  but  the  chief  com- 
mand (in  104  B.C.)  fell  to  the  new  Consul,  Cn.  Mallius,  a  man 
only  distinguished  for  his  want  of  capacity.  "When  he  arrived 
in  the  Province,  Csepio  scornfully  refused  to  join  him,  till  he 
crossed  the  Rhone,  and  was  threatened  by  the  barbarians.  On 
hearing  of  the  danger  of  the  Consul,  Csepio  also  crossed  the 


558  CIVIL   WARS:   FIRST   PERIOD.  Book  VI. 

river,  but  still  endeavoured  to  maintain  a  separate  command. 
During  these  bickerings  the  armies  of  Mallius  and  Csepio  were 
surprised  and  utterly  destroyed ;  they  lost  no  fewer  than  80,000 
soldiers  and  40,000  camp-followers.  This  bloody  defeat,  the 
most  serious  that  Rome  had  sustained  since  the  day  of  Cannae, 
took  place  on  the  6th  of  October,  which  was  marked  as  a  black 
day  in  the  calendar. 

§  4.  After  this  great  victory,  the  barbarians,  instead  of  pouring 
at  once  into  Italy,  turned  southwards,  and — a  great  portion  of 
them  at  least — passed  over  the  Pyrenees  into  Spain.  Thus  Italy 
was  relieved  from  immediate  fear ;  and  Marius,  now  Consul  for 
the  second  time,  put  forth  all  his  energy  in  organising  a  fresh 
army.  The  greater  part  of  his  troops  must  have  been  fur- 
nished by  the  lowest  class  of  citizens,  and  the  disorderly  re- 
cruits murmured  at  the  requirements  of  the  Consul.  His 
sternness  repelled  them,  his  arbitrary  habits  offended,  and  those 
who  submitted  patiently  were  called  "the  mules  of  Marius." 
Sylla,  who,  notwithstanding  the  jealousy  of  the  General,  had 
taken  service  under  him  as  Legate,  was  of  use  in  smoothing 
difficulties.  The  murmurs  soon  abated,  and  the  nickname  became 
a  name  of  honour.  The  confidence  felt  by  the  old  soldiers  in  the 
General  extended  itself  to  the  new  levies.  It  was  found  that,  if 
he  was  inflexibly  severe,  he  was  no  less  inflexibly  just, — the 
highest  and  the  lowest  received  the  same  measure.  His  own 
nephew  ofl"ered  a  brutal  insult  to  a  young  soldier  named  Tre- 
bonius,  who  resented  it  by  slaying  his  officer  on  the  spot. 
Marius  brought  the  youth  to  trial ;  but  when  he  heard  his  story 
proved  by  evidence,  he  not  only  directed  an  acquittal,  but  placed 
a  crown  upon  the  youth's  head  as  a  reward  for  his  Roman  virtue. 

§  5.  For  the  next  year  Marius  was  elected  Consul  for  the  third 
time,  and  in  the  following  year  for  the  fourth  time.  His  col- 
league was  now  Q.  Lutatius  Catulus,  one  of  the  most  distinguished 
members  of  the  aristocracy,  who  had  hitherto  been  an  unsuc- 
cessfal  candidate  for  the  Consulship.  In  the  three  foregoing 
years  he  had  been  defeated  by  persons  unworthy  to  be  put  in 
comparison  with  Catulus,  whose  character  stood  so  high  that  it 
was  usual  to  quote  his  mere  word  as  sufficient  authority  for  a 
fact :  "  It  must  be  so,  for  Q.  Lutatius  has  said  it."*  In  personal 
integrity  Marius  was  his  equal,  but  in  other  respects  they  formed, 
a  marked  contrast.  Marius  rough  and  stern,  without  education, 
scorning  accomplishments,  but  the  best  general  of  the  day; 
Catulus,  polished  in  manner,  well-informed  and  witty,  the  most 
finished  orator  of  his  time,f  but  untried  in  war. 

*  "  Hoc  verum  est ;  dixit  enim  Q.  Lutatius." — Cicero  de  Oratore,  ii.  40. 
f  "  Oratio  ejus  pura  sic  ut  Latine  loqui  paene  solus  videretur.'' — Ibid  iii.  3. 


Chap.lv.  the   CIMBRIANS  AND  TEUTONS.  559 

§  6.  Soon  after  the  election  news  arrived  that  the  dreaded  hour 
was  really  at  hand :  the  Cimbrians  had  been  repulsed  by  the 
Celtiberians,  and  had  recrossed  the  Pyrenees.  The  Teutons, 
whose  name  now  first  appears  in  the  narrative,  had  by  this 
time  entered  Gaul  from  the  north-east,  and  the  combined 
hordes  were  gathering  on  the  frontier  of  the  Gallic  Province. 
Marius  left  Rome  in  haste  and  crossed  the  Alps ;  the  remainder 
of  the  year  he  spent  in  fortifying  a  strong  camp  on  the  right 
bank  of  the  Rhone,  somewhere  between  Nismes  and  Aries.  To 
secure  ready  access  to  the  sea,  he  employed  his  men  in  cutting  a 
canal  from  the  rear  of  his  camp  to  the  coast,  which  long  remained 
open,  and  was  known  as  the  Foss  of  Marius. 

It  was  soon  found  that  the  barbarian  hordes  had  again  sepa- 
rated. The  Teutons,  with  the  Ambrons,  remained  in  Gaul  to 
attack  the  Roman  Province  and  enter  Italy  by  the  Maritime 
Alps,  while  the  Cimbrians  passed  up  the  Rhone  and  made  a  long 
circuit  so  as  to  threaten  Italy  from  the  n©rth.  Marius  remained 
in  Gaul  to  arrest  the  Teutons ;  Catulus,  with  a  second  Consular 
army,  was  ordered  to  the  plains  of  Lombardy,  there  to  await  the 
Cimbrians. 

Marius  was  exposed  to  the  first  assault.  Early  in  the  year 
102  B.C.  the  plain  in  front  of  his  camp  was  covered  by  Teutons, 
who  challenged  him  with  hideous  cries  to  come  forth ;  and  his 
men  indignantly  asked  whether  their  only  task  was  to  be  that  of 
digging  and  delving  like  slaves.  But  Marius  turned  a  deaf  ear 
both  to  the  provocations  of  the  barbarians  and  the  murmurs  of 
his  own  troops.  "  We  have  to  fight,"  he  said,  "  not  for  trophies 
but  for  existence ;  we  will  not  give  battle  till  victory  is  secure." 
This  backwardness  was  in  part  due  to  a  superstitious  regard 
for  divination.  As  Wallenstein  consulted  the  stars  through  his 
astrologer,  so  the  grim  Roman  carried  about  with  him  a  Syrian 
woman  named  Martha,  in  whose  predictions  he  placed  unbounded 
confidence. 

§  7.  The  Teutons,  finding  their  challenges  vain,  attempted  to 
storm  the  Roman  camp,  but  were  driven  off  with  great  loss.  On 
this,  they  marched  eastward  past  the  lines.  For  six  days  the 
barbarians  were  defiling  before  the  eyes  of  the  Italian  soldiery, 
scoffingly  asking  whether  they  could  not  carry  some  message 
home  for  them  to  their  wives.  As  soon  as  their  vast  host  had 
crossed  the  Rhone,  Marius  followed  them  leisurely  along  the 
Aurelian  road,  till  he  came  up  with  the  Ambrons  near  Aquae 
Sextiae.  While  the  soldiers  set  to  work  to  entrench  the  camp, 
the  camp-followers  went  down  with  the  beasts  to  seek  water, 
and  found  the  Ambrons  ^ere  luxuriantly  bathing  in  the  hot 
"Springs  which  gave  name  to  the  place.     As  soon  as  they  saw 


660  CIVIL  WARS:    FIRST   PERIOD.  Book  VL 

the  Romans  they  seized  their  arms,  shouting  the  name  of  their 
own  tribe  as  a  war-cry.  There  was  in  the  Roman  advanced 
guard  a  Ligurian  Tribe  bearfng  a  similar  name,  who  returned  the 
cry,  and  rushed  into  the  stream.  Marius,  unable  to  restrain 
them,  drew  out  the  remainder  of  his  army,  and  the  conflict 
became  general.  After  a  severe  struggle  the  Ambrons  were 
driven  back  to  their  camp,  where  their  women  came  out  and  fell 
upon  fugitives  and  Romans  alike  with  indiscriminate  violence. 
Darkness  stopped  the  battle,  and  the  Romans  drew  back  to  their 
unfortified  camp,  where  they  passed  the  night  under  arms,  listen- 
ing to  the  wild  and  uncouth  wailings  with  which  the  Ambrons 
lamented  their  dead.  No  attempt  was  made  to  renew  the  battle 
the  next  day,  but  Marius  silently  prepared  for  a  decisive  action 
on  the  morrow. 

§  8.  The  Teutons  had  in  the  mean  time  returned  to  support 
their  comrades ;  and  when  the  sun  rose,  the  whole  mass  of  the 
barbarians  stood  upon  -the  plain  in  front  of  the  eminence  where 
the  Romans  lay  encamped.  During  the  night  Marius  had  sent 
3000  men,  to  form  an  ambush  in  the  rear  of  the  enemy ;  and 
having  drawn  out  his  legions  on  the  sloping  ground  before  his 
camp,  he  there  awaited  the  attack.  The  barbarians  charged 
up  the  slope  with  furious  cries.  The  Romans  awaited  their 
assault  steadily,  till  they  were  within  spear's  throw ;  and  then, 
having  discharged  their  heavy  javelins  with  terrible  effect,  they 
drew  their  swords  and  fell  upon  the  broken  ranks  of  the  enemy. 
The  barbarians  were  driven  back  across  the  plain,  and  at  the 
moment  when  they  were  attempting  to  rally,  Marcellus,  issuing 
from  the  wood,  fell  upon  their  rear.  A  dreadful  massacre  fol- 
lowed. So  numerous  were  the  slain,  that  in  after-years  the 
people  of  Marseilles  used  the  bones  to  make  fences  for  their 
vineyards,  and  the  whole  plain  was  fertilised  by  putrescent 
bodies.  The  Teutonic  host  was  annihilated ,  and,  on  the  western 
side,  Italy  was  saved  by  the  battle  of  Aix. 

§  9.  Teubocchus,  the  gigantic  Chieftain  of  the  Teutons,  accus- 
tomed (as  tales  ran)  to  ride  four  or  six  horses  at  once,  was 
reserved  to  grace  the  Triumph.  The  broken  arms  and  equipages 
were  piled  in  a  huge  heap,  and  Marius  himself,  waving  a  chaplet 
and  with  his  gown  girded  after  the  Gabine  fashion,  was  advancing 
to  fire  it,  when  some  horsemen  were  seen  galloping  along  the 
Toad  from  Italy.  He  paused :  leaping  from  their  horses,  they 
saluted  him  as  Consul  for  the  fifth  time. 

§  10.  During  the  whole  year  the  Cimbrians  had  not  made  their 
appearance,  but  towards  the  close  of  the  season  it  was  ascertained 
that  they  had  reached  the  Tyrol,  and  might  be  expected  to  de- 
scend into  Italy  next  spring  by  the  valley  of  the  Athesis  (Adige). 


Chap.  LV.  THE   CIMBRIANS   AND   TEUTONS.  561 

Catulus,  who  remained  in  command  for  a  second  year  as  Pro- 
consul, concentrated  his  forces  on  that  river.  His  camp,  strongly 
fortified,  was  on  the  right  or  western  bank ;  a  bridge  was  thrown 
across  the  stream,  defended  by  a  similar  camp  or  tete-du-pont. 

The  barbarians  did  not  wait  for  the  melting  of  the  snows. 
Early  in  the  next  year  (101  b.c.)  they  poured  down  the  Pass  of  the 
Brenner,  sliding  exultingly  down  the  frozen  slopes  upon  their 
shields.  Keeping  the  left  bank  of  the  Adige,  they  made  their 
way  to  the  point  where  Catulus  was  stationed.  The  Roman 
soldiers,  unaccustomed  to  the  aspect  of  the  barbarians,  could 
not  be  prevented  from  deserting  the  camp  in  precipitate  flight. 
Happily,  the  division  which  was  stationed  on  the  left  bank  de- 
fended their  post  gallantly  and  prevented  the  Cimbrians  from 
crossing  the  bridge  in  pursuit. 

§  11.  Marius  had  returned  to  Rome  at  the  close  of  the  previous 
campaign,  where  he  was  received  as  became  the  Conqueror  of 
the  Teutons,  but  generously  declined  the  honour  of  a  Triumph, 
till  he  could  share  it  with  Catulus.  As  soon  as  he  heard  of  the 
descent  of  the  Cimbrians,  he  set  off  for  the  Proconsul's  camp, 
having  previously  ordered  his  lieutenants  to  bring  his  victorious 
army  from  Gaul  into  Italy.  Catulus  had  succeeded  in  rallying 
his  troops,  and  was  posted  on  the  south  bank  of  the  Po,  probably 
near  Placentia.  The  army  which  Marius  brought  to  his  aid 
amounted  to  more  than  30,000  men ;  that  of  Catulus  was  reduced 
to  little  more  than  20,000.  The  energy  of  Sylla  had  provided 
well  for  supplies  of  provisions  and  forage,  and  Marius  was  obliged 
to  own  himself  indebted  to  an  officer  who  had  unceasingly  pro- 
voked his  jealousy. 

Between  the  two  Commanders  the  best  feeling  subsisted.  The 
Cimbrians  had  pushed  westward  in  the  hope  of  meeting  their 
friends  the  Teutons,  of  whose  destruction  they  had  not  heard. 
Marius  and  Catulus,  crossing  the  Po  above  the  Ticinus,  oftered 
battle.  The  Cimbrians  answered  by  sending  envoys  to  demand 
that,  when  their  brethren  reached  Italy,  the  Romans  should  give 
them  lands.  "  Your  brethren,"  replied  Marius,  "  have  already 
as  much  land  as  they  are  like  to  need ;"  and  he  sent  back  some 
Teuton  prisoners,  who  suflSciently  explained  the  meaning  of  his 
words.  Boiorix,  the  Cimbrian  Chief,  nothing  daunted,  rode  up 
to  the  Roman  lines,  and  challenged  the  Generals  to  fix  the  day 
and  place  for  a  pitched  battle.  "  The  Romans,"  retorted  Marius, 
"  are  not  wont  to  consult  the  enemy  on  such  points.  However, 
we  will  humour  you.  Let  the  day  be  the  third  day  hence ;  the 
place  the  plain  of  Vercellae." 

§  12.  Here  the  battle  was  fought.     Catulus   commanded  the 
centre ;  the  troops  of  the  Consul  Marius^  in  two  divisions,  flanked 
24* 


562  CIVIL   WARS:    FIRST   PERIOD.  Book  VI 

him  on  the  right  and  left.     The  Cimbrian  host  advanced  in  one 
dense  column,  their  front  ranks  being  linked  together  by  chains 
passed  through   their  belts.     This  great  phalanx  was  supported 
by  15,000  horsemen,  armed  like  Germans,  with  helmets  made  of 
the  heads  of  wild  beasts,  surmounted  by  tall  plumes.     The  com- 
bat took  place  on  the  30th  day  of  July ;  and  the  intense  heat,  to- 
gether with  the  dust,  impaired  the  vigour  of  these  northern  men. 
The  compact  ranks  of  the  enemy,  broken  by  the  fire  of  the  terrible 
pila,  and  charged  by  the  whole  Roman  line,  were  driven  back  to 
their  camp  in  disorder,  and  there  received  by  their  own  wives  as 
if  they  had  been  enemies.     A  scene  of  frightful  carnage  followed. 
The  women  alone,  from  the   high   waggons  which  formed   the 
defence  of  the  camp,  continued  to  resist ;  till,  not  choosing  to 
become  slaves,  they  strangled,  their  children,  and  sought  a  volun- 
tary death   either  by  the  hands  of  friends  or  by  nooses  twisted 
of  their  own  hair.     The    annihilation  of  the  Cimbrian  host  at 
Yercellse  was  as  complete  as  that  of  the  Teutons  at  Aquae  Sextia?. 
§  13.  Both  Marius  and  Catulus  had  done  their  duty  in  this 
bloody  conflict.     Plutarch,  indeed,  attributes  the  victory  wholly 
to  Catulus.     But  the  accounts  of  Plutarch  are   borrowed   from 
the   annals  of  Sylla,  a  suspicious   authority   for   estimating   the 
merits  of  Marius.     At   Rome,   all   the   credit  of  the    Cimbrian, 
as  well  as  of  the  Teutonic,  victory  was  given  to  Marius.     He  was 
saluted,  with  Romulus  and  Camillus,  as  the  third  Founder  of 
Rome.     The  people  loudly  expressed  their  w^ish  that  he  should 
triumph  alone.     But   Marius,  respecting  the  feelings  of  the  sol- 
diers, and  not  devoid  of  a  rough  generosity,   declared  that  his 
noble  colleague  must  share  the  honour.     The  opinion  of  the  day 
was  ratified  by  posterity.     Cicero  speaks  of  the  Triumph  as  due 
to  Marius  ;*  and  Juvenal  in  a  well-known  line  sums  up  the  tra- 
ditional faith   of  a  later   generation.!     There   can  be  no  doubt 
that  Marius  well  deserved  all  his  honours.     By  these  great  vic- 
tories he  rolled  back  the  tide  of  Northern  immigration  for  at  least 
three  centuries.     The  battles  of  Aix  and  Vercella)  may  be  ranked 
in  the  number  of.  those  which  changed  the  course  of  the  World's 
History. 

§  14.  While  the  arms  of  the  Republic  were  thus  triumphant 
in  averting  external  peril,  the  fertile  Province  of  Sicily  was  again 
a  prey  to  the  desolating  horrors  of  a  Slave  War. 

*  "  Utrum  tandem  beatior.  C.  Marius  turn,  quum  Cimbrinae  victoriae 
gloriam  eum  collega  Catulo  communicavit, — paene  altero  Lselio,  an  ,  .  ,  etc." 
— Tusicul.  Qucest.  v.  19.  The  comparison  of  Catulus  with  Laelius  implies 
that  of  Marius  with  Scipio. 

f  "  Nobilis  ornatur  lauro  Collega  secundd." — Sat.  viii.  253- 


Chap.  LV.  THE   CIMBRIANS  AND   TEUTONS.  563 

After  the  former  war  had  been  happily  concluded  by  Piso  and 
Rupilius,  several  indications  of  similar  troubles  appeared  in 
Italy  itself.  At  Capua,  a  spendthrift  Knight  armed  4000  slaves 
and  assumed  the  diadem.  But  by  prompt  measures  the  insur- 
rection was  put  down. 

The  rising  in  Sicily  might  have  been  checked  with  no  less  ease. 
It  originated  thus.  Marius  had  been  commissioned  by  the  Senate 
to  raise  troops  in  foreign  countries  to  meet  the  difficulties  of  tie 
Cimbrian  war.  He  applied  to  the  King  of  Bithynia,  amorg 
otlier  persons ;  but  the  King  answered  that  he  had  no  soldiers, 
the  Roman  Tax-gatherers  had  made  slaves  of  them  all.  The 
Senate,  glad  to  have  an  opportunity  of  censuring  the  Equites, 
passed  a  Decree  that  all  persons  unduly  detained  in  slavery 
should  be  set  free.  In  Sicily  the  number  of  such  persons  was  so 
large  that  the  Praetor  suspended  the  execution  of  the  Decree. 
Great  disappointment  followed.  A  body  of  slaves  rose  in  insur- 
rection near  Agrigentum,  and  beat  off  the  Praetor.  Their  num- 
bers swelled  to  20,000,  and  they  chose  one  Salvius,  a  soothsayer, 
to  be  their  king.  This  man  showed  himself  fit  to  command, 
lie  divided  his  followers  into  three  bodies,  regularly  officered. 
He  enforced  strict  discipline.  To  restrain  his  men  from  wine 
and  debauchery,  he  kept  them  in  the  field.  He  contrived  to 
provide  2000  with  horses.  When  his  men  seemed  sufficiently 
trained,  he  laid  siege  to  the  city  of  Murgantia.  But  the  slave- 
masters  of  Murgantia  offered  freedom  to  all  slaves  who  would 
remain  faithful,  and  Salvius  saw  himself  compelled  to  retire. 
The  promise,  however,  was  not  kept,  and  numbers  of  the 
deceived  men  flocked  to  the  insurgent  camp. 

§  15.  This  success  in  the  East  of  Sicily  gave  birth  to  a  similar 
risiBg  in  the  West,  which  was  headed  by  a  Cilician  slave  named 
Athenio,  who  pretended  to  read  the  future  in  the  stars.  He 
soon  found  himself  at  the  head  of  10,000  soldiers,  well  found 
with  arms  and  provisions.  He  gave  out  that  the  stars  declared 
his  sovereignty :  he  therefore  forbade  all  robbery ;  for,  said  he, 
"  the  property  of  our  masters  is  now  ours."  He  now  rashly  laid 
siege  to  the  impregnable  fortress  of  Lilybseum  ;  but  finding  its 
capture  impossible,  he  drew  off,  alleging  that  an  impending 
danger  had  been  revealed  to  him. 

§  16.  Meanwhile  Salvius,  who  had  assumed  the  name  of  Try- 
phon,  fixed  the  seat  of  his  sovereignty  at  the  fortress  of  Thon 
cala,  which  had  fallen  into  his  hands,  and  sent  orders  to  Athenio 
to  repair  in  person  to  that  place.  Athenio  obeyed  the  orders 
of  King  Try  phon,  and  appeared  at  Triocala  with  3000  men.  The 
King  now  occupied  himself  with  adding  to  the  strength  of  his 
new  capital.     He  chose  a  Senate  out  of  his  followers.     On  public 


564  CIYIL   WARS:   FIRST  PERIOD.  Book  VL 

occasions  he  wore  the  Toga  Praetexta  of  a  Roman  Magistrate, 
and  was  attended  by  the  due  number  of  Lictors. 

§  17.  The  Romans  seemed  unable  to  make  head  against  the 
insurgents,  till,  in  101  B.C.,  M' Aquillius,  the  colleague  of  Marius 
in  his  fifth  Consulship,  took  the  command.  Meanwhile,  Try- 
phon  had  died,  and  Athenio  had  become  chief  of  the  insur- 
gents. Aquillius  brought  them  to  an  engagement,  in  which 
'he  encountered  the  brave  Athenio  hand  to  hand.  The  Consul 
was  severely  wounded,  but  the  slave  leader  was  killed.  Aquillius 
remained  as  Proconsul  in  Sicily  for  another  year,  in  the  course 
of  which  time  he  crushed  the  last  embers  of  the  war.  After 
the  fall  of  Athenio,  the  insurgents  dwindled  away  to  a  band  of 
1000  desperate  men  commanded  by  one  Satyrus,  who  at  length 
surrendered  to  Aquillius,  and  were  by  him  sent  to  Rome  to  serve 
as  gladiators.  The  story  of  their  end  is  very  touching.  Being 
brought  out  into  the  arena  to  fight  with  wild  beasts,  they  slew 
one  another  at  the  foot  of  the  altars  which  stood  there;  and 
Satyrus,  being  left  alone,  fell  upon  his  own  sword. 

It  is  manifest,  from  the  humanity  and  discipline  observed  by 
these  unhappy  men  in  their  power,  that  their  chiefs  must  have 
been  originally  men  of  station  and  education,  reduced  to  slavery 
by  the  horrid  practice  of  ancient  warfare.  The  story  of  their 
death  presents  a  picture  not  flattering  to  Roman  civilisation. 

§  18.  Strict  measures  were  adopted  in  Sicily  to  prevent  a 
recurrence  of  these  perils.  It  was  made  a  standing  order,  con- 
firmed by  every  successive  Praetor,  that  no  slave  should  have  a 
weapon  in  his  possession.  Nor  was  the  ordinance  suffered  to 
remain  a  dead  letter.  Soon  after,  the  Praetor  L.  Domitius  received 
a  fine  wild  boar  as  a  present.  He  inquired  who  had  killed  it.  Find- 
ing that  it  was  a  slave  employed  as  a  shepherd,  he  summoned  the 
man  to  his  presence.  The  poor  fellow  came  with  alacrity,  ex- 
pecting a  reward.  The  Praetor  asked  him  with  what  he  had  killed 
the  animal ;  and  finding  that  it  was  with  a  hunting-spear,  he 
ordered  the  unfortunate  wretch  to  be  crucified.  Such  were  the 
laws  by  which  the  masters  of  the  world  were  obliged  to  maintaiu 
their  power. 


CHAPTER  LVI. 

FROM    THE    SIXTH    CONSULSHIP    OF    MARIUS    TO    THE    DEATH    OF 
M.  LIVIUS    DRUSUS.       (lOO 91   B.C.) 

3  L  Seaurus  and  the  Senate  form  a  middle  party.  §  2.  Practice  of  young 
orators  to  indict  culprits  of  high  rank  :  condemnation  of  Q.  Caepio.  §  3. 
Caepio  had  oflfended  the  Equites.  §  4.  Eminent  men  in  the  moderate  party  : 
the  two  Scaevolas :  Crassus  and  Antonius,  the  Orators.  §  5.  Position 
of  Marius  :  inaptitude  for  political  arts.  §  6.  Election  of  Marius  to  a 
Sixth  Consulship,  Glaucia  to  the  Praetorship,  Saturninus  to  the  Tribunate. 
§  7.  Agrarian  Law  of  Saturninus :  oath  required  of  Senators.  §  8. 
Trick  of  Marius  :  banishment  of  Metellus.  §  9.  Extension  of  the  Corn- 
law  prevented  by  Cn.  Caepio.  §  10.  Glaucia  stands  for  the  Consulship: 
murder  of  Memmius  :  Saturninus  and  his  crew  outlawed :  their  end. 
§  11.  Decline  of  Marius'  power.  §  12.  Return  of  Metellus.  §  13. 
Visit  of  Marius  to  Mithridates.  §  14.  Praetorship  of  Sylla :  Sylla  sent 
to  Cilicia.  §  15.  Partial  verdicts  of  the  Equestrian  Juries:  cases  of 
Aquillius  and  Rutilius.  §  16.  Drusus  undertakes  to  deprive  the  Equites  of 
Judicial  power,  but  insists  on  enfranchising  Italians.  §  17.  Measures  of 
Drusus.  §  18.  His  judicial  Reform  ill  received.  §  19.  Attack  of  Phi- 
lippus  on  the  Enfranchisement  Bill :  death  of  Crassus.  §  20.  Assassination 
of  Drusus.     §  21.  Law  of  Varius :  impeachment  of  Seaurus. 

§  1.  The  power  of  the  Nobility,  shaken  to  its  centre  by  the 
Gracchi,  was  for  a  time  restored  by  force.  But  the  election  of 
Marius  to  the  Consulate  was  a  signal  triumph  of  the  popular 
paj^if'^mmSimmmgf^p^rchived  that  the  recklefes  corruption  of  the 
OligafteJi^LjaaLttftk  end  in  ruin,  and  he  put  himself  at  the  head  of 
the  moderate  party.     The  Senate  was  now  in  their  hands. 

§  2.  An  indirect  check  was  placed  upon  public  immorality,  by 
the  increasing  love  for  popular  oratory,  which  followed  the 
transference  of  judicial  authority  from  the  Senate  to  the  Eques- 
trian Order.  The  latter  were  venal  enough,  but  were  yet  more 
open  to  persuasion  than  the  old  Senatorial  juries,  and  afforded  a 
greater  scope  to  the  powers  of  youthful  orators.  The  examplo 
of  Cato  and  the  Gracchi  showed  how  men  might  rise  to  emi- 
nence by  peaceful  arts ;  and  men  even  of  noble  family  found  a 
ready  way  to  office  by  impeaching  public  officers.  Q.  Caepio 
suffered  in  this  way.  This  man,  as  we  have  seen,  was  gorged 
with  the  plunder  of  Toulouse,  and  by  his  quarrel  with  the 
Consul  Mallius  had  at  least  contributed  to  the  great  defeat  of 
105  B.C.*  On  the  news  of  the  defeat  being  received,  the  Tribes 
*  Chapt.  Iv.  §  3. 


566  CIVIL  WARS:    FIRST   PERIOD.  Book  V I. 

passed  a  vote  to  deprive  Csepio  of  his  proconsular  command, 
and  to  confiscate  all  his  goods, — a  proceeding  unexampled  in 
the  later  annals  of  the  Republic.  In  the  next  year,  the  Tri- 
bunes introduced  a  law  by  which  it  was  enacted  that  any  one 
who  had  been  so  deprived  of  his  command  should  lose  his  seat 
in  the  Senate. 

§  3.  The  attainder  of  Csepio  was  the  greatest  advantage  which 
we  know  to  have  been  gained  by  the  popular  party  at  this  time. 
It  was  not  solely  on  the  merits  of  the  case  that  he  was  so 
promptly  judged.  He  had,  in  the  year  before,  when  he  was 
Consul,  carried  a  Centuriate  Law — the  Servilian  Law  of  Csepio — 
by  which  the  judicial  authority  was  restored  to  the  Senate,  and 
had  thus  provoked  the  wrath  of  the  Equestrian  Order.  This 
law,  however,  did  not  remain  in  force  many  months.  It  was 
repealed  by  the  Servilian  Law  of  the  Tribune  C.  Glaucia,  in  the 
same  year  that  Csepio  was  condemned :  and  thus  one  Servilian 
law  for  restoring  judgment  to  the  Senate  was  cancelled  by 
another  Servilian  law  giving  it  back  to  the  Knights. 

§  4.  Of  the  moderate  party,  after  Scaurus,  none  are  more 
noticeable  than  Metellus  and  Catulus.  But  the  most  distin- 
guished for  purity  of  life  were  the  two  Scsevolas,  the  Augur  and 
the  Pontifex  Maximus.  Q.  Scsevola,  the  Augur,  belonged  to  a 
former  generation.  He  is  chiefly  known  for  his  great  legal 
knowledge,  in  which  he  was  the  worthy  successor  of  his  cousins, 
P.  Scsevola  and  P.  Crassus,  the  friends  of  Ti.  Gracchus.*  He 
married  Lselia,  the  daughter  of  Scipio's  friend.  In  a  corrupt  age 
he  escaped  all  taint  of  corruption. 

The  fame  of  Q.  Scsevola,  the  Augur,  was  sustained  by  his 
cousin,  Q.  Scsevola,  the  Chief  Pontiff.  He  was  the  son  of  that 
Scsevola  who  supported  Ti.  Gracchus,  and  was  the  third  of  his 
family  who  had  borne  the  high  office  of  Pontifex  Maximus  in 
succession.  Like  the  Augur,  he  preferred  the  quiet  profession 
of  a  jurist  to  the  exciting  conflicts  of  political  life.  But  when- 
ever he  appears  in  public,  he  adds  honour  to  the  name  of  his 
family.  He  ruled  Asia  with  singular  integrity  ;  and  we  shall 
have  to  notice  in  a  future  page  the  unjust  condemnation  of  his 
Legate,  P.  Rutilius  Rufus,  for  endeavouring  to  prevent  the  ex- 
tortions of  the  tax-collectors.  His  memory  was  long  preserved 
by  the  grateful  Asiatics  in  festal  games  known  by  the  name  of 
Mucia.  The  disinterested  character  of  the  Pontiff  is  shown  by 
an  anecdote  preserved  by  Cicero.  He  had  bought  an  estate 
under  its  due  value ;  and  though  that  value  had  been  fixed  by 
the   vendor,  the    conscientious   purchaser   insisted    on   paying  a 

*  P.  Sosevola,  Cons.  115  B.C.,  and  Q.  Scsevola,  Cons.  174,  were  brothers. 


Chap.  LVL  THE  LEADERS   OF  THE   SENATE.  567 

larger  price, — an  act  which  the  jurists  of  the  day  considered  to 
be  incompatible  with  wisdom.* 

Here  also  may  be  noticed  the  two  great  Advocates  of  the  day, 
M.  Antonius  and  L.  Licinius  Crassus,  each  known  by  the  name 
of  "  the  Orator."  At  Rome,  in  those  days,  a  great  Advocate 
could  hardly  avoid  taking  part  in  politics,  for  all  celebrated 
causes  were  of  a  political  nature.  At  Rome,  advocacy  was  not 
so  much  a  profession  as  a  duty  of  private  or  political  friendship. 
Both  Crassus  and  Antonius  generally  appear  as  the  defenders  of 
Senators  before  the  Equestrian  Tribunal,  and  therefore  seldom 
met  as  rivals  at  the  bar.  In  youth,  they  both  courted  popular 
favour :  but  they  soon  became  steady  adherents  of  the  Senatorial 
Order.  Crassus  married  Mucia,  daughter  of  Q.  Scaevola  the 
Augur,  and  was  the  close  friend  of  Q.  Scaevola  the  Pontiff.  One 
of  his  most  famous  speeches  was  delivered  in  favour  of  the, 
Servilian  law  of  Csepio  for  restoring  judicial  power  to  the 
Senators :  in  the  time  of  Cicero  it  was  regarded  as  a  classical 
composition :  "  it  could  not,"  remarks  the  critic,  "  be  improved 
except  by  Crassus  himself"  The  oratory  of  Crassus  was  often 
pointed  with  sarcasm,  which  made  him  enemies  even  in  the 
Senate  :  that  of  Antonius  was  more  natural  and  pathetic.  Cicero 
is  unable  to  adjudge  superiority  to  either.  He  introduces  the 
two  as  the  chief  interlocutors  in  his  celebrated  Dialogues  on 
the  Orator.  He  exhausts  the  Latin  language  in  expressing  his 
admiration  of  both.  Crassus  he  held  to  be  the  greatest  orator 
Rome  had  ever  seen  except  Antonius,  and  Antonius  the  greatest 
except  Crassus.  The  oratory  of  Antonius,  from  its  pathetic 
character,  was  more  fitted  for  a  Jury;  that  of  Crassus  for  a 
deliberative  Assembly.  In  their  high  finish  and  elaborate  pre- 
paration the  orations  of  Cicero  himself  may  be  taken  as  repre- 
sentations of  the  style  of  Crassus  rather  than  of  Antonius. 

But  these  men,  though  they  were  upright,  grave,  and  dignified, 
had  not  energy  enough  to  reform  the  abuses  revealed  by  the 
Gracchi ;  and  thus  the  stage  was  left  open  to  profligate  dema- 
gogues. The  removal  of  external  danger  by  the  defeat  of  the 
barbarians,  and  the  return  of  Marius  to  Rome,  gave  the  signal 
for  a  renewal  of  internal  troubles. 

§  5.  Marius  was  now  the  great  man  of  the  day.  All  parties 
were  disposed  to  welcome  him.  He  had  conciliated  the  Senate 
by  his  bearing  towards  Catulus :  his  military  glory  dazzled  the 
multitude ;  the  saving  of  Italy  won  him  the  regards  of  all.  The 
blunt  manners  of  the  man  gave  no  off'ence,  nay,  rather  increased 
his  popularity  with  the  multitude.     He  had  become  rich ;  but  to 

*  Cicero  de  OfHc  iii.  15. 


568  CIVIL  WARS :    FIRST   PERIOD.  Book  VI 

gain  wealth  he  had  used  no  means  that  were  reprobated  by  the 
usages  of  Roman  society ;  his  character  for  integrity  stood  high. 
Yet  his  own  nature  and  long  habits  of  command  rendered  him 
incapable  of  using  the  arts  of  the  Forum.  He  is  not  the  only 
great  General  that  has  quailed  before  the  clamours  of  a  popular 
Assembly :  and  it  was  not  long  before  his  popularity  began  to 
decline. 

§  6.  But  he  could  not  bear  to  descend  into  private  life :  all 
men  were  surprised,  and  moderate  men  were  disgusted,  when  he 
appeared  as  candidate  for  a  Sixth  Consulship  (101  b.c.)  There 
was  no  excuse  for  any  further  violation  of  the  law,  and  it  appeared 
that  his  chance  of  election  was  doubtful.  But  agents  were  ready 
to  assist  him ;  his  money  was  at  their  disposal ;  troops  of  dis- 
banded soldiery  thronged  the  streets  of  Rome.  Metellus  came 
forward  as  a  candidate,  not  so  much  hoping  to  defeat  Marius, 
as  to  neutralise  his  power  by  becoming  his  colleague.  But  even 
in  this  he  was  disappointed :  L.  Valerius  Flaccus,  a  feeble  noble- 
man, was  preferred  to  ,the  leader  of  the  aristocracy. 

The  person  who  was  mainly  instrumental  in  procuring  this 
result  was  L.  Apuleius  Saturninus,  a  man  of  good  family,  but 
with  the  habits  of  a  reckless  debauchee.  Finding  himself 
slighted  by  the  Senate,  he  resolved  upon  revenge.  He  possessed 
that  kind  of  eloquence  which  stirs  the  populace.  What  he  wanted 
in  rank  and  character  he  supplied  by  attaching  himself  to  Marius. 
He  found  a  friend  and  associate  in  C.  Servilius  Glaucia,  the  same 
who  had  already  foiled  the  Senate  by  repealing  the  judicial  law 
of  Ciepio.  This  man's  character  was  as  bad  as  that  of  Saturninus. 
But  his  ready  wit  and  reckless  humour  made  him  a  popular 
favourite,  and  he  was  elected  Praetor  of  the  City  at  the  same 
Comitia  which  made  Marius  Consul  for  the  sixth  time.  Having 
secured  the  election  of  these  two  men,  Saturninus  now  stood 
forward  as  a  candidate  for  a  second  Tribunate. 

But  a  man  of  spirit,  named  Nonius,  rose  in  the  Assembly,  and 
after  boldly  denouncing  the  infamous  lives  of  both  Glaucia  and 
Saturninus,  offered  himself  as  a  candidate,  and  was  elected 
Tribune  to  the  exclusion  of  the  demagogue.  A  man  so  reckless 
as  Saturninus  was  not  thus  to  be  defeated.  With  a  party  of  his 
adherents  he  set  upon  Nonius,  and  murdered  him.  Glaucia  then 
called  a  partisan  meeting  early  next  morning,  which  he  declared 
to  be  a  regular  Assembly  of  the  Tribes;  and  by  their  votes 
Saturninus  was  elected  Tribune. 

§  7.  Saturninus  at  once  commenced  a  career  which  is  a  sort  of 
caricature  of  the  public  acts  of  the  Gracchi.  He  began  by  intro- 
ducing an  iniquitous  Agrarian  Law,  by  which  it  was  propose*!  to 
divide  among  the  soldiers  of  Marius  the  lands  in  Gaul  recently 


Chap.  LVI.  SIXTH   CONSULSHIP   OF   MARIUS.  669 

occupied  by  the  Cimbrians  ;  iniquitous,  for  these  lands  were  the 
property  of  the  Provincials  who  had  been  dispossessed  by  the 
barbarians.  He  also  proposed  to  found  Colonies  in  various  pro- 
vinces, and  to  employ  the  "Toulouse  gold"  of  Csspio  as  Ti. 
Gracchus  had  employed  the  gold  of  Attains. 

For  carrying  this  law  Saturninus  relied  chiefly  on  the  disbanded 
soldiery  of  Marius  and  a  mob  of  Latins  and  Italians.  To  intimi- 
date the  Senate  it  was  provided  that,  in  case  the  law  received  the 
assent  of  the  Tribes,  every  Senator  should,  within  five  days,  take 
an  oath  of  obedience  to  its  enactments,  and  that  any  recusant 
should  lose  his  seat  in  the  Senate  and  pay  a  fine  of  twenty  talents 
to  the  Treasury. 

§  8.  On  the  day  appointed  for  the  vote,  the  opposite  party  en- 
deavoured to  break  up  the  Assembly  by  declaring  that  it  was 
thundering.  "  If  you  do  not  take  heed,"  said  Saturninus,  "  it 
will  hail  also."  Stung  by  his  scornful  demeanour,  the  opponents 
of  the  law  girded  up  their  gowns,  and  drove  the  adherents  of 
Saturninus  from  the  Forum.  But  the  veteran  soldiers  regained 
possession  of  the  place,  and  the  law  passed.  On  the  same  day 
Marius,  in  the  Senate-house,  declared  that  to  exact  a  compulsory 
oath  was  an  insult  to  the  Order,  and  Metellus  expressed  his 
resolution  to  stand  by  the  Consul  in  refusing  the  oath.  But  late 
on  the  afternoon  of  the  fifth  day,  when  the  time  for  taking  the 
oath  was  just  expiring,  Marius  hastily  convened  the  Senate,  and 
stated  that  there  was  reason  to  apprehend  violence  if  the  oath 
were  not  taken ;  to  appease  the  mob  he  proposed  that  all  should 
submit  to  take  it ;  hereafter  it  might  be  declared  null,  as  having 
been  taken  under  compulsion.  All  saw  through  this  hypocritical 
artifice  :  but  there  was  no  time  for  debate ;  and  Marius  himself, 
rising  from  his  place,  went  forth  to  the  front  of  the  Temple  of 
Saturn,  and  there  publicly  took  the  oath.  The  rest  of  the  Senators 
present  followed  his  example,  all  except  Metellus,  who  declared 
that  he  would  submit  to  any  penalty  except  dishonour.  Next 
day,  when  the  Senate  met,  Metellus  appeared  in  his  place ;  and 
Saturninus  ordered  him  to  be  removed.  The  other  Tribunes 
interposed ;  upon  which  Saturninus  rushed  forth  and  harangued 
his  partisans,  telling  them  that  while  Metellus  was  at  Rome  they 
Would  never  get  their  promised  lands.  He  then  brought  forward 
a  Bill  to  banish  Metellus  from  the  soil  of  Italy.  Before  the  day 
appointed  for  the  vote,  the  Roman  citizens  armed  themselves 
with  daggers,  and  would  have  used  force  against  the  partisans 
of  Saturninus  ;  but  Metellus,  with  noble  patriotism,  said  that  not 
for  him  should  blood  be  shed,  and  forthwith  quitted  the  city. 

§  9.  Saturninus  next  brought  in  a  Bill  designed  to  win  the 
favour  of  the  Roman  Populace.     It  was  a  measure  for  reducing 


570  CIVIL    WARS :    FIRST  PERIOD.  Book  VI 

the  price  of  grain  from  6^  ases  the  modius  (the  price  fixed  by 
C.  Gracchus)  to  5-6ths  of  an  as.*  The  Senate  were  now  roused 
to  action.  The  Quaestor  of  the  City,  Cn.  Caspio,  made  a  report 
that  the  Treasury  could  not  bear  the  drain  which  must  follow ; 
and  the  Senate  ordered  Saturninus  to  proceed  no  further.  He 
persisted ;  his  colleagues  interposed  their  veto ;  but  Saturninus 
scornfully  ordered  the  ballot-boxes  to  be  brought  forward,  on 
which  Caepio,  supported  by  a  strong  body  of  men,  broke  down 
the  gangways  and  overthrew  the  ballot-boxes.  The  violence  of 
Saturninus  could  not  be  arrested  but  by  violence. 

§  10.  The  Tribunician   Elections  for  the  next  year  came  on 
before  the   Consular.     Saturninus  procured  his  own  reelection  ; 
and,  as  Marius  did  not  seek  a  seventh  Consulship,  the  Tribune 
used  all  his  power  to  procure  the  election  of  his  friend  Glaucia  to 
this  office.     But  Antonius  the  Orator  and  C.  Memmius  were  held 
sure  of  their  election;  and,  to  prevent  this  result,    Saturninus 
sent  a  band  of  ruffians  who  positively  beat  Memmius  to  death  in 
the  Campus  Martius.     This  brutal  act  broke  up  the  Assembly. 
The  People  of  the  City  were   wrought  up  to  frenzy,   and   met 
next  day,  vowing  that  they  would   have  the  life  of  Saturninus. 
The  Tribune,  supported  by  Glaucia  and  by  Saufeius,  one  of  the 
City  Quaestors,   assumed  an   attitude  of  resistance.     The   Senate 
met,  and   Marius  offered  himself  as  mediator.     But  the  Senate 
issued    a   decree    which    charged   the    Consuls   with    dictatorial 
power.     Meanwhile  the  insurgents  had  seized  the  Capitol.     All 
the   chiefs  of  the   Senate   appeared  in  arms  to  support  Marius, 
who  became  the  unwilling  leader  of  his  political  adversaries.     It 
might  have  been  not  easy  to  reduce  the  insurgents  under  such  a 
commander ;  but  some  persons  cut  the  pipes  which  supplied  the 
quarter  with   water,  and  as  it  thus  became  impossible  for  the 
insurgents  to  hold  out,  they  surrendered  in  reliance  upon  the 
good  offices  of  Marius.     The  citizens  would  have  slain  them  on 
the  spot ;  but   Marius  insisted  on  a  regular  trial,  and  shut  them 
up  in  the   Senate-house.     The  People,  however,  would  not  be 
balked  of  vengeance.     Numbers  of  them   climbed  to  the  top  of 
the  building,  tore  off  the  tiles,  and  killed  all  the  prisoners.     Thus 
were  slain  a  Praetor,  a  Quaestor,  and  a  Tribune,  all  wearing  the 
ensigns  of  office. 

§  11.  The  proceedings  against  Sa/urninus  were  the  same  as 
those  adopted  against  the  Gracchi.  But  this  demagogue  had 
himself  set  the  example  of  using  force,  and  his  death  was  due 
to  a  burst  of  popular  feeling.     Marius  had  lost  all  influence  by 

*  The  particular  change  of  price  was  caused  probably  by  a  jingle  of  words. 
By  the  Apuleian  Law  corn  was  to  be  sold  semisse  et  triente  (^  ~|-  ^  •-=  5) 
instead  of  ^enis  et  triente  (6^),  as  ruled  by  the  Sempronian  Law, 


Chap.  LVI.  RECAL   OF   METELLUS.  571 

associating  himself  with  such  men.  The  Senate  and  People  of 
Rome,  who  were  now  allied  through  fear  of  the  Italians,  hated  him 
because  he  had  attempted  to  save  Saturninus.  He  proved  as 
feeble  a  politician  as  he  was  a  bold  and'slalful  commander. 

§12.  Allorders  now  desired  the  recal  of  Metellus,  who  had 
retired  to  Rhodes.  On  the  death  of  Saturninus,  it  was  proposed 
at  once  to  rescind  the  law  by  which  he  was  banished ;  but  one 
of  the  Tribunes  put  a  veto  on  the  measure.  In  vain  the  friends 
and  kinsmen  of  the  banished  Senator  sought  to  bend  this  man 
from  his  purpose ;  in  vain  young  Q.  Metellus  interceded  for  his 
father  so  earnestly  that  he  was  known  ever  after  by  the  name  of 
Pius.  But  at  the  beginning  of  the  next  year  (99  b.c),  the  law 
for  removing  the  ban  from  Metellus  now  passed  by  acclamation. 
His  return  was  a  real  triumph.  The  whole  City,  Nobles  and 
People,  met  him  outside  the  walls.  So  many  were  the  greetings 
which  he  had  to  receive  and  give  that  it  was  evening  before  he 
entered  the  gates.     He  had  been  absent  about  a  year. 

§  13.  That  was  a  bitter  day  for  the  proud  spirit  of  Marius.  He 
left  Rome  abruptly,  and  took  ship  for  Asia.  The  ambassadors 
of  Mithridates  had  been  insulted  by  Saturninus ;  but  the  King 
dissembled  all  anger,  and  received  the  great  General  with  every 
mark  of  honour.  Marius  answered  the  Oriental  compliments  of 
Mithridates  with  rude  threats.  "King,"  said  he,  "you  will  have 
to  conquer  Rome  or  to  submit."  Plutarch  avers  that  his  purpose 
was  to  drive  Mithridates  to  war,  in  the  hope  that  he  might 
recover  in  arms  that  consequence  which  he  had  lost  in  peace. 

§  14.  The  popular  taste  for  shows  was  daily  increasing  with  the 
increasing  wealth  of  the  great  families  who  supplied  ^diles  to 
the  State.  Sylla  had  relapsed  into  easy  self-indulgence  after  his 
Cimbrian  campaigns.  But  he  now  appeared  as  candidate  for 
the  Praetorship.  He  had  not,  however,  served  as  ^dile;  and 
the  people  expected  a  magnificent  show  of  beasts  from  the  friend 
of  Bocchus.  Sylla  therefore  lost  his  election.  But  in  94  b.c.  he 
spent  large  sums  in  bribery,  and  promised  to  exhibit  as  Praetor 
all  that  had  been  expected  from  him  as  ^dile.  Accordingly  in 
the  next  year  the  wondering  people  saw  one  hundred  lions,  the 
gift  of  the  Moorish  King,  let  loose  in  the  Circus. 

After  his  Praetorship,  Sylla  was  sent  by  the  Senate  into  Cilicia 
with  a  commission  to  watch  Mithridates,  who  had  already  begun 
military  preparations  on  a  large  scale.  Wherever  Marius  went, 
it  seemed  as  if  he  were  destined  to  meet  Sylla  in  rivalry. 

§  15.  Of  all  the  measures  of  Gracchus  none  had  left  a  deeper 
sore  than  that  which  transferred  the  judicial  power  from  the 
Senators  to  the  Equestrian  Order.  Q.  Caepio's  attempt  to  re- 
verse  this   measure   had  succeeded  only   for  a  moment :    disap- 


572  CIYIL  WARS :    FIRST  PERIOD.  Book  VI. 

pointment  aggravated  the  soreness  of  the  Senate.  But  though 
popular  feeling  was  in  favour  of  the  Equestrian  rather  than  the 
Senatorial  juries,  yet  the  Knights,  as  has  before  been  noted,  had 
their-  own  motives  for  corrupt  judgment.  As  Farmers  of  the 
Revenue,  they  were  subject  to  the  power  of  provincial  magis- 
trates ;  and,  accordingly  as  a  provincial  magistrate  favoured 
or  hindered  their  exactions,  it  was  probable  that  he  would  be 
treated  with  leniency  or  severity  at  their  tribunal. 

Two  celebrated  causes  had  lately  occurred  which  proved  this 
point  to  demonstration. 

M'  Aquillius  had  quelled  the  Second  Slave-war  in  Sicily.  His 
father  had  been  noted  for  rapacity  in  Asia  :  the  son  followed 
too  faithfully  the  example  of  his  sire.  His  advocate,  Antonius, 
pleaded  his  good  services  as  a  set-off  against  the  corrupt  practices 
by  which  he  had  amassed  a  large  fortune.  The  orator  concluded 
a  pathetic  appeal  to  the  feelings  of  the  jury  by  tearing  open  the 
tunic  of  the  old  soldier  and  displaying  the  scars  which  seamed 
his  breast.  The  effect  was  such  that  the  whole  audience  sobbed 
aloud,  and  iron  tears  were  seen  to  roll  down  the  cheeks  of 
Marius.     Aquillius  was  acquitted. 

P.  Rutilius  Rufus  had  displayed  no  small  military  talent  as 
Legate  to  Metellus  in  the  Jugurthan  War.  After  his  Consulship 
he  had  accompanied  his  friend  Q.  Scsevola  the  Pontiff  as  Legate 
to  Asia.  The  severe  spirit  of  justice  which  regulated  his  whole 
conduct  could  not  tolerate  the  rapacity  displayed  by  the  Eques- 
trian Farmers  of  the  Revenue,  and  he  exerted  himself  to  protect 
the  helpless  Provincials  from  their  exactions.  On  his  return,  a 
person  of  indifferent  character  was  induced  to  indict  him  before 
the  Equestrian  Court  for  impeding  public  officers  in  the  execution 
of  their  duty.  Rutilius  had,  like  Scipio,  been  a  disciple  of  the 
great  Stoic  teacher  Pansetius,  and  he  practised  the  rigid  philo- 
sophy which  he  professed.  He  would  not  accept  the  services 
either  of  Crassus  or  Antonius,  and  prevented  even  SciB\o]a,  who 
attended  him  into  Court,  from  using  the  arts  of  advocacy.  But 
probably  no  advocacy  would  have  availed.  The  complainants 
and  the  jury  belonged  to  the  same  body ;  and  the  Knights  proved 
that  they  were  not  more  fit  than  the  Senators  to  be  judges  in 
their  own  case.* 

§  16.  The  iniquity  of  this  sentence  was  so  glaring  that  it  gave 
an  opportunity  for  wresting  the  privilege  of  judgment  from  the 
Knights.  Scaurus  cast  his  eye  about  for  a  fitting  agent,  and  it 
fell  on  a  young  man  named  M.  Livius  Drusus,  son  of  that  Drusus 

*  Cicero,  a  great  patron  of  the  Equestrian  Order,  declares  that,  "P. 
Rutilio  damnato,  nemo  tarn  iunocens  videbatur,  ut  non  timeret  judieia." — 
Pro  Scauro,  1 ;  compare  In  Pison.  39. 


CuAT.  LYI.  TRIBUNATE   OF   DRUSUS.  5lS 

who  had  served  as  the  tool  of  the  Senate  in  outbidding  C. 
Gracchus.  His  family  was  good,  his  wealth  great,  his  life  spot- 
less, his  mind  cultivated,  his  eloquence  remarkable,  his  temper 
fearless,  and  his  will  inflexible.  The  frank  simplicity  of  his  nature 
is  well  shown  by  a  well-known  anecdote.  He  was  building  a 
new  house  on  the  Palatine  (the  same  which  afterwards  belonged 
to  Cicero),  and  the  architect  promised  so  to  construct  it  that  no 
one  should  be  able  to  overlook  him.  "  Rather,"  said  Drusus,  "  so 
arrange  it  that  all  my  life  may  be  open  to  all  eyes."  Scaurus  soon 
found  that  he  had  chosen  one  who  would  not  stoop  to  be  the 
tool  of  a  party.  Several  of  the  Italian  towns  sent  deputies  to 
pray  Drusus  to  undertake  their  cause,  and  he  eagerly  agreed. 
Scaurus  and  the  Senatorial  leaders,  to  secure  him  for  their  own 
service,  were  obliged  to  support  his  foreign  policy. 

§  17.  Drusus  began  his  Tribunate  like  C.  Gracchus  and  Sa- 
turninus.  He  resorted  to  the  old  expedient  of  an  Agrarian  Law, 
by  which  Colonies  were  to  be  largely  planted  on  the  Public  Lands 
of  Italy  and  Sicily,  and  he  proposed  an  extension  of  the  Law  for 
selling  corn  cheap. 

§  18.  He  next  undertook  to  fulfil  the  contract  he  had  made 
with  Scaurus.  He  did  not,  however,  purpose  simply  to  restore 
judicial  power  to  the  Senate;  but  devised  a  compromise,  by 
which  this  power  might  be  shared  between  its  old  and  its  new 
possessors.  The  number  of  the  Senate  was  to  be  doubled  by  the 
addition  of  300  members,  to  be  chosen  from  among  the  Knights; 
and  from  these  600  Senators  the  Judges  were  to  be  chosen.  But 
this  plan  failed  to  satisfy  either  party.  The  Knights,  as  a  body, 
had  no  wish  to  transfer  the  privilege  they  now  possessed  to  300 
of  their  Order,  and  the  Oligarchy  were  loud  against  Scaurus  for 
betraying  his  Order. 

§  19.  The  Oligarchy  was  even  more  irritated  by  the  proposal 
to  enfranchise  the  Italians.  They  won  over  the  Consul  Philippus, 
a  cross-grained  man  of  ready  speech,  who  appeared  in  the 
Forum  to  oppose  the  Law.  But  Drusus  ordered  the  Consul  to  be 
removed,  and  the  order  was  executed  with  so  little  regard  that 
blood  burst  from  his  mouth.  On  this  Philippus  declared  in 
opon  Forum,  that  "  with  such  a  Senate  as  they  now  had  it  was 
impossible  to  carry  on  the  Government."  Next  day,  the  Tribune 
rose  in  the  House  to  complain  of  the  attack  made  by  the  Consul 
on  the  Senatorial  Order.  He  was  seconded  by  Crassus  in  a  speech 
so  eloquent  that  he  was  thought  to  have  surpassed  himself. 
Philippus  replied  in  a  furious  invective,  and  declared  that  he  would 
exact  pl(  dges  for  good  conduct  from  the  Orator.  This  called  up 
Crassus  again,  and  he  attacked  the  Consul  in  a  strain  of  indig- 
nation unusual  to  him.     "  Do  you  expect,"  he  exclaimed,  "  to 


574  CIVIL  WARS:  FIRST  PERIOD.  Book  YL 

frighten  me  by  pledges  ?  You  must  first  cut  out  this  tongue ; 
and  even  then  love  of  liberty  will  find  means  to  testify  against 
depraved  license."  The  great  Orator  sat  down  amid  general 
applause ;  but  his  exertions  brought  on  an  attack  of  pleurisy,  and 
in  a  week  that  eloquent  tongue  was  mute  for  ever. 

§  20.  What  might  have  been  the  result  is  impossible  to  guess ; 
for  all  further  proceedings  were  cut  short  by  the  assassina- 
tion of  the  Tribune.  Drusus  knew  that  his  life  was  in  danger. 
For  some  time  he  had  avoided  public  places,  and  received  those 
who  came  to  transact  business  with  him  in  a  covered  walk  behind 
his  house.  One  evening,  as  he  was  dismissing  his  visitors,  he 
cried  out  that  he  was  stabbed,  and  fell  to  the  ground.  A  leather- 
cutter's  knife  was  found  planted  in  his  loins.  He  expired  soon 
after,  mournfully  saying  that  it  would  be  long  before  the  Republic 
would  have  a  servant  so  disinterested  as  himself. 

§  21.  The  excitement  produced  by  this  last  disappointment  of 
their  hopes  was  great  throughout  the  towns  of  Italy.  It  was 
greater  still  when  a  Tribune  named  Varius,  a  native  of  Sucro  in 
Spain,  who  had  become  a  Roman  citizen,  introduced  a  Law  by 
which  it  was  declared  that  all  who  favoured  Italian  claims  had 
been  guilty  of  high  treason  against  the  People  of  Rome.  Under 
this  Law  Scaurus  and  the  leading  Senators  were  at  once  im- 
peached. Some  sought  safety  in  exile.  Antonius  stood  his  trial, 
defended  himself  in  a  speech  of  passionate  vehemence,  and  was 
acquitted.  There  was  no  evidence  against  Scaurus  but  the 
word  of  the  accuser ;  and  the  wary  statesman  contented  himself 
with  saying  in  defence  :  "  Q.  Yarius,  the  Spaniard,  says  that  M. 
Scaurus,  the  Chief  of  the  Senate,  has  endeavoured  to  excite  the 
Allies  to  rebellion.  Choose  ye,  Quirites,  which  ye  will  believe." 
lie  was  acquitted,  and  this  is  the  last  we  hear  of  a  man  who 
for  thirty  years  or  more  had  been  the  virtual  Chief  of  Rome. 


Coin  of  the  Eight  Italian  Nations,  joining  in  an  Oath  of  Federation,  with  tho 
Legend  Italia. 


CHAPTER   LVIL 

THE    SOCIAL    WAR.       (b.C.  90,  89.) 

§  1.  Anger  of  the  Italians :  outbreak  at  Asculum.  §  2.  Organisation  of  the 
Italians :  Consuls,  Praetors,  <fec.  §  3.  Defeat  and  death  of  the  Roman 
Consul,  Rutilius  Lupus :  inactivity  of  Marius.  §  4.  New  Consuls  : 
Pompeius  Strabo.  §  5.  Compromise  proposed :  Julian  Law.  §  6.  Sub- 
mission of  many :  bitter  enmity  of  the  Samnites.  §  7.  Second  Campaign; 
great  successes  of  Sylla.  §  8.  And  of  Pompeius  Strabo.  §  9.  Attempts 
at  negotiation :  Sylla  takes  Bovianum :  answer  of  Mithridates.  §  10. 
Capture  of  Asculum :  submission  of  all  the  Allies  except  the  Samnites  and 
Lucanians  :  great  losses  on  both  sides.  §  11.  Plotian  and  Papirian  Law. 
§  12.  Admission  of  New  Citizens.  §  13.  Difficulties  and  dangers  in  the 
new  state  of  things.     §  14,  State  of  the  Law-courts. 

§  1.  The  occurrences  described  at  the  close  of  the  last  Chapter 
embittered  the  Italians  to  the  uttermost.  The  outbreak  of  war 
was  precipitated  by  an  unpremeditated  act  of  violence. 

Italy  was  at  that  time  subject  to  the  government  of  Proconsuls. 
One  of  these  officers,  named  Servilius,  stationed  in  the  Picenian 
territory,  received  information  that  the  citizens  of  Asculum  were 
organising  insurrection.  He  immediately  entered  that  city  with 
a  small  retinue,  and,  finding  the  citizens  assembled  for  some  festal 
purpose,  he  assailed  them  with  vehement  threats.  The  people 
set  upon  him  and  slew  him ;  and  now  that  blood  had  been  spill, 
free  vent  was  given  to  passion.  All  Romans  who  fell  into  their 
hands  were  massacred  and  their  goods  confiscated. 

The  news  spread  like  wildfire.  A  general  meeting  of  the 
Allies  was  called.  Deputies  attended  from  the  Picenians,  from 
the  Marsians,  Pelignians,  Marrucinians,  and  Vestinians ;  from  the 
Samnites,  from  the  Apulians  and  the  Lucanians.  A  formal  state- 
ment of  their  claims  was  drawn  up  and  despatched  to  Rome  : — 
"  They  had,"  they  said,  "  long  done  faithful  service  to  the  Re- 


576  CIVIL    WARS:    FIRST   PERIOD.  Book  VL 

public ;  they  had  furnished  two-thirds  of  her  armies ,  they  had 
conquered  the  world  for  her,  yet  they  were  still  treated  like  mere 
aliens."  The  Senate  stiffly  replied,  "  that  no  embassies  could  be 
received  till  reparation  was  made  for  the  late  acts  of  violence." 

§  2.  The  steps  taken  by  the  Eight  Allied  Nations  showed  the 
nature  of  the  impending  struggle.  The  question  was,  not  whether 
the  Italians  were  to  become  citizens  of  Rome,  but  whether  Rome 
was  to  continue  to  be  mistress  of  the  Italian  Confederation. 

They  declared  Corfinium,  a  strong  city  in  the  Pelignian  Apen- 
nines, the  capital  of  the  new  Italian  League :  henceforth  it  was 
to  be  called  Italica.*  Two  Consuls  were  to  be  the  chief  officers 
of  the  League,  each  having  six  Praetors  under  his  command.  A 
Senate  was  formed  for  managing  public  business :  everything 
showed  the  determination  of  the  insurgent  Communities  to 
supersede  the  authority  of  Rome. 

No  time  was  lost  in  debating.  Q.  Pompsedius  Silo,  a  Marsian, 
and  C.  Papius  Motylus,  a  Samnite,  were  elected  Consuls.f  In 
every  quarter  able  officers  started  up  who  had  learned  the  art 
of  war  in  the  Roman  armies,  some  of  them  under  Marius.  The 
most  eminent  names  are  C.  Judacilius,  a  Picenian  of  Asculum, 
Herius  Asinius,  a  Marrucinian,  T.  Lamponius  of  Lucania,  with 
Vettius  Scato,  Marius  Egnatius,  and  T.  Afranius,  all  three  of  Sam- 
nite blood.  The  meagre  accounts  which  remain  to  us  of  the 
Social  WarJ;  make  it  difficult  to  distinguish  between  the  merits 
of  these  commanders.  Their  proceedings  seem  to  have  weak- 
ened by  want  of  concentration,  and  forcibly  recal  to  mind  the 
straggling  and  indecisive  confficts  which  characterised  the  earlier 
part  of  our  own  Civil  War,  before  the  genius  of  Cromwell  gave 
unity  of  purpose  to  the  armies  of  the  Parliament. 

§  3.  The  outbreak  of  the  war  (90  b.c.)  evidently  took  the  Senate 
by  surprise.  Campania  itself,  the  favoured  and  favourite  land  of 
the  Roman  nobles,  fell  into  the  hands  of  the  enemy.  Nola  was 
compelled  to  surrender:  Stabiae,  Liternum,  Salernum  followed 
the  example  of  Nola :  Acerrse  was  closely  invested  by  the  Sam- 
nites.  The  Consul  Caesar  threw  himself  into  this  place,  while  his 
colleague  Rutilius  advanced  with  a  regular  army,  with  Marius  for 
his  Legate,  to  the  Liris.  He  was  met  by  Pompsedius  Silo,  the 
Marsian  Consul.  The  Roman  army  was  in  two  divisions,  Rutilius 
himself  commanding  on  the  left,  while  Marius  led  the  right  to  a 

*  Coins  of  the  Confederacy  are  found  with  the  legend  italia.  See  the 
Woodcut  at  the  head  of  this  Chapter. 

f  Papius  is  the  only  one  whose  name  appears  on  coins. — See  below,  note 
on  §  5. 

X  This  is  the  name  given  to  it  by  Florus,  Eutropius,  &c.  Cicero  and 
others  call  it  Bellum  Itg,licum.  Horace,  StraK>,  and  Plutarch  call  it  thp 
Marsian    War. 


Chap.  LVII.  THE  SOCIAL  WAR.  577 

point  nearer  the  sea.  No  sooner  had  Rutilius  crossed  the  river 
with  negligent  haste,  than  he  was  assaulted  by  Pompaedius.  The 
Roman  army  was  utterly  defeated,  the  Consul  himself  slain,  and 
Marius  apprised  of  the  Consul's  defeat  only  by  the  number  of 
dead  bodies  that  came  slowly  floating  down  the  Liris.  The 
old  General  immediately  crossed  the  river  and  drove  back  tli8 
victorious  enemy.  The  body  of  the  Consul  was  recovered  and 
sent  to  be  interred  publicly  at  Rome.  But  the  consternation 
which  prevailed  there  was  raised  to  its  height  by  this  fatal  spec- 
tacle, and  the  Senate  issued  a  Decree  ordering  that  the  bodies 
of  the  slain,  however  illustrious,  should  be  buried  in  the  place 
where  they  had  fallen. 

Marius  himself  maintained  his  reputation  only  by  foiling  the 
enemy  in  all  attempts  to  force  on  a  battle.  Pompaedius,  flushed 
with  success,  called  on  him, — "  If  he  were  the  great  General  he 
was  reported,  to  come  out  and  fight."  "  Nay,"  retorted  Marius, 
"  if  you  are  the  great  General  you  would  fain  be  thought,  make 
me  come  out  and  fight."  Plutarch  attributes  his  inactivity  to 
his  age  (he  was  now  sixty-five),  his  corpulence,  and  the  luxurious 
habits  he  had  of  late  adopted.  But  subsequent  events  showed 
that  he  could  be  active  enough  when  he  pleased ;  and  it  is  more 
than  probable  that  Marius  purposely  abstained  from  acting  with 
energy  against  the  Italians,  who  had  fought  his  battles  in  the 
field  and  supported  his  political  agitation  in  the  City. 

§  4.  The  Consuls  chosen  for  the  next  year  were,  Cn.  Pompeius 
Strabo.  father  of  Pompey  the  Great,  aud  L.  Porcius  Cato.  Pom- 
peius was  a  greedy  and  selfish,  but  able  man  ;  and  he  served  the 
Republic  well  in  the  ensuing  campaign.  Cato  had  just  rendered 
a  great  service  to  the  State  by  checking  a  threatened  rising  in 
Etruria. 

§  5.  But  the  Senate  trusted  not  wholly  to  military  ability. 
During  the  autumn  serious  deliberations  were  held  as  to  the 
expediency  of  a  compromise.  Statesmen  of  the  school  of  Scaurus 
advocated  the  affirmative  side  :  the  actual  Consul  L.  Caesar,  and 
the  Consul-elect  Cn.  Pompeius,  were  both  of  this  class.  Besides 
the  losses  in  Campania,  all  Samnium,  except  the  Colony  of 
^^ernia,  was  in  the  hands  of  the  enemy ;  in  Apulia,  even  the 
Colonies  of  Venusia  and  Luceria  had  been  taken  by  Judacilius, 
and  Lamponius  had  driven  the  Praetor  Crassus,  son  of  the 
orator,  out  of  Lucania.  Unfavourable  reports  also  came  in  from 
the  North ;  it  seemed  likely  that  the  Sabellian  insurrection  might 
spread  over  the  whole  of  Italy.  The  Consul  Caesar  was  by  the 
Senate  empowered  to  draw  up  a  Law,  called  after  him  the  Julian 
Law,  for  granting  the  Franchise  to  those  of  the  Allies  who  had 
either  taken  no  part  in  the  Social  War,  or  had  now  ceased  to 

25 


578  CIVIL   WARS:    FIRST  PERIOD.  Book  VL 

take  part  in  it,  on  the  necessary  condition  that  their  respective 
countries  should  become  integral  portions  of  the  Roman  Terri- 
tory. To  show  that  the  Law  was  to  be  a  reality,  L.  Caesar  him- 
self, with  his  Legate  Crassus,  were  elected  Censors  for  the  year 
89  B.C.  to  enrol  the  new  citizens,  though  it  was  but  eighteen 
months  since  the  last  Censors  had  laid  down  their  office* 

The  effect  of  this  timely  concession  immediately  appeared :  a 
division  of  opinion  was  created  in  many  of  the  insurgent  Commu- 
nities. But  in  others  it  excited  a  still  more  vigorous  determina- 
tion. At  first,  the  coins  issued  from  the  Mint  of  the  Confederates 
bore  Latin  Legends :  but  as  the  contest  became  embittered,  the 
Oscan  character  was  adopted,  as  if  to  show  that  the  language  of 
Rome  was  to  be  henceforth  disused  by  the  friends  of  Italy.* 

§  6.  But  while  the  Senate  prudently  disarmed  the  wavering 
or  the  lukewarm,  they  made  strenuous  exertions  to  crush  those 
who  should  continue  the  war.  The  Samnites,  above  all,  showed 
no  inclination  to  accept  favours  from  Rome  :  the  deadly  hostility 
of  ancient  times  again  broke  out ;  and  they  scrupled  not  to 
send  an  embassy  to  the  Court  of  Mithridates.  Desperate  reso- 
lution could  not  be  more  strongly  shown  than  by  calling  in  an 
Asiatic  monarch  to  share  in  the  spoils  of  Italy.  Proclamations 
were  issued  in  which  rewards  were  offered  for  the  heads  of 
Roman  citizens,  and  freedom  promised  to  all  slaves  who  should 
join  the  Italian  cause. 

§  T.  Early  in  the  spring  of  the  next  year  (89  b.c.)  the  cam- 
paign began.  The  Consul  Pompeius  moved  northwards  into  the 
Picenian  territory,  while  his  colleague  Cato  covered  the  passes 
leading  down  from  the  Appennines  into  the  Campagna  of  Rome. 
But  Cato  fell  at  the  very  outset  of  the  campaign  in  a  skirmish, 
and  the  chief  command  on  the  south  of  the  Apennines  fell  to  his 
Lieutenant,  Sylla. 

Sylla  now  exerted  himself  to  the  utmost  to  eclipse  the  military 
renown  of  his  old  Commander  Marius.  He  took  the  field  with  a 
small  Roman  division,  supported  by  a  strong  auxiliary  force  of 
Numidians  and  Moors,  raised  by  his  personal  influence  in  Africa. 
With  these  troops  he  advanced  within  sight  of  the  enemy's 
entrenched  camp  in  Campania.  A  gigantic  Gaul  came  out  and 
challenged  any  of  Sylla's  men  to  single  combat.  The  challenge 
was  accepted  by  a  Numidian,  whose  adroitness  enabled  him  to 
lay  low  his  huge  antagonist.  On  this,  the  enemy's  host  fled  in 
consternation  towards  Nola ;  and  Sylla  followed  so  closely,  that 
the  garrison  of  that  city  were  obliged  to  close  the  gates  which 

*  It  is  impossible  to  say  when  this  change  took  place.  The  coin  at  the 
end  of  this  Chapter  bears  the  name  of  Papius  in  Oscan  characters,  with 
only  Two  of  the  Allied  Nations  left. 


Ohap.  LVII.  the  social  WAR.  679 

they  had  opened  to  admit  the  fugitives.  The  active  Roman  fol- 
lowed up  his  first  success  so  vigorously,  that  the  enemy  was 
obliged  to  leave  Campania ;  and  Sylla,  leaving  part  of  his  army 
to  invest  Nola,  entered  the  Hirpinian  country.  Its  towns  sub- 
mitted ;  and  Sylla  prepared  to  pass  into  the  Pentrian  valleys,  the 
last  and  strongest  holds  of  Samnite  freedom. 

§  8.  Meanwhile,  the  Consul  Porapeius  had  been  pursuing  a 
course  no  less  successful  in  the  North.  He  had  at  first  been 
defeated  by  Judacilius,  who  left  Afranius  to  hold  the  Consul  in 
check,  while  he  repaired  in  person  to  Apulia.  But  Pompeius 
routed  Afranius,  and  invested  Asculum,  the  first  seat  of  the 
insurrection.  As  soon  as  this  ill  news  reached  Judacilius,  he 
flew  to  the  relief  of  his  native  city,  but  only  succeeded  so  far  as 
to  cut  his  way  through  the  Roman  lines  and  enter  the  gates  with 
a  few  brave  men.  Pompeius  left  his  lieutenants  to  blockade  the 
place,  which  was  desperately  defended,  and  himself  moved  south- 
wards. Corfinium'  fell  into  his  hands,  and  the  seat  of  the  insur- 
gent government  was  shifted  to  Bovianum,  the  chief  stronghold 
of  the  Pentrian  Samnites. 

Here  then  the  war  was  to  be  decided.  While  Pompeius  de- 
scended from  the  North,  Sylla  was  advancing  from  the  South. 

§  9.  At  this  moment  an  attempt  was  made  to  negotiate.  Pom- 
peius and  Scato  had  an  interview,  at  which  Cicero — then  a  youth 
of  seventeen,  served  his  first  campaign  in  the  Consul's  army— :;was 
present.  Sextus,  the  Consul's  brother,  came  expressly  from  Rome 
to  lend  his  good  offices  for  promoting  peace.  "  I  am,"  said  he 
to  the  Samnite  Chief,  "  by  choice  your  friend,  your  enemy  by 
necessity."     But  the  attempt  proved  unavailing. 

Meanwhile,  Sylla  defeated  the  Samnite  General  Papius,  and 
pushed  on  straight  to  Bovianum,  where  he  was  in  correspondence 
with  some  persons  attached  to  the  Roman  interest.  The  place 
was  betrayed  to  him. 

About  the  same  time  an  answer  arrived  from  Mithridates.  He 
bade  the  Samnites  hold  out  firmly :  he  was,  he  said,  at  present 
engaged  in  expelling  the  Romans  from  Asia ;  when  that  work  was 
done,  he  would  cross  the  sea,  and  assist  them  in  crushing  the 
she-wolf  of  Italy.  But  promises  at  such  a  juncture  were  equiva- 
lent to  refusal. 

§  10.  On  all  hands,  therefore,  the  fortune  of  Rome  was  in  the 
ascendant.  Judacilius,  finding  that  he  could  hold  Asculum  no 
longer,  raised  a  funeral  pile  in  sight  of  his  banqueting-hall,  and 
after  a  sumptuous  entertainment  given  to  his  friends,  drained  a 
poisoned  cup  of  wine  to  the  dregs,  ascended  the  fatal  pile,  and 
bade  his  guests  set  fire  to  it.  The  place  surrendered,  and  the 
Consul  Pompeius  treated  the  citizens  with  ruthless  severity ;  the 


580  CIVIL  WARS:    FIRST   PERIOD.  Book  VL 

richer  sort  were  beheaded ;  the  rest  sold  as  slaves ;  the  houses 
rased  to  the  ground.  Among  those  reserved  to  grace  his  triumph 
was  a  boy  named  P.  Ventidius  Bassus,  who  afterwards  became 
one  of  the  best  officers  in  the  Roman  army,  and  himself  enjoyed 
a  triumph  for  avenging  the  defeat  of  Crassus  upon  the  Parthians. 
The  Vestinians  and  Pelignians  yielded  to  the  Consul ;  Sulpicius 
received  the  submission  of  the  Marrucinians,  Murena  and  Me- 
tellus  Pius  that  of  the  Marsians.*  The  brave  Marsian  Chie^ 
Pompaedius,  fled  into  Apulia,  pursued  by  Metellus ;  and  venturing 
to  give  battle,  was  defeated  and  slain.  Venusia  returned  to 
its  allegiance.  But  Canusium  in  Apulia  and  Nola  in  Campania 
were  still  held  by  Samnite  garrisons;  and  the  Samnites  them- 
selves in  their  mountains,  with  a  portion  of  the  Lucanians,  stih 
defied  the  Roman  arms. 

The  successful  issue  of  the  war  was  not  purchased  without 
heavy  losses  on  the  side  of  Rome.  It  is  computed  that  in 
the  whole  of  this  deadly  struggle  not  fewer  than  300,000  of  the 
youth  of  Italy  fell.  The  greater  part  of  them  belonged  doubtless 
to  the  enemy.  But  when  we  speak  of  the  enemy,  it  must  be 
remembered  that  in  every  man  who  fell — whether  Roman,  Latin, 
or  Italian — the  Republic  lost  a  soldier. 

§  11.  When  it  was  too  late,  the  Senate  showed  themselves 
forward  in  concession.  In  the  early  part  of  the  second  cam- 
paign, the  Tribunes,  M.  Plotius  Sylvanus  and  C.  Papirius  Carbo, 
brought  in  a  Law  supplementary  to  the  Julian  Law,  by  which  its 
privileges  were  granted  not  only  to  the  Italian  allies,  but  also  to 
the  burgesses  of  all  allied  cities  in  the  provinces,  who  were  at 
that  time  domiciled  in  Italy,  provided  that  they  registered  their 
names  before  the  Praetor  of  the  city  within  sixty  days.f  The 
Consul  Pompeius  emulated  his  predecessor  by  proposing  a  law  for 
advancing  all  the  citizens  of  the  Gallic  communities  beyond  the 
Po  to  the  condition  of  Latin  burgesses. 

§  12.  The  practical  question  that  remained  was  the  mode  of 
admitting  the  new  citizens.  It  is  evident  that  there  were  two 
distinct  ways  in  which  this  might  be  accomplished.  First,  the 
number  of  Tribes  might  have  been  retained  as  it  was ;  and  the 
Italians  might  either  have  been  distributed  through  the  whole 
Thirty-five,  or  have  been  confined  (like  the  Freedmen)  to  a  cer- 
tain number.  Of  these  plans,  the  former  mode  would  have  made 
the  Italians  masters  of  the  Comitia  on  all  occasions ;   the  latter 

*  It  must  have  been  after  the  submission  of  these  four  nations  that  the 
A.l]ies  struck  money  with  four  figures  instead  of  eight.  The  four  shortly 
ifter  fell  to  two.     See  the  coins  at  the  head  and  foot  of  this  Chapter. 

f  The  argument  of  Cicero  in  his  well-known  speech  for  the  poet  Archiaa 
lurns  upon  the  provisions  of  this  law. 


Chap.  LVII  THE   SOCIAL  WAR.  68  J 

would  have  looked  like  an  insult  and  a  degradation.  Or,  seeondly, 
the  number  of  Tribes  might  be  increased,  and  the  new  Tribes 
reserved  for  the  Italians.  This  was  the  plan  adopted.  The 
Censors,  L.  Caesar  and  P.  Crassus,  entered  on  their  ofRce  during 
the  present  year ;  and  in  the  course  of  the  year  89  b.c,  they 
created  Ten  new  Tribes  for  the  Italians  alone,  and  prepared  to 
register  all  their  names  as  Roman  citizens  of  these  Tribes.  But 
the  Civil  War  prevented  the  Censors  from  finishing  their  work. 

§  13.  The  difficulties  attached  to  the  question  of  enfranchising 
the  Italians  showed  that  it  was  not  a  merely  factious  opposition 
which  had  hitherto  been  oflJ'ered.  The  Senate  indeed  had  shown 
an  anxious  disposition  to  settle  the  matter  peaceably  ;  and  the 
passing  of  the  Law  to  extend  the  Franchise,  before  arms  were 
laid  down,  proves  that  they  gave  up  the  stern  maxim  of  the  old 
Republic,  "  Spare  the  submissive,  and  war  down  the  proud."  It 
was  in  fact  impossible  to  adapt  a  Constitution  originally  fitted  for 
a  small  Civic  Community  to  a  great  Country.  It  was  manifest 
that  the  Italians  would  not  rest  satisfied  with  the  scanty  share 
of  direct  power  granted  to  them ;  and  yet  it  was  hardly  safe  to 
grant  them  more,  unless,  indeed,  some  statesman  in  advance  of 
his  time  had  suggested  a  plan  resembling  the  modern  system  of 
Representative  Parliaments.  But  no  such  plan  was  thought  of. 
It  may  be  said  that  the  partial  admission  of  the  Italians  to  the 
franchise  annulled  the  old  Roman  Constitution,  and  made  an 
absolute  Monarchy  almost  a  political  necessity. 

§  14.  During  the  Social  War  the  High  Courts  of  Justice  had 
been  closed.  Of  the  great  advocates,  Crassus  was  dead,  Anto- 
nius  was  absent  from  Rome,  Cotta,  who  had  aspired  to  succeed 
to  their  fame,  was  in  exile.  Hortensius,  who  was  fast  establish- 
ing his  claim  to  be  considered  the  first  orator  of  his  day,  was 
employed  in  the  first  year  of  the  war  as  a  Legionary  Tribune,  in 
the  second  as  a  Tribune.  Sulpicius,  another  eloquent  speaker, 
had  served  as  a  Legate  of  the  Consul  Pompeius.  Cicero,  not  yet 
eighteen,  had  just  imbibed  that  distaste  for  a  military  life  which 
attached  him  ever  after  to  the  Forum, 


Ck)in  of  the  Two  Allied  Nations  who  last  held  out,  with  the  name  of  Papius  in  08c*o 

Characters. 


i 


CHAPTER  LVin. 

FIRST    CIVIL    WAR.       (88 86  B.C.) 

§  1.  Sylla  appointed  to  the  command  against  Mithridates.  §  2.  Attempt  of 
the  young  Nobles  to  relieve  themselves  of  debt.  §  3.  The  Tribune  Sul- 
picius.  §  4.  He  proposes  to  distribute  the  Italians  among  all  the  Tribes. 
§  5.  Riots :  the  law  passed,  and  Marius  chosen  to  supersede  Sylla,  §  6. 
Sylla  flies  to  his  army  at  Nola.  §  7.  Marches  upon  Rome :  joined  by  the 
other  Consul  Q.  Pompeius  Rufus.  §  8.  Battle  in  streets  of  Rome.  §  9. 
Marius  and  eleven  others  outlawed  by  the  Senate.  §  10.  Death  of  Sul- 
picius.  §  11-  Adventures  of  Marius:  he  reaches  Africa.  §  12.  Unpopu- 
larity of  Sylla :  Octavius  and  Cinna,  Consuls :  oath  of  Cinna :  murder  of 
Pompeius  Rufus:  Sylla  leaves  Italy.  §  13.  Cinna  puts  himself  at  the  head 
of  the  Italians :  he  is  driven  out  of  Rome,  and  deprived  of  the  Consulship. 
§  14.  The  army  at  Nola  declares  for  Cinna:  the  Italians  rise  in  arms. 
§  15.  Marius  returns  to  Italy  :  joins  Cinna.  §  16.  Efforts  of  the  Senate : 
Pompeius  Strabo  enters  Rome.  §  17.  Blockade  of  Rome  by  four  armies. 
§  18.  Death  of  Pompeius:  surrender  of  Rome.  §  19.  The  Marian  Mas- 
sacre. §  20.  Sertorius  slaughters  the  slaves.  §  21.  Death  of  Catulus  and 
others.     §  22.  Seventh  Consulship  and  death  of  Marius. 

§  1 .  Marius  was  the  cause  of  the  First  Civil  War ;  but  the  per- 
son who  gave  occasion  to  its  outbreak  was  Mithridates,  King  of 
Pontus.  We  have  said  that  in  the  second  year  of  the  Social  War 
this  remarkable  man  encouraged  the  insurgents  to  hope  for  his 
support  as  soon  as  he  had  expelled  the  Romans  from  Asia.  The 
details  of  this  enterprise  will  be  given  in  the  next  chapter.  Here 
we  must  be  content  with  stating  that,  before  the  end  of  the  year 
89  B.C.,  the  Senate  had  determined  upon  war,  and  a  Commander 
was  to  be  chosen.  In  the  mind  of  Marius,  this  Commander  could 
be  none  other  than  himself:  he  had  long  fixed  his  eye  upon  the 
East,  and  had  done  what  in  him  lay  to  hasten  a  rupture.  Late 
events  had  shown  him  that  Sylla,  whom  he  hated,  might  become 
a  formidable  rival ;  and  he  left  the  sumptuous  villa  which  he  had 
lately  erected  at  Misenum,  for  a  house  adjoining  the  Forum. 
He  daily  frequented  that  busy  place,  and,  notwithstanding  his 
increasing  age  and  corpulence,  again  joined  in  the  military  exer- 
cises of  the  Campus,  trusting  that  thus  he  should  be  always  in 
the  sight  of  the  People.  But  the  glory  won  by  Sylla  in  the  Social 
War  marked  him  as  the  person  to  whom  the  command  was  due ; 
and,  as  he  was  Consul-elect,  his  appointment  was  regarded  as  a 


Chap.  LVIII.  FIRST   CIVIL   WAR.  583 

matter  of  course.  In  the  heart  of  Marius  hatred  was  made 
intense  by  disappointment;  and  he  determined,  cost  what  it 
might,  to  secure  the  command  for  himself. 

§  2.  Circumstances  favoured  his  design.  The  business  of 
farming  the  revenue  every  day  increased  the  wealth  of  the 
Equestrian  Order.  To  them  all  who  needed  money  resorted. 
They  demanded  high  rates  of  interest ;  but  lavish  expenditure 
was  the  fashion  among  the  young  Nobles.  Some  of  those  who 
were  heavily  burthened  with  debt  raked  up  an  old  law,  by  which 
usurious  interest  was  forbidden,  and  refused  to  pay  more  than 
was  by  this  law  allowed.  A  case  was  brought  before  the  Praetor 
Asellio,  who  allowed  the  noble  debtors  to  prosecute  their  cre- 
ditors for  illegal  usury.  The  fury  of  the  Knights  rose  to  the 
utmost :  Asellio  was  assaulted  and  murdered. 

§  3.  Among  the  Tribunes  of  the  year  was  P.  Sulpicius,  a  master 
of  lofty  and  pathetic  eloquence,*  who  had  been  a  friend  of  the 
unfortunate  Drusus,  and  was  animated  by  bitter  enmity  against 
Q.  Pompeius  Rufus,  Sylla's  colleague  in  the  Consulship.  This  was 
the  person  whom  old  Marius  now  selected  as  his  political  agent, 
as  he  had  formerly  chosen  Saturninus.  Marius  held  up  before 
his  ardent  imagination  the  treasures  of  Mithridates,  promising 
that,  if  the  command  were  transferred  to  himself,  he  would  em- 
ploy the  wealth  of  the  Pontic  King  to  relieve  the  Roman  debtors. 
Sulpicius  caught  eagerly  at  the  oft'er. 

§  4.  There  was  no  inclination  among  the  People  of  Rome  to 
supersede  Sylla.  But  if  the  Italians  could  exercise  a  weight  in 
the  Comitia  proportioned  to  their  numbers,  it  was  plain  that 
Marius,  alway  a  favourite  with  the  Italian  countrymen,  would 
be  secure  of  the  appointment.  Sulpicius,  therefore,  boldly  gave 
notice  of  two  measures  :  one  by  which  the  Italians  were  to  be 
distributed  evenly  through  all  the  Tribes ;  a  second,  by  which 
all  Freedmen  who  had  served  in  the  Italian  Wars  were  to  be 
placed  on  a  level  with  the  Old  Citizens.  Thus  in  every  Tribe  the 
New  Citizens,  comprising  Italians  and  Freedmen,  would  form  a 
majority,  and  thus  the  votes  of  the  Tribes  would  be  at  the  dis- 
posal of  Marius. 

§  5.  It  was  not  to  be  expected  that  the  Old  Citizens  would 
tamely  submit  to  be  overridden.  As  the  day  for  voting  drew 
nigh,  battles  with  stones  and  staves  were  of  daily  occurrence. 
The  Consuls  endeavoured  to  postpone  the  day  of  conflict  by  pro- 
claiming a  Justitium  or  General  Holiday,  the  effect  of  which 
was  to  suspend  all  public  business.  But  the  Tribune  declared 
his  intention  to  proceed  to  a  vote,  just  as  if  the  Consuls  had 
issued  no  proclamation  ;  and  ordered  a  body  of  3000  young  men 
*  "Maxime  omnium  grandis  et  tragicus  Orator." — Cicero  Brut.  55. 


584  CIVIL  WARS:    FIRST   PERIOD.  Book  VL 

to  attend  him,  with  concealed  daggers,  in  the  Forum  ;  they  were 
to  strike  when  he  commanded,  not  sparing  even  the  Consuls,  if 
need  were.  On  the  appointed  day  the  Tribune  rose,  and  declared 
the  proclamation  of  the  Public  Holiday  illegal,  on  the  ground  that 
there  was  no  special  cause  for  it.*  A  loud  outcry  arose  from 
the  Old  Citizens ;  upon  which,  at  a  sign  from  the  Tribune,  his 
adherents  drew  their  daggers.  Their  opponents  fled.  Pompeius 
only  escaped  by  hiding  himself:  his  son,  who  was  married  to 
Sylla's  daughter,  was  ruthlessly  murdered.  Sylla  fled  into  the 
house  of  Marius,  which  faced  the  Forum,  whence  he  was  obliged 
to  return,  and  declare  the  Justitium  at  an  end.  The  Laws  then 
passed  without  opposition ;  and,  as  a  matter  of  course,  the 
command  in  the  Mithridatic  War  was  transferred  to  Marius. 

§6.  Sylla  went  straight  from  the  Forum  to  his  camp  before 
Nola  (for  the  Samnites  had  not  yet  surrendered  that  town),  with 
the  purpose  of  hurrying  to  the  East.  But  he  had  already  been 
superseded ;  and  two  officers  arrived  in  camp  bearing  a  com- 
mission from  Marius  to  assume  the  command.  Sylla  was  now 
compelled  to  take  a  decisive  part.  Either  he  must  submis- 
sively resign  or  must  vindicate  his  right  by  force.  The  name  of 
Civil  War  was  not  yet  familiar  to  Roman  ears ;  and  before  he 
committed  himself  to  actual  hostilities,  he  resolved  to  sound  the 
inclinations  of  his  troops.  He  summoned  them  to  the  Prse- 
torium.  He  enlarged  on  the  insults  that  had  been  offered  to 
himself;  and  gave  them  to  understand  that,  unless  he  remained  in 
command,  their  hopes  of  booty  from  the  Mithridatic  War  must 
end ;  and  concluded  by  a  hope  that  they  would  obey  his  orders. 
The  men  gave  a  ready  interpretation  to  his  last  words  by  calling 
upon  him  to  lead  them  to  Rome,  and  proved  their  zeal  by  stoning 
to  death  the  officers  sent  by  Marius.  Sylla,  fully  assured,  ordered 
six  Legions  to  get  under  arms.  The  superior  officers,  however, 
shrunk  from  lending  countenance  to  civil  war ;  and  all,  save  one 
Quaestor,  fled  to  Rome. 

§  7.  In  the  City  the  consternation  was  great.  The  Senate, 
more  from  fear  of  Marius  than  of  their  own  good  will,  sent  to 
demand  of  Sylla  why  he  was  in  arms  against  his  country.  "  To 
set  her  at  liberty,"  was  the  only  answer  he  vouchsafed.  The 
Praetors  then  went  out,  invested  with  all  the  ensigns  of  their 
office :  but  the  soldiers  broke  their  fasces,  and  stripped  them  of 
their  robes.  Sylla  meantime  continued  to  advance.  The  officers 
who  had  deserted  him  were  replaced  by  persons  of  note,  who  had 
fled  from  Rome :  above  all,  he  was  joined  by  his  colleague  and 
kinsman,  Q.  Pompeius  Rufus ;  and  henceforth  all  his  acts  ran  in 

*  A  Justitium  was  proclaimed  for  some  great  triumph  or  disaster, — the 
former  case  accompanied  by  a  Supplicatio  or  Public  Thanksgiving. 


Chap.  LVIII.  FIRST  CIVIL  WAR.  685 

the  joint  name  of  the  two  Consuls  of  the  year, — a  fact  which 
had  great  authority  over  men's  minds. 

§  8.  The  prompt  audacity  of  Sylla  took  Marius  and  Sulpicius 
by  surprise.  They  had  not  calculated  on  his  daring  to  march  a 
Roman  army  against  Rome.  To  gain  time,  they  sent  a  last  em- 
bassy, in  the  name  of  the  Senate,  requesting  the  Consuls  to 
stop  the  march  of  the  army  till  the  Fathers  had  come  to  some 
resolution.  Sylla,  now  about  five  miles  from  the  gates,  pro- 
mised to  comply :  but  no  sooner  had  the  envoys  turned  their 
backs,  than  he  despatched  two  officers  with  a  detachment 
to  occupy  the  high  ground  adjoining  the  Esquiline.  They 
marched  so  rapidly  that  they  seized  the  Colline  Gate,  and  pene- 
trated into  the  City ;  but  their  progress  was  stopped  by  the 
People,  who  threw  tiles  and  stones  upon  them  from  the  house- 
tops. Meantime  the  Consuls  had  come  up  with  their  whole 
force.  Pompeius  pushed  forward  with  one  Legion  to  support 
the  troops  at  the  Colline  Gate ;  another  Legion  seized  the  Cseli- 
montane  Gate;  a  third  turned  the  Aventine,  and  occupied  the 
Sublician  Bridge ;  a  fourth  was  left  in  reserve  before  the  walls ; 
while  Sylla  with  the  remaining  two  entered  the  City. 

His  opponents,  meantime,  had  assembled  a  considerable  force ; 
and  in  the  district  between  the  Caelian  and  the  Esquiline,  armed 
soldiers  for  the  first  time  encountered  in  the  streets  of  Rome. 
Sylla's  men  were  beaten  back,  till,  seizing  an  eagle,  he  threw 
himself  into  the  thick  of  the  fray.  Meanwhile,  his  reserve  Legion 
entered  the  city  and  attacked  Marius  in  flank  from  the  Suburra. 
The  old  General,  finding  his  position  turned,  retreated  to  the 
Capitol,  whence  he  issued  a  proclamation  off"ering  liberty  to  all 
slaves  who  would  join  his  banner.  But  this  desperate  act  only 
revealed  his  weakness,  and  even  those  who  had  hitherto  sup- 
ported him  dispersed.  Marius  and  Sulpicius,  with  all  their 
chief  friends,  sought  safety  in  flight. 

§  9.  Meantime  Sylla  had  marched  his  Legions  in  good  order 
down  the  Sacred  Way  into  the  Forum,  and  restored  public  con- 
fidence by  inflicting  summary  punishment  upon  all  plunderers. 
Next  morning  he  addressed  the  People  in  a  set  speech,  de- 
ploring the  extremity  to  which  he  had  been  forced  by  profligate 
demagogues.  From  the  Forum  the  Consuls  proceeded  to  the 
Senate-house.  A  Decree  was  issued,  by  which  twelve  persons 
were  proclaimed  traitors.  Among  these,  the  most  eminent  were 
Marius,  his  son,  his  son-in  law  L.  Granius,  and  the  Tribunes  Sul- 
picius and  Albinovanus.  Against  this  arbitrary  Decree  no  one 
had  courage  to  raise  a  voice  except  Q.  Scsevola,  the  Pontifex. 
"  Never,"  said  the  old  lawyer,  "  will  I  consent  to  declare  Caiua 
Marius  an  outlaw." 

26* 


586  CIVIL   WARS:    FIRST  PERIOD.  Book  VL 

§  10.  All  the  proclaimed  persons  had  escaped.  But  Sulpicius, 
who  had  secreted  hunself  in  a  villa  near  Laurentum,  was  be- 
trayed by  a  slave  and  slain.  His  head  was  exposed  upon  the 
Rostra,  from  which  his  eloquence  had  so  often  moved  the  people 
to  tears, — the  first  example  of  a  barbarous  practice  which  became 
common  in  after  years.  The  treacherous  slave  was  rewarded  by 
Sylla  for  doing  his  duty  to  the  State,  and  then  thrown  down 
the  Tarpeian  Rock  for  betraying  his  master, — a  perfidious  judg- 
ment, characteristic  of  a  country  where  slaves  are  numerous 
and  held  in  fear.  The  masters  dare  not  recognise  them  as  free 
men,  even  where  the  public  interest  is  most  concerned. 

§  11.  Marius  himself  ran  through  a  series  of  adventures 
strange  as  ever  were  coined  by  the  brain  of  a  romancer.  He 
reached  Ostia  in  company  with  Granius  his  son-in-law,  and  a 
few  slaves :  hence  they  proposed  to  take  ship  for  Africa, 
where  Marius  had  much  influence,  derived  from  the  times  of  the 
Jugurthan  War.  When  young  Marius,  who  had  taken  a  diff"erent 
route,  arrived  at  Ostia,  he  found  that  his  father  had  put  to  sea. 
By  a  lucky  chance,  however,  he  found  another  vessel  sailing  for 
Africa,  and  reached  that  Province  in  safety.  Meantime,  old 
Marius  was  by  stress  of  weather  driven  to  land  near  Circeii. 
From  this  place  the  party  wandered  southward  along  the  deso- 
late shore  in  great  distress,  till  some  herdsmen,  who  recognised 
the  old  General,  warned  him  of  the  approach  of  a  party  of 
cavalry.  Not  daring  to  keep  the  road,  the  fugitives  plunged 
into  the  forest  which  still  covers  the  coast.  Here  they  passed 
the  night  in  great  misery,  and  next  morning  continued  their 
forlorn  walk.  Marius  alone  kept  up  his  spirits  and  encouraged 
his  attendants  by  assurances  that  a  seventh  Consulship  was 
yet  in  store  for  him.  In  the  two  following  days  they  had 
dragged  their  weary  limbs  over  a  space  of  about  forty  miles 
direct  distance,  when  they  saw  a  body  of  horse  coming  towards 
them.  It  happened  that  two  merchant  vessels  were  passing 
southward  close  in-shore.  The  fugitives  plunged  into  the  sea, 
and  made  for  the  ships.  Granius  reached  one  of  them,  and  was 
put  ashore  in  the  island  of  Pithecusa  (Ischia).  So  exhausted 
was  Marius,  that  he  was  hardly  kept  above  water  by  two  slaves, 
till  the  seamen  got  him  on  board  the  other  vessel.  Meantime, 
the  horsemen  rode  down  to  the  water's  edge,  and,  calling  out 
to  the  captain,  demanded  the  person  of  Marius.  With  tears 
the  old  General  besought  protection ;  and  after  much  wavering 
the  captain  continued  his  course.  When  they  reached  the  mouth 
of  the  Liris,  he  persuaded  Marius  to  go  ashore,  as  it  was  neces- 
sary to  *lie  to  till  the  land-wind  rose.  But  no  sooner  had  his 
boat   returned,  than   the   faithless  captain   got  under   way,  and 


Chap.  LVm.  FIRST  CIVIL  WAR.  687 

Marius  was  left  absolutely  alone  upon  the  swampy  beach.  He 
walked  wearily  to  an  old  man's  hut,  who  concealed  him  in  a  hole 
near  the  river,  and  covered  him  with  reeds.  Presently  the 
horsemen  came  up  and  demanded  where  Marius  was.  Afraid 
of  being  discovered,  the  fugitive  rose  from  his  hiding-place  and 
dashed  into  the  river.  He  was  perceived  and  dragged  ashore ; 
and  the  horsemen  conveyed  him,  nearly  naked  and  covered  with 
mud,  to  Minturnae.  Here  he  was  given  over  to  the  magistrates 
of  the  town,  who  had  received  a  circular  letter  from  the  Con- 
suls, ordering  them  to  put  Marius  to  death  if  he  should  fall  into 
their  hands.  But  the  magistrates,  not  liking  to  incur  such 
responsibility,  referred  the  matter  to  a  Town  Council. 

The  Council  voted  that  Sylla's  orders  should  be  obeyed,  and  a 
Gaulish  slave  was  sent  with  orders  to  put  the  old  General  to 
death.  It  was  dark,  and,  as  the  man  entered  the  room  where 
Marius  was  lying,  he  saw  the  old  man's  eyes  glaring  through  the 
darkness,  while  a  deep  voice  exclaimed:  "Fellow,  darest  thou 
slay  Caius  Marius  ?"  He  threw  down  his  sword  and  fled,  crying, 
"  I  cannot  slay  Caius  Marius."  By  the  connivance  of  the  Magis- 
trates, the  fugitive  escaped  to  Ischia,  where  he  joined  Granius, 
and  a  friendly  ship  was  found  to  convey  him  to  Africa.  Hear- 
ing that  his  son  had  already  arrived,  he  was  emboldened  to 
land  near  the  site  of  ancient  Carthage.  But  the  Praetor  Sex- 
tilius  sent  him  orders  to  quit  the  Province  without  delay. 
Marius  with  silent  indignation  gazed  fixedly  on  the  messenger, 
till  the  man  demanded  what  answer  he  should  take  back  to  the 
Praetor.  "  Tell  him,"  said  the  old  General,  "  that  you  have  seen 
Caius  Marius  sitting  among  the  ruins  of  Carthage." 

Soon  after,  he  was  joined  by  his  son,  who  had  endeavoured 
to  gain  support  from  Hiempsal,  King  of  Numidia.  The  young 
man  had  been  received  with  outward  kindness,  but  was  in  fact 
detained  as  prisoner,  till  he  was  taught  to  escape  by  the  com- 
passion of  the  King's  daughter.  After  this,  Marius  remained  in 
Africa  without  molestation. 

§  12.  Meanwhile  Sylla  at  Rome  was  not  without  his  diffi- 
culties. He  found  both  Senate  and  People  so  shocked  by  the 
intrusion  of  armed  legions  within  the  sacred  precincts  of  the 
city,  that  he  thought  it  prudent  to  send  back  the  troops  to  their 
old  quarters  in  Campania,  while  he  remained  himself  to  settle 
matters  in  his  own  favour,  before  he  took  his  departure  for  the 
East.  The  Senate,  on  his  motion,  issued  a' Decree  by  which  the 
laws  of •  Sulpicius  were  declared  null  and  void;  and  thus  the 
Italian  voters  were  again  deprived  of  the  advantages  granted 
them  by  those  laws,  while  Sylla's  appointment  to  the  Oriental 
command  resumed  its  force.     But  there  was  no  disposition  to 


588  CIVIL   WARS:   FIRST   PERIOD.  Book  VI. 

favour  him,  and  he  was  unable  to  influence  the  Consular  elec- 
tions. The  choice  fell  upon  Cn.  Octavius,  a  feeble  nobleman, 
given  to  superstitious  reverence  for  astrologers,*  and  L.  Cornelius 
Cinna.  It  is  plain  that  the  latter  was  an  object  of  suspicion  to 
Sylla's  observant  eye ;  for  before  he  assumed  oflace  he  was  com- 
pelled by  the  General  to  repair  to  the  Temple  of  Capitoline 
Jupiter,  and  there  solemnly  to  swear  that  he  would  not  disturb 
tha  existing  order  of  things. 

But  Sylla's  position  was  very  insecure.  Cn.  Pompeius  Strabo, 
still  serving  as  Proconsul  in  Apulia,  was  superseded  by  Q. 
Pompeius  Rufus,  Sylla's  kinsman  and  late  colleague.  But  no 
sooner  had  Strabo  left  his  army,  than  a  mutiny  broke  out,  and 
Rufus  was  murdered  by  the  soldiers.  The  wily  Proconsul  im> 
mediately  returned  to  the  camp,  and,  after  rebuking  the  muti- 
neers with  apparent  sternness,  quietly  resumed  the  command; 
nor  was  Sylla  strong  enough  to  take  notice  of  this  piece  of 
preconcerted  treachery.  Plots  were  formed  against  his  life,  and 
the  murder  of  his  colleague  was  a  token  of  what  might  next  be 
his  own  fate.  Cinna  urged  one  of  the  new  Tribunes  to  impeach 
him  for  bringing  an  army  within  the  walls  of  Rome ;  upon  which 
the  General  hastened  to  Campania,  and  shipped  his  troops  for 
Greece,  leaving  the  Aristocracy  to  fight  their  own  battle. 

§  13.  His  departure  was  the  signal  for  a  fresh  outbreak  of 
Civil  War.  Cinna,  an  ambitious,  unprincipled,  and  reckless  man, 
perceived  that  he  could  at  once  raise  himself  to  importance  by 
putting  himself  at  the  head  of  the  New  Citizens,  or  Italian  party, 
who  had  been  left  without  leaders  by  the  death  of  Sulpicius  and 
the  flight  of  Marius.  He  at  once  gave  notice  of  a  Bill  for  again 
distributing  the  Italians  and  Freedmen  through  all  the  Tribes. 
This  measure  was  warmly  opposed  by  the  Senate  and  by  the  old 
Roman  citizens.  On  the  day  of  voting,  Cinna's  party  occupied 
the  Forum,  armed  with  daggers ;  and  when  it  appeared  that  the 
Tribunes  were  about  to  interpose  their  veto,  they  drew  their 
weapons  upon  those  officers.  The  Old  Citizens,  headed  by  Octa- 
vius, opposed  force  by  force ;  and  a  furious  battle  ensued,  which 
ended  in  the  Italians  being  driven  from  the  Forum.f  Cinna  was 
obliged  to  quit  Rome  ;  and  the  Senate  immediately  deprived  him 
of  the  Consular  ofiice,  and  conferred  it,  by  their  own  authority, 
on  L.  Cornelius  Merula,  Flamen  of  Jupiter,  an  inoffensive  man, 
who  allowed  the  perilous  honour  to  be  thrust  upon  him. 

§  14.  Cinna  was  now  completely  compromised,  and  he  took  the 
bold  step  of  trusting  himself  to  the  troops  left  by  Sylla  before 

*  "  Chaldaeans,"  as  they  were  called.     See  Juven.  vi.  554.  x.  94. 
f   With  the  loss  of  10,000  men,  according  to  Plutarch  Vit.  Sertor.  4    This 
period  of  the  Civil  War  was  called  Bellum  Octavianum  by  Cicera 


Chap.  LVIII.  FIRST   CIVIL  WAR.  589 

Nola,  who  were  discontented  at  being  excluded  from  participating 
in  the  gains  of  the  Mithridatic  War.  With  passionate  words  he 
told  the  soldiery  that  the  Senate  had  stripped  him  of  the  high 
office  which  had  been  conferred  by  the  votes  of  the  People ;  and 
then  he  rent  his  robe  and  threw  himself  on  the  ground.  The 
unwonted  sight  of  a  Consul  in  this  attitude  moved  the  susceptible 
feelings  of  the  men.  All  took  the  oath  of  obedience  to  him  as 
Consul.  But  Cinna  not  only  addressed  himself  to  the  Roman 
soldiers  who  were  beleaguering  Nola ;  he  also  invited  the  Samnite 
garrison  of  Nola  to  make  common  cause  with  him  against  the 
old  Roman  citizens.  In  a  similar  strain  he  declaimed  in  the 
towns  of  Italy  which  had  lately  been  engaged  in  the  Social  "War. 
Everywhere  he  was  received  with  enthusiasm.  The  Social  War 
was  revived  under  a  different  aspect.  A  Consul  appeared  as  their 
leader,  and  Marius,  the  greatest  General  of  Rome,  was  known  to 
favour  their  claims,  Cinna  was  soon  at  the  head  of  a  formidable 
army.  Among  the  officers  who  accepted  commissions  from  him 
may  be  named  Cn.  Papirius  Carbo  and  Q.  Sertorius,  men  who 
played  great  parts  in  the  following  years. 

§  15.  News  of  these  proceedings  soon  reached  old  Marius 
in  Africa,  where  he  assembled  about  a  thousand  desperate 
men,  and,  landing  in  Etruria,  soon  found  himself  in  command 
of  a  large  force,  which  was  brought  into  order  by  his  habits 
of  command.  He  also  made  himself  master  of  a  small  but 
well-appointed  fleet.  He  was  now  in  a  condition  to  treat  with 
Cinna,  and  offered  to  accept  a  commission  under  him  as  Con- 
sul. Cinna's  officers  advised  him  to  close  with  this  offer,  all 
except  Sertorius.  This  sagacious  man,  who  had  served  imder 
Marius  in  the  Cimbrian  War,  and  had  gained  distinction  in  the 
war  against  the  Allies,  feared  the  savage  temper  of  his  old  general, 
and  advised  Cinna  not  to  compromise  his  cause  by  uniting  it  to 
that  of  Marius.  But  when  Cinna  confessed  that  he  had  opened 
a  correspondence  with  Marius  in  Africa,  Sertorius  withdrew  his 
objections.  Cinna  offered  to  Marius  the  rank  of  Proconsul.  But 
the  old  man  grimly  refused  all  marks  of  honour. 

§  16.  Meanwhile  the  Senate  had  been  exerting  themselves  to 
raise  a  force  for  the  defence  of  the  city.  They  hired  mercenaries 
in  Gaul.  They  sent  orders  to  Pompeius  Strabo  to  bring  up  his 
army.  They  directed  Metellus  Pius,  who  was  still  employed  in 
reducing  the  Samnites,  to  make  what  terms  he  could  with  the 
enemy,  and  hasten  to  Rome.  Metellus  lingered ;  but  Pompeius 
advanced  to  the  Colline  Gate,  where  he  maintained  an  obstinate 
reserve,  and  seemed  uncertain  whether  he  should  join  the  Senate 
or  go  over  to  Marius.  But  after  some  fruitless  intrigues  he  at 
length  entered  Rome,  and  united  his  troops  to  the  scanty  force 
of  the  Consul  Octavius. 


590  CIVIL  WARS :    FIRST  PERIOD.  Book  VL 

§  1*7.  The  armies  of  the  assailants  now  drew  close  round 
Rome,  so  as  to  invest  it  on  every  side.  Cinna  took  his  post  near 
the  Colline  Gate,  so  as  to  intercept  communications  with  the 
north  and  north-east.  Carbo  lay  on  his  left,  so  as  to  command 
the  roads  which  approached  Rome  from  the  east ;  Sertorius  on 
his  right,  so  as  to  bar  all  passage  from  Etruria  and  the  north- 
west. Marius  himself  took  up  his  position  on  the  Tiber,  across 
which  he  threw  a  bridge,  so  as  to  communicate  with  Carbo  on 
the  one  side  and  Sertorius  on  the  other.  Thus  placed,  with 
large  forces  at  their  command,  the  allied  generals  calculated  on 
reducing  the  city  by  famine. 

§  18.  Pompeius,  after  defeating  an  attempt  of  Marius  to  take 
Janiculum,  died  suddenly,  and.  a  plague  broke  out  which  deci- 
mated the  Senatorial  army.  By  this  time  Metellus  had  quitted 
Samnium,  and  encamped  upon  the  Alban  Hills.  Here  he  was 
visited  by  some  of  the  soldiers  of  Pompeius,  who  entreated  him 
to  take  the  chief  command.  But  he  was  unable  to  do  more  than 
threaten  Cinna's  rear.  Tired  of  inaction,  great  part  of  his  troops 
deserted  or  returned  home ;  and  the  Senate,  left  almost  defence- 
less, determined  on  attempting  negotiations.  A  deputation  of 
Senators  arrived  in  the  camp  of  Cinna,  who  prefaced  all  proceed- 
ings by  asking  whether  they  were  prepared  to  treat  with  him 
"  as  Consul."  They  had  no  instructions  on  this  point,  and  re- 
turned to  Rome,  while  Cinna  advanced  his  camp  within  a  dart's 
throw  of  the  gates.  A  second  deputation  arrived,  and  humbly 
saluted  him  as  Consul.  He  received  them  sitting  in  his  chair 
of  state,  with  his  Lictors  on  either  side.  The  Deputies  asked 
nothing  more  than  that  before  entering  the  city  he  would  take 
an  oath  not  to  suffer  a  general  massacre.  Cinna  answered  gently, 
and  promised  not  to  anthorise  any  slaughter;  but  all  hopes 
inspired  by  the  moderation  of  his  language  were  damped  by 
the  aspect  of  old  Marius.  He  stood  behind  the  Consul's  chair, 
in  mean  apparel,  with  his  hair  and  beard  rough  and  long,  for 
they  had  been  left  untrimmcd  ever  since  the  day  on  which  he 
had  fled  from  Rome,  and  with  a  sullen  frown  upon  his  brow. 
But  the  Senate  had  little  room  for  choice.  Hastily  they  passed 
a  Decree,  inviting  Cinna,  Marius,  and  their  partisans  to  enter  the 
City.  Marius  ironically  replied,  that  he  had  been  formally  pro- 
claimed a  traitor,  and  must  be  formally  restored  to  his  rights. 
But  before  a  second  Decree  could  issue,  he  had  entered  the  City 
with  the  army. 

§  19.  Rome  was  treated  as  a  conquered  city.  The  soldiers, 
consisting  of  slaves  and  vagabonds  of  all  kinds,  combined  with 
Italians  smarting  from  the  late  war,  were  let  loose  to  plunder. 
The  unfortunate  Octavius,  assured  by  his  astrologers,  was  slain 


Chap.  LVIIL  FIRST  CIVIL  WAR.  691 

while  seated  upon  his  Consular  chair  in  the  Janiculum.     His 
slaughter  was  but  the  prelude  to  a  series  of  horrible  butcheries. 
Marius  had  returned  to  Italy  full  of  the  memory  of  his  ignomini- 
ous flight.     He  was  attended  everywhere  by  a  band  of  ruffians, 
who  had  orders  to  strike  down  any  person  of  rank  whom  their 
master  passed  without  the  courtesy  of  a  salute.     The  Senators 
who    had  opposed   his  recall    from  exile  were  among   his  first 
victims.      Q.  Lentulus,   C.   Numitorius,  M.  Bsebius,  and   others 
were  cut  down,   and  their  bodies  dragged   through  the  public 
places.     P.  Crassus,  seeing  his  eldest  son  slain  by  Fimbria,  put 
an  end  to  his  own   life.     L.  Caesar,  author  of  the  Law  for  en- 
franchising the  Italians,  and  his  brother  Caius,  were  murdered  in 
their  own  houses.      Q.   Ancharius   came   in   suppliant  guise  to 
Marius,  when  he  was  sacrificing  in  the  Capitol ;   but  the  relent- 
less old  man   ordered  the  suppliant  to  be  cut  down  in  the  very 
precincts  of  the  Temple  and  his  body  cast  into  the  street.     The 
example  of  Marius  was  followed  by  all  who  had  private  wrongs 
to  avenge,  or  debts  to  cancel.     Many  Knights  were  massacred, 
doubtless  by  their  creditors.      Slaves,   drunk  with  passion   and 
licence,  wreaked  a  less  discriminating  vengeance  upon  all  who 
fell  in  their  way.     But  here  it  must  be  recorded  that  many  were 
saved  by  the  devotion  of  their  household  slaves.     Cornutus  was 
pursued  to  his  house  by  some  of  the  gang  of  Marius ;  his  slaves 
hung  up  one  of  the  corpses,  which  were  but  too  plentiful,  with 
their  master's  gold  ring  upon  the  hand ;  and  when  the  murderers 
burst  into  the  house,  these  faithful   slaves  pretended  that  they 
had  anticipated  the  deed  of  blood,  and  by  this  pious  fraud  saved 
their  master.     The    orator   Antonius   had   incurred   the   special 
wrath  of  Marius  by  an  eloquent  speech  in  which  he  had  opposed 
his  recal  to  Rome.     For  some  time  he  was  concea;led  in  a  country- 
house  by  his  slaves.     But  one  of  these  simple  men,   in  buying 
wine,  told  the  vintner  that  he  must  have  good  liquor,  since  it 
was  (he  whispered)  for  the  special  use  of  the  great  orator  An- 
tonius.     The    treacherous    dealer    hastened   with   the    news   to 
Marius,  who  ordered  the  orator's  head  to  be  brought  to  him  and 
placed  it  on  the  table  as  the  chief  ornament  of  the  banquet. 

§  20.  Cinna  took  no  part  in  these  atrocities.  Sertorius  looked 
on  with  deep  disgust,  especially  when  he  saw  the  enfranchised 
slaves  giving  a  loose  to  every  licentious  passion  with  a  Baccha- 
nalian glee  which  excites  pity,  not  only  for  the  sufferers,  but 
also  for  those  who  by  ill-treatment  had  been  degraded  into 
savages.  By  the  permission  of  the  Consul,  Sertorious  fell  upon 
them  with  a  body  of  his  own  troops,  and  slew  several  thousajids. 
By  this  rude  justice  order  was  in  some  degree  restored. 

§21.  But  some  persons  who  had   escaped  the  massacre  had 


592  CIVIL  WARS :    FIRST  PERIOR  Book  VL 

been  too  conspicuous  to  remain  unpunished,  and  against  them 
the  mockery  of  legal  forms  was  put  in  motion.  The  most  emi- 
nent of  these  were  L.  Cornelius  Merula,  Flamen  of  Jupiter,  and 
Q.  Lutatius  Catulus,  colleague  of  Marius  in  his  Cimbric  triumph. 
Merula  was  a  quiet  and  respectable  man,  whose  only  offence  was 
that  he  had  unwillingly  superseded  Cinna  in  the  Consulship. 
For  this  he  was  indicted ;  and  knowing  that  indictment  was 
equivalent  to  condemnation,  he  repaired  to  the  great  Temple  on 
the  Capitol,  and  opening  his  veins  bled  to  death.  Catulus,  like 
Antonius,  had  offended  Marius  by  opposing  his  recal  from  exile. 
Some  influential  friends  endeavoured  to  awaken  in  the  breast 
of  the  stern  old  man  some  generous  memory  of  the  days  when 
he  had  refused  to  triumph  over  the  barbarians  without  Catulus 
to  share  his  triumph.  But  in  vain.  "  He  must  die,"  was  the 
only  answer  vouchsafed.  Catulus  shut  himself  up  in  a  newly- 
plastered  room,  lighted  a  charcoal  fire,  and  died  by  suffocation. 
Sylla  himself  was  beyond  reach ;  but  his  house  was  rased  to  the 
ground,  his  property  confiscated,  and  himself  proclaimed  a  traitor. 
His  wife  Cajcilia  and  his  children  fled  to  join  him  in  Greece. 

Of  all  Senators  put  to  death  in  these  days  of  Terror,  the 
heads  were  exposed  upon  the  Rostra,  a  ghastly  tribute  to  the 
manes  of  the  Tribune  Sulpicius,  who  was  the  first  Roman  citizen 
thus  dishonoured.  The  bodies  of  all  were  left  unburied,  to  be  de- 
voured by  dogs  and  birds.  But  it  must  be  observed  that  the 
Massacre  of  Marius  differed  widely  from  the  Proscriptions  of 
later  times.  It  was  a  burst  of  savage  passion,  which  lasted  for 
a  few  hours,  and  was  not  marked  by  any  systematic  rules  of 
murder  and  confiscation. 

§  22.  The  short  remainder  of  the  year  passed  in  gloomy  tran- 
quillity. News  of  Sylla's  victories  in  the  East  from  time  to  time 
disturbed  the  satisfaction  of  the  conquerors.  But  for  the  pre- 
sent they  were  absolute.  Cinna  remained  sole  Consul  till  the 
Kalends  of  January  of  86  b.c,  when  Marius  for  the  seventh 
time,  and  Cinna  for  the  second,  assumed  the  fasces  without 
election.  On  the  first  day  of  his  authority,  Marius  ordered  one 
Sext.  Licinius,  a  Senator,  to  be  thrown  down  the  Tarpeian  Rock, 
without  even  the  form  of  a  trial.  Sad  presages  arose  of  what 
might  follow.  But  Marius,  since  his  return,  had  given  himself 
to  wine  and  riotous  living ;  and  his  iron  constitution,  worn  out 
by  former  labours,  and  especially  by  his  late  strange  sufferings, 
sank  under  an  inflammatory  fever.  The  hero  of  six  Consulships 
died  in  thirteen  days  after  he  had  seen  his  cherished  expecta- 
tions fulfilled  by  the  seventh  tenure  of  that  high  office, — hated 
by  his  enemies,  feared  even  by  his  friends. 


Coin  of  Mithridates  VI. 


CHAPTER   LIX. 

FIRST    MITHRIDATIC    WAR.       (88 84  B.C.) 

^  1.  Rise  of  kingdom  of  Pontus  :  ancestors  of  Mithridates^  §  2.  His  youth, 
education,  and  character.  §  3.  His  conquests  from  Pontus  to  the  Borys- 
thenes  :  alliance  with  Tigranes  of  Armenia,  §  4,  Seizes  Cappadocia  • 
intervention  of  Sylla.  §  5.  Encourages  Italians  during  Social  War : 
seizes  Bithynia, while  Tigranes  invades  Cappadocia:  Aquillius  sent  to  re- 
store Nicomedes.  §  6.  Mithridates  invades  Roman  Province :  treatment  of 
Aquillius.  §  7.  Honours  paid  to  Mithridates :  Massacre  of  Italians.  §  8. 
Athens  revolts :  Archelaus  sent  by  Mithridates  to  garrison  Pirseeus, 
§  9.  Sylla  lands  in  Epirus  :  assault  and  siege  of  Piraeeus  :  gallant  defence 
of  Archelaus.  §  10.  Siege  of  Piraeeus  raised:  fall  of  Athens.  §  11. 
Archelaus  retires  by  sea:  fall  of  Piraeeus.  §  12.  Sylla  defeats  Archelaus 
at  Chaeronea.  §  13.  Marches  to  intercept  Flaccus  :  returns  and  defeats 
Archelaus  at  Orchomenus :  winters  in  Thessaly.  §  14.  Flaccus  murdered 
by  Fimbria  at  Nieomedia.  §  15.  Fimbria  nearly  surprises  Mithridates  at 
Pergamus.  §  16.  Negotiations  of  Sylla  and  Archelaus.  §  11.  Sylla 
advances  into  Thrace :  meets  Mithridates  in  Troad  :  Peace  concluded, 
§  18.  Attacks  Fimbria :  his  death.  §  19.  Leaves  Murena  in  Asia :  spends 
remainder  of  84  b.c.  in  Greece. 

§  1 .  It  will  be  necessary  to  go  back  in  order  to  gain  a  clear  per- 
ception of  the  causes  which  led  to  the  Mithridatic  War. 

After  the  battle  of  Magnesia,  Asia  Minor  was  broken  up  into  a 
number  of  petty  principalities,  jealous  of  one  another.  Eumenes 
of  Pergamus  was  rewarded  by  the  addition  of  Lydia  and  some 
other  districts  to  his  rule  ;  but  in  time  the  kingdom  of  Pergamus 


694  CIVIL  WARS:  FIRST   PERIOD.  Book  VL 

became  a  Roman  Province  under  the  proud  title  of  Asia,*  just 
as  the  name  of  Libya  or  Africa  had  been  bestowed  on  the  Pro- 
vince formed  out  of  the  territory  of  Carthage.  Bithynia  to  the 
north,  subject  to  Kings  of  Macedonian  origin,  had,  since  Prusias 
declared  his  inability  to  protect  Hannibal,  fallen  completely 
under  Roman  influence.  At  this  time  it  was  governed  by  Nico- 
medes  II.,  grandson  of  Prusias.  Cappadocia  was  subject  to  a 
prince  named  Ariarathes.  Galatia,  united  into  one  principalit}^ 
was  ruled  by  a  native  chief  named  Deiotarus. 

But  a  country  beyond  these  distant  realms  demands  our  chief 
attention.  During  the  weakness  of  the  later  Persian  monarchy, 
the  Satraps  of  Pontus,  that  is,  the  mountainous  country  along  the 
south  shore  of  the  Euxine  from  the  Halys  eastward,  had  asserted 
their  independence.  In  the  wars  between  the  successors  of 
Alexander,  the  ruler  of  Pontus,  Mithridatcs  by  name,  raised  his 
principality  to  a  kingdom.  His  descendants  extended  their 
power  over  part  of  Cappadocia  and  Paphlagonia  till  Mithridates  V., 
called  Euergetes,  assisted  Rome  in  her  war  against  Aristonicus, 
and  was  rewarded  with  a  considerable  portion  of  Phrygia. 
This  Mithridates  was  assassinated  at  Sinope,  his  capital,  about 
the  year  120  b.c,  and  was  succeeded  by  his  son  Mithridates  VI., 
commonly  called  Dionysos  or  Eupator,  who  was  then  a  boy  of 
about  twelve  years  old.f  This  was  the  man  who  became  famous 
as  the  competitor  of  Rome  for  the  sovereignty  of  the  East. 

§  2.  In  later  times  it  was  remembered  that  at  his  birth  a  comet 
blazed  in  the  heavens  so  large  in  size  as  to  reach  from  the  zenith 
to  the  horizon, — a  sign  of  his  destined  greatness.  But  during 
his  boyhood  the  fates  seemed  adverse.  The  Senate  revoked  the 
gift  conferred  upon  his  father.  His  guardians  attempted  his 
life  both  by  poison  and  the  dagger ;  but  he  escaped  all  perils 
marvellously.  It  was  commonly  believed  that  his  constitution 
was  enabled  to  defy  the  attacks  of  poison  by  the  habitual  use  of 
antidotes.  What  education  he  received  was  given  by  Greek 
masters  at  Sinope.  So  excellent  was  his  memory  that  he  is  said 
to  have  been  master  of  five-and-twenty  languages  so  as  to  be  able 
to  converse  in  their  own  tongue  with  all  the  tribes  who  composed 
his  motley  Empire.  His  appreciation  of  Hellenic  superiority  is 
attested  by  the  employment  of  Greeks  both  for  military  and 
civil  administration ;  and  his  cultivated  taste  is  disclosed  by  the 

*  Sometimes  called  Proconsular  Asia.  Hence  it  is  that  persons,  being 
already  in  Phrygia  or  Galatia,  speak  of  going  into  Asia,  as  in  the  Acts  of  the 
Apostles,  xvi.  6;  compare  xix.  22,  26,  27,  <fee. 

f  On  his  coins  the  name  is  spelt  Mithradates.  Tlie  Romans  changed  it, 
as  -was  their  wont.  So,  for  instance,  MacaaXia  became  in  Latin  Massilia, 
Maaaavccaag  Massinissa,  <fec. 


Chap.  LIX  FIRST  MITHRIDATIC   WAR.  595 

artistical  skill  displayed  in  the  execution  of  his  coins.  The  great 
silver  piece  figured  at  the  head  of  this  chapter  is  one  of  the  most 
admirable  medals  that  came  from  the  ancient  mints.  He  was 
fond  of  hunting  in  the  mountains  of  Pontus,  and  thus  obtained 
vigour  of  constitution,  quickness  of  eye,  and  promptness  of  deci- 
sion. In  all  respects  he  stood  far  above  the  common  run  of 
Oriental  despots. 

§  3.  When  he  undertook  the  government,  he  secured  himself 
at  home  by  the  murder  of  his  nearest  relatives.  Finding  his 
neighbours,  Nicomedes  of  Bithynia  and  Ariarathes  of  Cappa- 
docia,  secured  by  Roman  protection,  he  sought  scope  for  his 
military  ambition  in  the  North.  There  he  formed  an  alliance 
with  Parisades,  King  of  Bosporus,  as  the  eastern  portion  of  the 
Crimea  was  then  called,  and  assisted  him  in  reducing  the  whole 
of  that  Peninsula  to  submission.  At  the  death  of  Parisades, 
Mithridates  took  possession  of  the  Crimea,  and  coins  bearing  his 
name  are  still  found  about  Kertch  and  Kaffa.  The  whole  eastern 
coast-land  of  the  Euxine,  known  to  the  Greeks  under  the  name 
of  Colchis,  as  well  as  the  country  between  the  Kuban  and  the 
Borysthenes,  owned  his  sway.  On  the  East  he  strengthened 
himself  by  alliance  with  Tigranes,  King  of  Armenia,  who  married 
his  daughter ;  and  having  thus,  in  the  course  of  about  thirty 
years  from  his  accession  (120-90  b.c),  raised  himself  to  the  pos- 
session of  a  formidable  Empire,  he  considered  himself  not  unequal 
to  a  conflict  with  Rome  herself. 

§  4.  So  early  as  the  year  93  b.c.  the  state  of  Cappadocia 
invited  interference.  Ariarathes  married  a  sister  of  Mithridates, 
but  was  put  to  death  by  the  agency  of  that  monarch.  Then  fol- 
lowed a  quarrel  for  Cappadocia  between  Mithridates  and  Nico- 
medes. Sylla  was  commissioned  by  the  Senate  to  settle  these 
disputes,  and  he  restored  Ariobarzanes,  a  nobleman  of  the 
country,  whom  his  compatriots  had  chosen  to  succeed  Aria- 
rathes, to  the  throne.  For  the  time  Mithridates  submitted,  but 
the  arrogant  language  of  Marius  confirmed  him  in  the  resolution 
to  make  war  with  the  proud  Republic. 

§  5.  Two  years  later  the  Social  War  broke  out.  Mithridates 
availed  himself  of  the  opportunity  aff"orded  by  the  disturbances 
in  the  West  to  extend  his  own  power  in  the  East.  Nicomedes 
of  Bithynia  was  just  dead,  and  the  King  of  Pontus  seized  his 
kingdom;  while  he  induced  his  son-in-law  Tigranes  to  invade 
Cappadocia,  and  expel  Ariobarzanes  for  the  second  time.  The 
Senate  were  too  much  occupied  at  home  to  attend  to  these  pro- 
ceedings till  late  in  the  year  89  b.c,  when  M'  Aquillius,  the  con- 
queror of  the  Slaves  in  Sicily,  was  sent  to  restore  the  son  of 
Nicomedes  to  the  throne  of  Bithynia,  and  Ariobarzanes  to  that 


696  CIVIL   WARS:    FIRST  PERIOD.  Book  VI. 

of  Cappadocia.  Mithridates  again  yielded,  and  the  fugitive  Kings 
again  took  possession  of  their  thrones ;  but  Aquillius  gave  young 
Nicomedes  to  understand  that  a  largess  must  be  paid  to  those 
who  had  restored  him,  and  urged  him  to  raise  the  necessary 
money  by  an  inroad  into  the  dominions  of  the  King  of  Pontus. 
Mithridates  at  once  despatched  envoys  to  Rome  to  make  com- 
plaints of  the  conduct  of  the  Senatorial  Commissioner. 

§  6.  The  Social  War  had  now  well-nigh  spent  its  force,  and 
the  Senate  dismissed  the  Pontic  envoys  without  a  satisfactory 
answer.  Mithridates  expected  this  result,  and  resolved  to  take 
the  law  into  his  own  hands.  His  Generals,  Archelaus  and  Neop- 
tolemus,  fell  upon  Nicomedes  while  he  was  plundering,  and 
utterly  defeated  him.  A  similar  fate  befel  Aquillius  and  other 
Roman  officers  who  endeavoured  to  support  the  Bithynian  King. 
Thus  the  road  to  the  Roman  Province  lay  open  to  Mithridates. 

Without  hesitation  he  pushed  forward  at  the  head  of  his  vic- 
torious troops.  Almost  everywhere  his  advent  was  welcomed  as 
that  of  a  deliverer.  Aquillius  sought  shelter  in  Mytilene ;  but 
the  Lesbians  delivered  him  up  to  Mithridates,  who  sent  him 
round  the  cities  of  the  Province  seated  upon  an  ass,  with  a 
proclamation  stating  that  to  his  covetous  dealing  alone  the  war 
was  due,  and  then  put  him  to  death  by  having  molten  gold 
poured  down  his  throat. 

§  1.  To  justify  the  character  of  Deliverer,  Mithridates  set  free 
all  prisoners  of  Asiatic  race,  excused  men  from  military  service 
for  five  years,  remitted  taxes  due  to  the  Roman  Government, 
and  cancelled  a  portion  of  private  debts.  All  that  Asiatic  enthu- 
siasm could  bestow  of  honour  was  heaped  upon  him.  He  was 
welcomed  at  the  gates  of  every  city  by  festal  processions.  He 
was  saluted  as  the  preserver  of  Asia,  as  Dionysos  her  present 
and  protecting  Deity.  During  the  winter  he  took  up  his  resi- 
dence at  Pergamus,  and  celebrated  his  nuptials  with  a  young 
Greek  of  Stratonicea.  But  while  he  seemed  to  be  given  up  to 
enjoyment,  an  edict  went  forth  to  every  city  in  the  Province  of 
Asia,  ordering  the  people  to  massacre  all  Italians  found  within 
their  borders.  This  savage  order  was  obeyed  with  alacrity.  On 
one  day  no  less  than  80,000  persons  were  slaughtered. 

§  8.  A  wider  field  now  opened  itself  to  the  ambition  of  Mithri- 
dates. Aristion,  an  Epicurean  philosopher  of  Athens,  persuaded 
the  people  of  that  famous  city  to  rise  against  Rome,  assumed 
sovereign  power,  and  invited  Mithridates  to  support  the  revolt. 
Archelaus,  the  King's  best  General,  was  despatched  to  Piraeeus 
at  the  head  of  a  large  force.  Most  of  the  Greek  communities 
joined  in  the  Athenian  insurrection.  Italians  were  everywhere 
massacred,  as  in  Asia. 


Chap.  LIX,  FIRST   MITHRIDATIC   WAK  597 

§  9.  Such  was  the  state  of  things  when  Sylla  landed  in  Epirus 
with  about  50,000  men.  He  spent  some  time  in  ^tolia  and 
Thessaly  to  collect  supplies,  and  then,  advancing  to  Athens, 
attempted  to  take  Pirseeus  by  escalade ;  but  the  walls  were  the 
walls  of  Pericles,  nearly  80  feet  high,  and  regularly  built  of  mas- 
sive stone.  The  rash  attempt  was  repulsed,  and  the  Roman 
General  found  it  necessary  to  besiege  the  place  in  form.  The 
stones  of  the  Long  Walls  were  used  to  form  two  great  em- 
bankments sloping  upwards  against  the  walls.  When  all  was 
ready,  two  huge  battering-towers  were  brought  up  these  inclined 
planes,  and  began  to  play  upon  the  walls ;  but  Archelaus  baffled 
all  the  skill  and  industry  of  the  Roman  engineers,  and  repelled 
every  assault. 

§  10.  Winter  was  now  far  spent;  and  Sylla,  despairing  of  the 
capture  of  Pirseeus,  unless  he  were  able  to  invest  it  by  sea  as  well 
as  by  land,  sent  Lucullus  to  Asia  to  collect  ships  for  this  purpose. 
While  expecting  his  return,  Sylla  determined  to  employ  his 
whole  force  in  taking  the  city  of  Athens.  During  the  siege  of 
Piraeeus,  the  blockade  of  the  City,  distant  about  five  miles,  had 
been  steadily  continued.  Aristion  and  his  courtiers  lived  in 
luxury :  but  the  people  were  reduced  to  the  extremity  of  famine ; 
and,  but  for  the  strength  of  tlie  walls,  they  could  have  oftered 
little  resistance.  After  some  time,  a  weak  place  was  found, 
and  the  whole  besieging  army  poured  in.  Sylla,  enraged  by  the 
part  taken  by  the  Athenians,  left  the  soldiery  to  wreak  their 
passion  on  the  miserable  city.  Aristion  with  a  few  troops  had 
withdrawn  into  the  Acropolis.  But  want  of  water  soon  obliged 
him  to  surrender  at  discretion. 

§  11.  Athens  was  taken  on  the  ,1st  of  March,  88  B.C.;  and 
Sylla's  whole  force  being  now  available,  he  determined  to  attempt 
a  fresh  assault  upon  Piraeeus,  though  Lucullus  had  not  yet 
returned.  Archelaus  had  been  expecting  succours  sent  through 
Boeotia  under  command  of  the  King's  son.  But  the  young  prince 
had  died,  and  Taxiles,  the  general  left  in  command,  had  halted  in 
Thessaly.  Archelaus,  therefore,  in  despair  of  holding  out,  sailed 
to  Thermopylae,  where  he  joined  Taxiles.  Piraeeus  now  surren- 
dered, and  Sylla  avenged  himself  for  his  long  disappointment 
by  burning  the  dockyards  and  arsenals,  and  all  the  buildings  of 
old  historic  fame  in  that  celebrated  place. 

§  12.  Meanwhile,  Archelaus  and  Taxiles  had  advanced  with 
their  combined  forces,  in  the  hope  of  surprising  Sylla  within  the 
confines  of  Attica.  But  the  active  Roman  was  in  Boeotia  before 
them,  and  Archelaus  retreated  towards  the  Euripus,  closely 
followed  by  the  Romans.  The  army  of  the  Mithridatic  Generals 
is  stated  at  100,000  men,  with  10,000  horse  and  90  scythed  cars; 


598  CIVIL  WARS:    FIRST  PERIOD.  Book  VL 

that  of  Sylla  was  reduced  to  30,000  men,  with  a  small  body  of 
cavalry.  The  armies  met  at  Chseronea,  nearly  on  the  same  ground 
on  which,  two  hundred  and  fifty  years  before,  Philip  of  Macedon 
had  overthrown  the  Athenian  army,  and  made  himself  master  of 
the  liberties  of  Greece.  A  desperate  conflict  ensued,  in  which 
Sylla  displayed  more  personal  bravery  than  strategic  skill.  But 
the  steady  discipline  of  the  Roman  Legionaries  prevailed,  and 
the  battle  ended  in  the  complete  overthrow  of  the  Pontic  army, 
Archelaus  was  not  able  to  collect  above  10,000  men  out  of  that 
vast  host,  and  with  these  he  made  good  his  retreat  across  the 
Euripus  to  Chalcis.     The  Roman  loss  was  small. 

§  13.  After  the  battle  of  Chaeronea,  Sylla  heard  that  L.  Valerius 
Flaccus,  who  had  been  sent  to  supersede  himself  in  the  command, 
had  landed  in  Epirus.  With  his  accustomed  promptitude  he  at 
once  marched  northwards  to  meet  him.  But  at  Melitea  he  heard 
that  Mithridates  had  sent  Dorylaus  with  80,000  men  to  reinforce 
Archelaus.  Leaving  Flaccus  to  work  his  will,  Sylla  returned 
rapidly  to  Orchomenus.  The  Pontic  army  lay  southward  of  that 
place,  on  the  edge  of  a  plain  very  favourable  for  the  action  of  their 
great  force  of  cavalry.  Archelaus  used  every  effort  to  dissuade 
his  new  colleague  from  venturing  another  battle ;  bat  Dorylaus 
was  obstinate.  The  Romans  gained  another  great  victory,  and 
Archelaus  rallied  but  a  small  remnant  of  the  Pontic  army,  with 
which  he  again  made  good  his  retreat  to  Chalcis.  Boeotia  was 
now  given  up  to  plunder,  and  the  Roman  army  passed  into 
Thessaly  for  winter-quarters. 

§  14.  Meantime  Valerius  Flaccus  had  found  his  men  more 
inclined  to  join  Sylla  than  to  fight  him.  Part  of  them,  indeed, 
deserted ;  the  rest  had  been  kept  under  their  banners  by  the 
active  exertions  of  his  lieutenant,  C.  Flavins  Fimbria,  a  daring 
and  unscrupulous  man,  who  had  taken  a  foremost  part  in  the 
massacres  of  Marius.*  To  avoid  a  conflict  with  Sylla,  Flaccus 
and  Fimbria  directed  their  march  towards  the  Hellespont,  with 
the  intention  of  assailing  Mithridates  in  Asia,  where  he  had  but 
a  small  force  remaining.  But  when  Flaccus  crossed  over  from 
Byzantium  to  Chalcedon,  Fimbria  appealed  to  the  army  and 
was  unanimously  chosen  to  the  command.  The  Consul  instantly 
returned  in  high  dudgeon;  but  found  that  Fimbria  was  all 
powerful  with  the  army,  and  fled  across  the  Hellespont  into  Asia. 
Fimbria  pursued  him,  and,  disregardful  of  the  consular  dignity, 
ordered  him  to  be  beheaded. 

*  "  Hominem  longe  audaeissimum  . .  et  insanissimum."  Cieco  pro  Sex. 
Roscio  Amerino  12.  He  stabbed  Q.  Scaevola  at  the  funeral  of  Murius^  and 
presently  brought  an  accusation  against  him,  "  because  he  had  not  died  of 
the  wound." 


Chap.  LIX,  FIRST  MITHRIDATIC  WAR.  599 

§  15.  In  the  spring  of  85  B.C.,  Fimbria,  having  collected  con- 
siderable reinforcements,  threw  himself  suddenly  into  Asia,  and 
advanced  rapidly  upon  Pergamus.  Surprised  by  this  unexpected 
attack,  Mithridates  took  refuge  at  Mytilene,  where  he  was  safe 
from  the  pursuit  of  Fimbria,  who  had  no  ships.  But  Lucullus, 
who  had  by  this  time  collected  a  respectable  fleet,  was  in  the 
neighbourhood.  He  might  easily  have  invested  the  island  and 
terminated  the  war  by  possessing  himself  of  the  King's  person. 
But,  fearful  of  playing  into  the  hands  of  Fimbria,  he  suftered 
Mithridates  to  escape  to  the  mainland. 

§  16.  The  presence  of  Fimbria  was  embarrassing  to  Sylla.  His 
wife  Caecilia  Matella  had  escaped  from  Rome  with  her  children, 
and  urged  the  necessity  of  a  speedy  return  to  Italy.  During  the 
winter  he  had  held  a  personal  interview  with  Archelaus,  in  which 
that  able  officer  proposed  that  Sylla  should  leave  Asia  in  the 
King's  possession,  on  condition  that  Mithridates  should  assist 
him  in  conquering  his  enemies  at  home.  Sylla  made  no  reply, 
except  by  offering  to  make  Archelaus  King  of  Pontus,  on  condi- 
tion that  he  should  become  the  ally  of  Rome.  Archelaus  indig- 
nantly refused  to  break  faith  with  his  master;  upon  which  Sylla 
quietly  asked :  "  If  treason  seems  so  base  to  you,  how  dare  you 
suggest  treason  to  a  Roman  General?"  The  two  commanders, 
however,  continued  to  be  good  friends;  and  it  was  whispered 
that  Archelaus  had  been  won  over  by  the  gold  or  the  persuasions 
of  the  adroit  Roman. 

§  17.  The  year  85  b.c.  was  passed  by  Sylla  in  Macedonia, 
where  he  v/as  detained  by  the  necessity  of  subduing  the  bar- 
barous Tribes  on  the  northern  frontier  of  the  Roman  Province, 
who  were  probably  urged  on  to  attack  him  by  the  gold  of  Mith- 
^dates.  But  the  successes  of  Fimbria  in  Asia  inclined  Sylla  to 
^eace.  Mithridates  also  was  well  inclined  to  treat;  for  his 
fleet,  hitherto  master  of  the  sea,  had  been  utterly  defeated  by 
Lucullus  off"  Tenedos,  and  the  passage  of  the  Hellespont  was 
open  to  Sylla.  After  some  preliminaries,  Archelaus  contrived  a 
personal  conference  between  the  Roman  General  and  the  King. 
They  met  at  Dardanus  in  the  Troad,  when  Sylla  cut  short  all 
diplomatic  arts  by  stating  the  least  that  he  would  accept;  and 
Mithridates,  an  acute  judge  of  character,  gave  way  to  the  peremp- 
tory Roman.  It  was  agreed  that  the  King  should  abandon  all 
his  conquests  in  Asia,  and  resume  the  position  in  which  he  had 
been  before  the  war.  He  was  to  pay  2000  talents  to  indemnify 
Rome  for  her  expenses,  and  surrender  a  fine  fleet  of  70  ships. 

§  18.  This  settlement  was  made  in  the  winter,  and  Mithridates 
withdrew  to  Sinope.  Early  in  the  next  year  (84  b.c.)  Sylla  ad- 
vanced against  Fimbria,  who  had  thrown  himself  into  Thyatira, 


goo  CIVIL   WARS:    FIRST   PERIOD.  Book  VI. 

and  began  to  draw  lines  of  blockade  round  the  place.  Fimbria's 
men  deserted  in  great  numbers;  and  the  reckless  adventurer, 
perceiving  that  his  case  was  desperate,  fled  to  Pergamus,  where 
he  took  refuge  in  the  Temple  of  Esculapius,  and  attempted  to 
put  an  end  to  himself.  But  the  wound  was  not  mortal;  and  he 
was  obliged  to  resort  for  this  last  service  to  a  faithful  slave,  who 
slew  himself  upon  his  master's  body. 

§  19.  It  was  now  open  to  Sylla  to  return  to  Italy.  He  had  in 
the  course  of  three  years  completely  humbled  the  powerful  King 
of  Pontus,  and  compelled  him  to  accept  a  peace  dictated  by 
himself.  The  fourth  year  since  his  departure  from  Italy  was 
now  far  spent.  To  supply  money-  for  his  Italian  enterprise,  as 
well  as  to  punish  the  Asiatics,  he  forced  the  Communities  which 
had  joined  Mithridates  to  pay  him  very  large  sums  of  money. 
Of  these  sums,  part  paid  down  at  once,  Lucullus  was  left  to  exact 
the  rest.  This  officer  discharged  his  task  with  as  much  con- 
sideration and  gentleness  as  possible.  But  to  raise  the  money 
at  all,  the  unfortunate  Provincials  were  obliged  to  resort  to 
Roman  money-lenders,  who  advanced  what  they  required  at 
usurious  interest.  Murena  was  left  in  Asia  with  the  troops  of 
Fimbria,  but  received  strict  injunctions  not  to  renew  hostilities 
with  Mithridates.  Sylla  set  sail  from  Ephesus,  and  returned  to 
Greece,  where  he  spent  the  remainder  of  the  year  84  B.C.,  engaged 
in  active  preparations  for  the  invasion  of  Italy  next  spring.  But 
before  we  follow  him  in  his  great  adventure,  it  will  be  necessary 
to  trace  the  fortunes  of  Cinna  and  his  partisans  at  Rome. 


Coin.— Temple  of  Jupiter  on  Capitol,  and  head  of  Jupiter. 


CHAPTER    LX. 


RETURN    OF    SYLLA  :    SECOND    CIVIL    WAR.       (83,  82  B.C.) 

§  1.  Rome  after  the  death  of  Marius.  §  2.  Cinna  and  Carbo,  Consuls. 
Message  from  Sylla  to  the  Senate :  their  reply.  §  3.  Death  of  Cinna  ; 
Carbo  continues  as  sole  Consul.  §  4.  Rejoinder  of  Sylla  to  the  reply  of 
the  Senate.  §  5.  Scipio  and  Norbanus  elected  Consuls  for  83  b.c.  §  6. 
Agrarian  Law.  §  7.  Enfranchisement  of  Freedmen.  §  8.  Sylla  lands  in 
Italy.  §  9.  Metellus  Pius,  Crassus,  Pompey,  join  Sylla.  §  10.  Defeat 
of  Norbanus  and  Scipio  by  Sylla.  §  11.  Pompey  in  Picenum.  §  12. 
EflForts  of  Sylla  and  Carbo  during  the  winter  :  Carbo  and  young  Marius 
Consuls  for  82  b.c:  fire  in  the  Capitol.  §  18.  Position  of  the  armies  at 
the  beginning  of  the  next  campaign.  §  14.  Battle  of  Sacriportus :  yoimg 
Marius  shut  up  in  Praeneste.  §  16.  Massacre  of  Senators.  §  16.  Sylla 
enters  Rome :  attacks  Carbo  at  Clusium :  fails :  advance  of  Samnites. 
§  17.  March  of  Sylla  to  cover  Praeneste.  §  18.  Metellus  and  Pompey 
complete  the  conquest  of  Northern  Italy.  §  19.  The  Samnites  advance 
upon  Rome :  Sylla  follows :  battle  of  Rome.  §  20.  Battle  renewed  next 
morning :  total  defeat  of  the  Samnites.  §  21.  Death  of  young  Marius : 
end  of  the  War. 

§  1.  After  the  death  of  Marius,  Cinna  remained  absolute  master 
of  Rome.  He  had  associated  with  himself  in  the  Consulship 
L.  Valerius  Flaccus, — chiefly  (as  it  seems)  because  that  noble- 
man had  been  colleague  of  Marius  in  his  sixth  Consulship. 
Flaccus,  as  we  have  seen,  was  murdered  by  Fimbria.  In  the 
next  year  (85  b.c.)  Cinna  declared  himself  Consul  for  the  third 
time,  with  Cn.  Papirius  Carbo.  Sertorius  was  at  the  same  time 
nominated  to  the  Proctorship,  with  a  promise  of  the  government 
of  the  two  Spains. 

26 


602  CIVIL  WARS :    FIRST   PERIOD.  Book  VI. 

§  2.  The  year  passed  away  quietly,  and  in  84  b.c.  Cinna 
assumed  the  Consulship  for  the  fourth  time,  again  taking  Carbo 
for  his  colleague.  Tidings  from  the  East  made  it  plain  that 
Sylla's  return  to  Italy  could  not  be  long  delayed,  and  the  Con- 
suls determined  to  attack  him  in  the  East.  While  they  were 
absent  from  Rome,  envoys  arrived  with  a  message  from  Sylla 
himself  to  the  Senate.  In  return  for  his  services  to  the  State 
"  his  ene7nies"  he  said,  "  had  placed  him  under  ban  ;  his  house 
had  been  rased  to  the  ground,  his  friends  massacred,  his  wife 
and  children  forced  to  Hee."  "  Presently,"  he  concluded,  "  I 
shall  return  to  execute  vengeance  on  the  guilty.  But  be  it 
understood  that  I  intend  not  to  interfere  with  the  rights  of  any 
citizens.  New  or  Old."  The  Senate  were  thrown  into  great  per- 
plexity. They  feared  to  offend  Cinna,  and  yet  wished  to  return 
a  favourable  answer  to  Sylla.  At  length  it  was  agreed,  on  the 
motion  of  another  L.  Valerius  Flaccus,  Chief  of  the  Senate,  that 
they  should  propose  "to  mediate  hetween  ^jWa  and  his  enemies, 
and  to  guarantee  his  personal  safety  if  he  would  return  to  Rome." 
At  the  same  time  they  mustered  courage  enough  to  order  the 
Consuls  to  suspend  their  military  preparations  till  Sylla's  answer 
was  received. 

§  3.  This  order  met  with  little  respect.  The  Consuls  had 
completed  their  preparations.  An  army  was  assembled  at 
Ancona,  and  transports  were  there  collected  to  carry  it  across 
to  Dalmatia.  The  first  division  was  landed  without  difficulty. 
The  second  embarked,  but  was  driven  back  to  Italy  by  a  storm ; 
whereupon  the  men  dispersed,  declaring  that  they  would  not 
make  war  upon  fellow-citizens.  Disaffection  spread  in  the  ranks 
of  the  troops  that  remained  at  Ancona ;  and  when  Cinna  called 
the  leaders  before  his  Tribunal,  their  gloomy  looks  portended 
mischief.  At  this  moment  one  of  his  Lictors  struck  a  soldier. 
The  blow  was  returned,  and  a  tumult  arose.  Cinna  fell,  struck 
by  a  stone,  and  was  despatched  by  the  swords  of  the  soldiery. 

Such  was  the  end  of  Cinna,  a  man  who  for  three  years  had 
been  absolute  Lord  of  Rome.  Elected  to  the  Consulship  at  the 
critical  moment  when  the  Italian  party  had  lost  its  leaders,  he 
stepped  into  the  vacant  place.  The  course  of  events  proved 
that  he  was  not  able  to  make  a  dexterous  use  of  this  fortunate 
chance.  He  died,  disliked  rather  than  detested  by  most  men, 
regretted  probably  by  none. 

His  colleague  Carbo,  a  man  of  considerable  talents,  continued 
sole  Consul  for  the  remainder  of  the  year.  He  gave  up  all 
thoughts  of  crossing  the  sea.  The  troops  who  had  aircac-y 
landed  in  Dalmatia  were  recalled,  and  preparations  were  mad.* 
to  carry  on  a  defensive  war  within  the  limits  of  Italy. 


Chap.  LX.  RETURlf   OF   SYLLA.  603 

g  4.  Meanwhile  Sylla's  reply  arrived.  "  He  could  never,"  he 
said,  "make  terms  with  such  men  as  the  Marian  leaders;  but 
if  the  Senate  chose  to  spare  their  lives,  he  should  not  object. 
As  to  personal  safety,  he  was  in  a  condition  to  provide  this  for 
himself.  As  a  preliminary  he  required  immediate  restoration  of 
himself  and  his  friends  to  all  the  property  and  honours  of  which 
they  had  been  deprived."  This  haughty  language  enabled  Carbo 
to  carry  a  motion  in  the  Senate  for  refusing  to  take  the  message 
into  consideration.     War  on  the  soil  of  Italy  was  now  inevitable. 

§  5.  To  gain  popularity  Carbo  thought  it  necessary  to  con- 
vene the  Centuriate  Assembly  for  the  election  of  Consuls  to 
succeed  himself.  The  choice  of  the  voters  fell  on  L.  Scipio  and  C. 
Norbanus,  both  adherents  of  the  Marian  party,  but  men  of  little 
mark.  It  is  probable  that  the  rejection  of  the  most  able  man  of 
the  party,  Q.  Sertorius,  was  due  to  the  jealousy  of  Carbo,  who, 
by  the  election  of  two  feeble  magistrates,  himself  retained  all 
substantial  power. 

To  strengthen  themselves  yet  more,  and  to  secure  a  numerous 
party,  devoted  to  themselves,  the  Marian  leaders  took  the  course 
which  had  been  followed  regularly  since  the  time  of  the  Gracchi, 
and  brought  forward  two  highly  democratic  measures :  one  an 
Agrarian  law,  the  other  a  large  extension  of  the  Franchise. 

g  6.  The  Agrarian  law  was  moved  by  L.  Junius  Brutus,  one 
of  the  Tribunes  of  the  year,  father  of  Caesar's  murderer.  By  its 
provisions,  the  rich  Public  Lands  of  Campania,  which  had  been 
reserved  for  purposes  of  revenue  even  by  the  Gracchi,  were  to 
be  distributed  to  a  number  of  needy  citizens, — a  number  so  large 
that  Cicero  characterises  the  measure  as  a  transference  of  Rome 
to  Capua.  Young  Cicero  was  himself  residing  at  the  latter  place, 
when  the  duumviri  appointed  to  execute  the  law  arrived  there. 
Crowds  of  expectants  followed  them,  but  their  proceedings  were 
cut  short  by  the  appearance  of  Sylla,  and  the  law  slumbered  till 
it  was  revived  twenty  years  later  in  the  Consulship  of  Cicero 
himself.* 

§  7.  By  the  second  law  it  was  proposed  to  extend  the  Roman 
Franchise  to  the  mass  of  liberated  slaves  and  adventurers, 
who  had  swelled  the  armies  of  Marius  and  Cinna.  The  rights 
of  the  new  citizens  had  been  expressly  reserved  by  Sylla  in 
his  message,  and  therefore  Carbo  had  nothing  to  offer  to  the 
Italians  which  they  might  not  expect  from  his  opponent.  But 
by  this  bold  measure  he  threw  all  power  into  the  hands  of  a 
mob  devoted  to  himself.  For  the  time,  it  answered.  No  serious 
attempt  was  made  to  thwart  Carbo  and  his  party  till  Sylla 
entered  Rome. 

*  Cicero  de  Lege  Agr.  ii.  33-35, 


604  OIVrL   WARS:    FIRST   PERIOD.  Book  VL 

§  8.  During  the  winter  of  84  b.c.  Sylla  had  assembled  in  Greece 
the  army  destined  for  the  invasion  of  Italy.  It  amounted  to 
about  40,000  men, — a  small  force  to  oppose  the  200,000  men 
who  had  been  armed  by  Carbo.  Sylla  had  some  fears  that 
his  Italian  soldiers  might  disperse  as  soon  as  they  touched 
their  native  soil.  But  they  gave  the  strongest  proof  of  their 
fidelity  by  offering  to  contribute  money  to  fill  his  military  chest. 
He  thanked  the  men  for  their  offer,  but  accepted  only  an  oath 
that  they  would  stand  by  him  in  his  enterprise,  and  would 
refrain  upon  Italian  soil  from  that  license  which  in  the  East 
they  had  been  suftered  to  indulge.  Early  iii  the  following  spring 
(83  B.C.)  he  embarked  his  whole  force  at  Patrsee,  and  landed  at 
Brundusium  without  opposition. 

§  9.  As  soon  as  it  was  known  that  he  had  landed,  several 
eminent  persons,  who  had  not  joined  him  in  Greece,  repaired  to 
his  camp.  Metellus  Pius  came  to  add  the  weight  of  his  un- 
blemished name  to  the  cause  of  the  invader,  and  Sylla  gave  him 
a  command  commensurate  with  the  dignity  of  Proconsul.  Young 
Crassus,  the  future  Triumvir,  who  had  escaped  from  Fimbria's 
ruffians,  when  his  father  and  elder  brother  were  sacrificed,  also 
came.  Sylla  desired  him  to  repair  to  the  Marsian  valleys,  where 
his  family  was  influential,  and  to  raise  troops  there  for  his  ser- 
vice. The  cautious  youth  asked  for  a  guard.  "I  give  you," 
oaid  Sylla,  "  your  father,  your  brother,  and  your  friends,  whose 
murder  I  am  come  to  avenge."  Before  this,  a  young  man, 
destined  to  be  the  chief  of  Rome,  had  of  his  own  accord  begun 
to  levy  troops  for  Sylla  in  the  neighbouring  district  of  Picenum. 
This  was  Cn.  Pompeius,  son  c^  the  Proconsul  Pompeius  Strabo, 
who  died  during  the  siege  of  Kome.  After  that  event  the  youth 
had  remained  at  Rome.  When  Sylla  landed,  young  Pompey  was 
but  three-and-twenty ;  but  from  the  school-room  he  had  gone 
into  the  camp ;  his  father's  long  command  in  Picenum,  with  his 
own  popular  manners  and  soldier-like  bearing,  secured  him  the 
favour  of  the  country  people  of  that  place,  and  he  soon  found 
himself  at  the  head  of  a  considerable  force. 

§  10.  The  Consuls  made  no  attempt  to  arrest  the  progress  of 
the  enemy  in  Lower  Italy.  Sylla  passed  quietly  along  the  Ap- 
pian  Way  into  Apulia.  The  Consul  Norbanus  had  taken  post 
before  Capua,  while  his  colleague,  Scipio,  nearer  Rome,  watched 
the  Latin  Way.  Sylla  directed  his  march  across  the  Apennines, 
probably  by  the  gap  to  the  West  of  Venusia,  into  Campania. 

As  he  advanced,  he  took  care  everywhere  to  conciliate  the 
people.  His  soldiers,  mindful  of  their  oath,  observed  strict 
order :  no  injury  was  done  to  lands  or  buildings,  men  or  women. 
He  came  suddenly  upon  the  camp  of  Norbanus ;  and  in  the  battle 


Chap.  LX„  RETURN^  OF  SYLLA.  605 

which  followed  his  veterans  gained  an  easy  victory.  Norbanus, 
with  his  shattered  army,  sought  refuge  in  Capua. 

Leaving  him  there  unmolested,  Sylla  marched  rapidly  towards 
Rome  to  intercept  Scipio.  At  Teanum  the  two  armies  met, 
and  Sylla  proposed  an  armistice  in  the  hope  (he  said)  of  coming 
to  an  amicable  settlement.  Sertorius,  who  was  serving  as  a 
Legate  in  Scipio's  army,  strongly  dissuaded  his  chief  from  lis^ 
tening  to  such  a  proposal,  knowing  that  "in  Sylla,"  as  Carbo 
used  to  say,  "  they  had  to  contend  with  one  who  was  as  much 
fox  as  lion."  But  it  was  not  till  too  late  that  the  Consul  per- 
ceived that  he  had  been  tricked,  and  suddenly  broke  off  negotia- 
tions. His  army,  however,  was  disaftected :  persuasion  and 
bribery  had  done  their  work.  When  Sylla  appeared  before  the 
camp,  he  was  joined  by  Scipio's  whole  force.  The  Consul  and 
his  son  were  surprised  in  their  tents.  But  it  was  Sylla's  policy 
to  appear  humane,  and  the  prisoners  were  dismissed  unhurt, 
Sertorius  escaped ;  but  despairing  of  a  cause  in  which  the  leaders 
were  so  incapable,  he  left  Italy  and  repaired  to  the  government 
of  Spain,  which  had  lately  been  conferred  upon  him  by  Carbo. 
There  we  shall  hear  of  him  hereafter. 

Sylla  now  returned  to  Capua,  where  he  endeavoured  to  beguile 
the  Consul  Norbanus  into  submission.  But  that  place  was  full 
of  needy  Romans,  expecting  their  portions  of  the  Public  Land  of 
Capua, — and  the  Marian  party  was  completely  in  the  ascendant. 
As  Sylla  had  no  means  of  besieging  the  place,  he  was  compelled 
to  content  himself  with  ravaging  the  lands  of  his  adversaries?. 

§  11,  Meanwhile,  young  Pompey  had  been  assailed  in  Picenum 
at  three  points  by  three  Marian  officers  who  had  been  detached 
by  Carbo  to  crush  him.  He  now  gave  the  first  sample  of  that 
military  genius  which  presently  afterwards  raised  him  to  be  the 
first  General  of  Rome,  and  succeeded  in  baffling  all  attacks,  till 
Sylla  himself  hastened  to  his  relief.  On  his  approach  the  enemy 
dispersed ;  and  Pompey  rode  into  Sylla's  camp  to  offer,  not  his 
single  sword,  but  an  army  raised  by  his  unassisted  efforts.  He 
appeared  before  Sylla  to  salute  him  as  Imperator ;  but  the 
General,  rising  from  his  chair  of  state,  greeted  the  young  officer 
by  the  same  honourable  title. 

§  12.  The  remainder  of  the  year  was  spent  by  Sylla  in  estab- 
lishing the  influence  of  his  party  among  the  Italians  of  Central 
Italy.  Money  was  freely  lavished.  The  rights  of  citizenship 
conferred  by  Cinna  were  confirmed.  To  mark^his  confidence  in 
the  issue  of  the  conflict,  Sylla  ostentatiously  adjourned  certain 
law  proceedings,  till  the  time  when  he  could  deliver  judgment 
in  the  Roman  Forum. 

Nor  was  Carbo  idle.     The  failure  of  the  Consuls  Norbanu« 


606  CIVIL  WARS:    FIRST  PERIOD.  Book  VL 

and  Scipio  had  restored  liis  influence  at  Rome.  He  was  elected 
Consul  for  the  third  time,  and  with  him  was  associated  young 
Marius,  a  youth  who  counted  but  twenty-seven  years,  and  had 
not  yet  served  any  of  the  subordinate  offices  required  by  law. 
This  young  man  seems  to  have  possessed  all  the  ferocity  of  his 
father,  without  his  skill  in  war.  But  it  was  hoped  that  his  name 
might  work  like  a  spell  upon  the  memory  of  the  Italians.  Rome 
was  every  day  more  deserted,  and  Sylla's  camp  more  thronged 
by  men  of  rank  and  station.  A  terrible  fire  broke  out  in  the 
Capitol,  and  burnt  its  august  temples  to  the  ground.  Some 
attributed  the  fire  to  Carbo,  some  to  Sylla.  It  was  no  doubt 
accidental,  but  its  eff"ect  was  sinister  to  the  party  in  possession 
of  the  government. 

§  13.  So  soon  as  the  weather  permitted  (82  b.c),  hostilities 
were  resumed.  Sylla  stationed  himself  in  the  Latin  town  of  Setia. 
Metellus  Pius  took  the  chief  command  in  Umbria,  supported  by 
Pompey  and  Crassus  in  Picenum  and  the  Marsian  country. 

Carbo  stationed  himself  in  an  entrenched  camp  at  Clusium  on 
the  Clanis,  whence  he  sent  forth  armies  under  his  lieutenants  to 
combat  the  enemy,  and  collected  reserves  to  support  them. 
Young  Marius  fixed  his  head-quarters  at  the  strong  city  of 
Praeneste,  to  which  he  carried  all  the  gold  deposited  in  the 
Treasury  of  Rome. 

§  14.  The  campaign  opened  by  the  advance  of  young  Marius 
towards  Setia,  at  the  head  of  40,000  -men.  When  he  came  in 
sight  of  Sylla's  army,  he  fell  back  to  Signia.  Sylla  followed  to  a 
place  called  Sacriportus ;  and  here  a  desperate  conflict  ensued, 
which  remained  doubtful,  till  five  cohorts  of  the  army  of  Marius 
threw  down,  their  standards  and  passed  over  to  the  enemy.  Then 
the  whole  line  broke  and  fled  to  Praeneste.  So  hotly  were  they 
pursued,  that  the  Praenestines,  fearing  lest  Sylla's  men  might 
press  into  the  city  together  with  the  fugitives,  closed  the  gates. 
Marius  himself  was  drawn  up  within  the  walls  by  a  rope;  but  of 
his  soldiers,  not  less  than  20,000  were  cut  down  by  the  enemy,  and 
8  300  taken  prisoners.  Among  them  were  found  some  of  Samnite 
race,  who  were  instantly  butchered  in  cold  blood. 

§  15.  By  the  battle  of  Sacriportus  Marius  was  reduced  to  act 
on  the  defensive  for  the  rest  of  the  campaign.  He  perceived 
that  Rome  now  lay  open  to  the  conquerors,  but  with  the  true 
instinct  of  his  race  he  determined  to  anticipate  their  triumphal 
entrance  by  a  de^d  of  blood.  Scarcely  had  he  entered  Praeneste, 
when  he  despatched  a  confidential  messenger,  ordering  L.  Dama- 
sippus,  the  Pnietor  left  in  command  of  the  city,  to  put  to  death 
all  who  remained  there  of  the  friends  of  Sylla.  Damasippns  was 
a  fit  instrument  for  such  cruelty.     He  summoned  the  relics  of 


Chap.  LX.  RETURN   OF   SYLLA.  607 

the  Senate  to  meet  as  if  for  business,  and  at  a  given  signal  a 
band  of  assassins  rushed  in  to  massacre.  Then  perished  L.  An- 
tistius,  L.  Domitius,  and  C.  Carbo,  the  Consul's  brother.  The 
aged  Pontifex,  P.  Mucins  Scaevola,  who  had  once  been  saved 
from  the  sword  of  Fimbria,  escaped  to  the  Temple  of  Vesta; 
but  here  he  was  overtaken  and  ruthlessly  cut  down.  The  bodies 
of  all  who  thus  fell  were  dragged  through  the  streets,  and  thrown 
into  the  Tiber ;  for  "  it  had  become  an  established  custom," 
says  Appian,  "  not  to  bury  the  victims  of  party  strife." 

§  16.  This  butchery  was  hardly  finished,  when  the  van  of 
Sylla's  army  appeared  on  the  road  leading  from  Pra3neste.  Dama- 
sippus  fled  precipitately  by  the  road  leading  to  Etruria,  while 
Sylla,  leaving  his  troops  in  the  Campus  Martins,  entered  the 
City.  But  he  did  not  loiter  there.  Leaving  a  strong  detachment 
under  the  command  of  Lucretius  Ofella,  an  old  Marian  officer 
who  had  joined  him,  to  mask  Prseneste,  he  resolved  to  march 
straight  up  the  Clanis  and  attack  Carbo.  He  found  the  Consul's 
camp  so  strongly  defended,  that  it  was  almost  impregnable.  But 
at  this  moment  news  reached  Sylla  from  the  South  of  an  alarming 
character.  The  Samnites  and  Lucanians  had  hitherto  held  aloof 
from  the  strife,  well  pleased  to  see  their  Roman  masters  worn 
out  by  mutual  conflict.  They  had  no  wish  for  the  triumph  of 
either  party  ;  but  if  one  must  prevail,  that  one  must  not  be 
Sylla.  A  body  of  Samnites  had  joined  Marius  before  the  battle 
of  Sacriportus.  And  now  it  was  reported  that  a  large  army  of 
the  brave  mountaineers,  under  C.  Pontius  of  Telesia, — a  name 
which  recalled  the  memory  of  one  of  the  gloomiest  days  in  the 
Roman  annals, — a  force  of  Lucanians  under  T.  Lamponius,  and  a 
division  of  Campanians  under  Albius  Gutta,  were  in  full  march 
towards  Prseneste. 

§  17.  In  this  emergency,  Sylla  chose  the  boldest  course,  and 
threw  himself  against  the  strong  entrenchments  of  Carbo.  From 
morning  to  evening  he  renewed  his  desperate  assaults,  but  in 
vain.  Nor  did  he  dare  to  weaken  his  army  further  by  renewing 
the  attack  the  next  day.  It  was  necessary,  at  all  hazards,  to  seize 
the  passes  which  led  from  the  mountains  into  Latium,  before 
the  Samnites  gained  them,  and  Sylla  commenced  a  rapid  march 
southward,  while  the  enemy  were  advancing  to\yards  Praeneste. 
It  was  a  race  for  empire  between  the  Roman  and  the  Samnite. 
It  was  won  by  Sylla.  When  Pontius  reached  the  passes  which 
bd  down  from  the  mountains  to  Prfeneste,  he  had  the  mortifica- 
tion to  find  them  already  occupied  by  the  Roman  General,  who 
was  soon  after  joined  by  young  Crassus  at  the  head  of  his  Mar- 
rian  recruits. 

§  18.  In  this   position  things  remained  for  some  time,  Sylla 


608  CIVIL   WARS:    FIRST   PERIOD.  Book  VL 

and  Pontius  each  watching  his  opportunity.  But  in  the  North, 
the  vigor  of  Sylla's  lieutenants  brought  the  war  in  that  quarter 
to  an  unexpected  conclusion. 

Metellus  had  taken  ship  from  Ancona,  and  landed  at  Ravenna, 
whence  he  advanced  to  Placentia,  so  as  to  intercept  Carbo's  com- 
munications with  Cisalpine  Gaul.  The  Consul,  roused  to  action 
by  this  bold  movement,  crossed  the  Apennines  and  attacked  the 
camp  of  the  enemy  near  Placentia.  He  was  repulsed  with  great 
loss ;  and  so  large  a  number  of  his  remaining  force  deserted, 
that  he  returned  to  Etruria  with  only  1000  men.  A  series  of 
disasters  followed.  M.  Licinius  Lucullus,  an  officer  of  Metellus, 
cut  to  pieces  a  detachment  of  Marian  troops.  C.  Verres,  the 
Consul's  Quaestor,  began  his  infamous  life  by  deserting  to  the 
enemy  with  the  military  chest  in  his  possession.  Albinovanus, 
one  of  the  oldest  of  the  Marian  party,  seeing  the  cause  to  be 
desperate,  offered  to  desert ;  and  Sylla  promised  to  receive  him 
if  he  would  do  something  worthy  of  favour.  To  execute  this 
suggestion  he  invited  his  brother  officers  to  a  banquet,  and,  at  a 
given  signal,  a  body  of  ruffians  rushed  in  and  massacred  the 
guests.  Carbo's  army  at  Clusium  still  numbered  30,000  men  ; 
but,  thrown  into  despair  by  these  disasters,  he  departed  by  nigLl 
and  took  ship  for  Africa,  where  for  a  time  he  succeeded  in  rally- 
ing the  remains  of  the  Marian  party.  Pompey  attacked  the 
camp  at  Clusium.  The  men,  though  deserted  by  their  commander, 
still  made  a  desperate  defence,  and  it  was  not  till  two-thirds  of 
their  number  had  fallen  that  their  lines  were  forced.  Even  then 
a  considerable  force  marched  southward  in  the  hope  of  joining 
the  Samnites. 

§  19.  Pontius  and  Lamponius,  informed  of  their  advance,  con- 
trived to  elude  the  vigilance  of  Sylla,  and  effected  a  junction  with 
the  shattered  relics  of  Carbo's  great  army.  Thus  united,  the 
enemy  poured  down  the  Tiburtine  road  to  Rome,  and  encamped 
at  nightfall  before  the  Colline  Gate.  It  was  the  last  day  of 
October  by  the  Roman  calendar  (probably  our  23rd  of  August), 
of  the  year  82  b.c.  The  adherents  of  Sylla  in  the  city  passed 
the  night  in  an  agony  of  fear ;  and  the  most  devoted  adheients 
of  Marius  might  have  trembled  at  the  thought  that  next  day 
Rome  would  in  all  likelihood  fall  into  the  hands  of  her  most 
inveterate  foes.  At  daybreak  Pontius  addressed  his  men. 
*  Rome's  last  day,"  he  said,  "  was  come.  The  wolves  that  had 
so  long  preyed  upon  Italy  would  never  cease  from  troubling 
till  their  lair  was  utterly  destroyed."  But,  as  the  assault  began, 
on  the  Prsenestine  road  appeared  a  large  body  of  horse.  -  Pontius 
well  knew  that  they  were  the  advanced  guard  of  Sylla's  army, 
and  he  prepared  for  battle.     It  was  past  noon ;    Sylla's   troops 


Chap.  LX.  RETURN   OF   SYLLA.  609 

were  exhausted  by  a  rapid  marcli,  but  he  ordered  an  immediate 
attack.  The  left  wing,  commanded  by  himself,  rested  upon 
the  Agger  of  Servius,  and  was  opposed  to  the  Samnites,  while 
Crassus,  who  commanded  the  right  wing,  was  opposed  to  the 
relics  of  Carbo's  army.  Sylla  rode  a  white  horse,  and  was  in  the 
thick  of  the  fight,  the  mark  of  every  javelin.  He  exerted  himself 
to  the  utmost,  but  in  vain.  When  night  closed  he  had  been  forced 
back  against  the  walls,  and  it  seemed  as  if  nothing  remained  for 
Ills  brave  veterans  but  to  sell  their  lives  dearly  next  morning. 

§  20.  But  when  he  was  awaiting  the  dawn  of  day  in  an  agony 
of  suspense,  he  was  surprised  by  a  message  from  Crassus  to  an- 
nounce that  on  his  side  he  had  been  completely  successful,  and 
had  pursued  the  routed  enemy  to  Antemnae,  a  place  just  below  the 
junction  of  the  Anio  and  Tiber.  His  joy  may  be  imagined.  With 
prompt  dexterity  he  contrived  to  join  Crassus  at  Antemnae, 
and  at  daybreak  the  battle  was  renewed.  It  was  not  till  50,000 
men  on  both  sides  had  fallen  that  victory  declared  for  Sylla. 
Among  the  slain  was  found  the  brave  Pontius,  still  breathing, 
with  a  look  of  triumph  in  his  eye.  All  Romian  officers  taken 
prisoners  were  at  once  put  to  death.  Their  heads,  with  those 
(^f  the  Italian  leaders,  were  sent  to  Ofella,  who  paraded  them 
on  spear-heads  round  the  walls  of  Praeneste.  Of  the  com- 
mon sort  about  8000  were  taken,  of  whom  6000  were  Sam- 
nites. Sylla  at  once  summoned  the  Senate  to  meet  in  the 
Temple  of  Bellona,  outside  the  walls,  having  ordered  the  Sam- 
nite  prisoners  to  be  taken  to  the  Circus  Flaminius,  which  lay 
hard  by.  As  the  Senate  were  proceeding  to  business,  cries  of 
death  were  heard,  and  those  who  were  not  in  Sylla's  confidence 
rose  in  alarm.  "Be  seated,"  said  he;  "what  you  hear  need  not 
trouble  you.  It  is  but  some  wretches  undergoing  punishment 
by  my  order."     The  6000  Samnites  were  all  massacred. 

§  21.  The  battle  of  Rome  ended  the  war.  Marius  attempted 
a  sally  from  Praeneste,  but  was  repulsed  with  loss;  and  finding 
his  case  desperate,  endeavoured  to  escape  by  a  subterranean 
passage  in  company  with  a  younger  brother  of  the  brave  Pon- 
tius. Finding  the  passage  obstructed,  they  agreed  to  kill  one 
another.  Pontius  received  the  point  of  his  friend's  sword,  and 
fell  dead :  Marius,  being  only  wounded,  caused  a  slave  who  had 
attended  them  to  despatch  him.  Praeneste  was  then  surrendered 
to  the  conqueror.  Rome,  Italy,  and  the  World  lay  at  his  fee% 
and  men  waited  with  trembling  expectation  the  announcement 
of  his  will. 

26* 


Tomb  near  Alba. 


CHAPTER    LXI, 


sylla's  dictatorship  and  death.     (82 — 78  b.c.) 

§  1.  Sylla's  return :  his  rage  against  the  memory  of  Marius.  §  2.  Proscription. 
§  3.  Scenes  in  Italian  cities.  §  4.  Sylla  Perpetual  Dictator.  §  5.  His 
absolute  power :  control  of  elections.  §  6.  Mithridatic  Triumph.  §  7. 
New  Constitution.  §  8.  Sale  of  property  of  the  Proscribed.  §  9.  Military 
colonies.  §  10.  Changes  in  the  Register  of  Citizens.  §  11-  Power  of 
Tribunes  reduced  to  nothing.  §  12.  All  real  power  entrusted  to  Senate. 
§  13.  Laws  for  tenure  of  Magistracies,  for  Judicial  bodies.  §  14.  Tendency 
of  Sylla's  legislation.  §  15.  Criminal  legislation.  §  16.  His  increasiu'^ 
moderation:  Pompey  and  Cfesar.  §  17.  Cicero's  defence  of  Sext.  Roscius. 
§  18.  Sylla  resigns  dictatorship.  §  19.  Quiet  state  of  Rome  and  provinces, 
except  Spain.  §  20.  Sylla  retires  to  Puteoli.  §  21.  Death  of  Sylla. 
§  22.  His  character. 

§  1.  Presently  after  his  second  entrance  into  the  City,  Sylla 
addressed  tlie  People  in  a  set  speech,  holdino;  out  promises  to  the 
obedient,  and  to  the  disobedient  threats.  But  for  his  declared 
enemies  no  hopes  were  left :  all  were  doomed  to  death  who  had 


Chap.  LXI.  DICTATORSHIP   OF   SYLLA.  611 

taken  any  part  publicly  against  him  since  the  day  on  which  the 
Consul  Scipio  broke  oti'  the  armistice  at  Teanum.  The  memory 
of  Marius  excited  in  Sylla's  breast  passions  absolutely  ferocious. 
The  trophies  upon  the  Capitol,  recording  the  African  and  Cimbrian 
triumphs,  were  destroyed ;  the  ashes  of  the  old  General  were 
torn  from  their  sepulchre  near  the  Anio,  and  scattered  in  the 
stream.  L.  Sergius  Catilina,  afterwards  notorious,  sought  to  win 
the  conqueror's  favour  by  seizing  the  person  of  M.  Marius  Grar 
tidianus,  a  nephew  of  the  old  hero  by  adoption.  Catiline  calcu- 
lated justly.  By  Sylla's  order  the  unoffending  prisoner  was  carried 
to  the  tomb  of  Catulus,  and  there  his  eyes  were  plucked  out, 
limb  severed  from  limb,  and  death  delayed  with  horrid  ingenuity. 
A  Senator,  who  fainted  at  the  cruel  sight,  was  slain  upon  the  spot 
for  showing  sympathy  with  a  Marius.  Soon  afterwards  Ofella 
sent  the  head  of  the  old  General's  son  to  Rome.  Sylla,  with  grim 
delight,  gazed  on  the  youthful  face,  and  said  : — "Those  who  take 
the  helm  should  first  serve,  at  the  oar."  Now,  he  said,  his  fortune 
was  accomplished ;  and  henceforth  he  took  the  name  of  Felix.* 

§  2.  Every  hour  was  marked  by  slaughters.  Some  who  had 
taken  no  part  in  the  war  were  put  to  death,  and  no  one  knew 
vrh ether  he  was  safe.  At  length  a  formal  list  of  the  doomed 
was  made  out  and  published ;  and  this  was  what  was  properly 
called  the  Proscription.  But  even  then  the  uncertainty  remained. 
The  first  list  of  eighty  names  was  followed  by  a  second  of  one 
hundred  and  twenty ;  and  each  succeeding  day  produced  a  horrid 
supplement.  To  make  the  sentence  sure,  a  price  of  two  talents 
was  set  on  the  head  of  every  proscribed  person ;  and  this  sum 
was  paid  alike  to  the  slave  who  slew  his  master  or  the  son  who 
murdered  his  own  father.  All  who  harboured  the  proscribed, 
or  favoured  their  escape,  became  liable  to  their  fate ;  and  wives 
were  found  heartless  enough  to  refuse  shelter  to  their  husbands. 
But  what  most  gave  security  for  vengeance  was  the  knowledge 
that  the  property  of  these  unhappy  men  was  to  be  confiscated 
to  reward  the  zealous  agents  of  the  conqueror.  Those  who 
coveted  the  possessions  of  others  contrived  to  have  tljeir  names 
placed  on  the  Proscription-lists.  Here  again  Catiline  bore 
away  the  palm  of  iniquity.  He  sought  to  legalise  a  murder  he 
had  committed,  by  having  the  name  of  his  victim  placed  upon 
the  proscribed  list ;  and  that  victim  was  his  own  brother.  The 
heads  of  the  slain  were  placed  in  the  hall  of  Sylla's  house. 

§  3.  These  scenes  of  terror  were  not  confined  to  Rome.  At 
Prseneste   Sylla  took  his  seat  on  the  Tribunal.     All  who  could 

*  In  letters  to  Greek  communities  he  translated  this  by  Epaphroditus,  the 
favourite  of  Venus.  Venus  Victrix,  the  goddess  of  pleasure  and  of  fortune, 
was  the  common  device  upon  his  coins. 


612  CIVIL  WARS:    FIRST   PERIOD.  Book  VL 

prove  that  tliey  had  been  against  the  Marians, — a  small  minority, 
— were  ordered  to  stand  aside.  The  remainder  were  divided 
into  two  classes.  Citizens  of  Rome  constituted  the  first;  the 
second  was  made  up  of  the  Praenestines  themselves  and  their 
Samnite  allies.  The  Romans  he  addressed  with  great  severity, 
but  ended  by  sparing  the  lives  which  had  (he  said)  been  justly 
forfeited.  The  Praenestines  and  Samnites  were  ruthlessly  shot 
down.  The  women  and  children  alone  were  spared.  The  town 
was  given  up  to  be  plundered  by  the  soldiery.  Norba,  a  Latin 
town,  which  still  held  out,  was  betrayed ;  the  greater  part  of  its 
inhabitants,  warned  by  the  fate  of  the  Praenestines,  set  fire  to 
their  city  and  sought  a  voluntary  death.  Nola  was  still  held  by 
the  same  gallant  Samnites  whom  Sylla  had  left  unconquered 
before  the  Mithridatic  war :  nor  did  it  now  fall  without  an  obsti- 
nate defence.  To  all  cities  which  had  taken  part  with  the 
Marians  the  Proscription  was  extended,  and  the  same  direful 
scenes  were  repeated  in  each  place.  There  also,  as  at  Rome, 
the  lust  for  other  men's  property  swelled  the  numbers  of  the 
slain.  It  was  chiefly  the  rich  who  were  sought  after ;  the  poorer 
sort,  however  guilty,  were  neglected. 

§  4.  All  this  was  done  without  any  semblance  of  legal  autho- 
rity. There  was  in  fact  no  executive  government  in  existence. 
Sylla  himself,  by  entering  the  city,  had  lost  his  Proconsular 
dignity.  One  Consul,  young  Marius,  had  died  at  Praeneste.  The 
fate  of  his  colleague  Carbo  may  be  shortly  told.  It  has  been 
said  that  he  crossed  over  into  Africa.  Here  he  assembled  a 
considerable  force  and  returned  to  Sicily,  and  Pompey  was 
despatched  thither  to  arrest  his  progress.  Carbo  endeavoured 
again  to  make  his  escape  to  Africa ;  but  he  was  brought  back  in 
chains  to  Pompey,  and  his  head  was  sent  to  Rome. 

Yet  by  conquest  Sylla  held  supreme  authority.  The  Senate 
obeyed  him  in  all  matters,  and  set  up  an  equestrian  statue  to  him, 
with  the  inscription  Cornelio  Sullae,  Imperatori,  Felici.  He 
desired  however  to  have  some  definite  power,  and  represented  to 
the  Senate  that  it  would  be  proper  to  appoint  an  Interrex.  They 
at  once  named  that  L.  Valerius  Flaccus,  who  had  already  signal- 
ised his  attachment  to  the  cause  of  Sylla ;  and  this  man,  having 
assembled  the  Centuries,  read  to  them  a  letter  from  Sylla,  in 
which  he  stated  that  he  deemed  it  expedient  to  revert  to  the 
ancient  office  of  Dictator  (which  had  been  in  abeyance  since  the 
Second  Punic  War  for  a  period  of  120  years) ;  whoever  was  named, 
ought  to  be  named  not  according  to  the  old  rule  for  six  months, 
but  till  he  should  have  succeeded  in  restoring  order  to  the  Empire. 
No  one  could  doubt  who  was  the  person  thus  designated.  But 
Sylla   disdained  innuendoes,  and   added  that  "  for  the  services 


Chap.  LXL  DICTATORSHIP   OF   SYLLA.  618 

demanded  of  the  Dictator  lie  thought  himself  fittest  to  bo, 
chosen."  The  terms  of  this  imperial  mandate  were  echoed  in 
the  bill  introduced  by  the  Interrex.  By  that  Valerian  Law,  all 
Sylla's  acts  in  the  East  and  in  Italy  were  confirmed  :  he  was 
declared  Dictator  for  so  long  as  he  judged  fit;  and  was  in 
express  terms  authorised  to  make  laws,  to  put  citizens  to  death, 
to  confiscate  property  and  distribute  public  lands,  to  destroy 
old  colonies  and  to  found  new,  to  transfer  the  sceptres  of  de- 

f)endent  monarchs  from  one  claimant   to   another.     More    abso- 
ate  powers  were  never  entrusted  to  one  man  by  a  formal  act  of 
law. 

§  5.  Sylla  at  once  assumed  his  oflSce.  He  appointed  Flaccus 
his  Master  of  Horse.  He  appeared  in  public  with  four-and- 
twenty  Lictors,  and  was  besides  surrounded  by  a  body-guard. 
But  at  the  same  time  he  gave  proof  that  he  had  no  intention  of 
superseding  the  old  forms  of  the  Constitution  :  for  he  summoned 
the  Comitia  for  the  election  of  Consuls,  intimating,  however 
that  no  one  was  to  appear  as  Candidate  except  by  his  permission. 
And  what  he  said  he  meant.  Lucretius  Ofella,  presuming  on 
his  services  at  Praeneste,  entered  the  Forum  as  a  Candidate, 
while  the  Dictator  was  seated  on  his  Chair  of  State  before  the 
Temple  of  the  Dioscuri.  Sylla  at  once  ordered  a  centurion  of 
his  guard  to  cut  down  Ofella.  After  this,  it  may  be  presumed 
that  Candidates  were  not  eager  to  thrust  forward  their  claims 
upon  public  notice.  And  to  prevent  any  show  of  independence 
in  the  Centuries,  he  made  use  of  a  terrible  apologue : — "  A  hus- 
bandman, "  he  said,  "  was  troubled  with  vermin.  Twice  he  shook 
his  tunic ;  but  they  continued  to  annoy  him,  and  the  third  time 
he  burnt  it.  Let  those,"  he  added,  "  who  had  twice  been  con- 
quered by  arms,  beware  of  fire  the  third  time."  The  persons 
elected  were  mere  cyphers,  who  served  to  give  a  name  to  the  year. 
§  6.  Early  in  the  following  year  he  celebrated  a  splendid 
Triumph  for  his  successes  in  the  Mithridatic  War.  The  obe- 
dient Senate  suspended  the  old  rule  by  which  a  General  who  had 
once  entered  the  City  forfeited  all  claim  to  a  Triumph  ;  and  two 
days  in  the  last  week  of  January  (81  b.c,)  were  devoted  to  the 
spectacle.  The  first  day  was  occupied  by  a  long  procession  of 
captives  and  treasure  defiling  through  the  City.  On  the  second, 
the  Dictator  himself  ascended  to  the  Capitol,  preceded  by  his 
veterans,  and  followed  by  a  crowd  of  Senators  and  Nobles,  wear- 
ing chaplets  in  token  that  they  acknowledged  Sylla  as  their 
saviour.  Large  sums  of  money  were  paid  into  the  Treasury. 
Splendid  spectacles  followed,  Greece  was  obliged  to  suspend  her 
Olympian  games,  that  her  athletes  and  trained  combatants  might 
exhibit  their  skill  and  strength  before  the  Roman  People.     Young 


614  CIVIL   WARS:   FIRST   PERIOD.  Book  VL 

men   of  the   noblest   family,    contrary   to   old   custom,   did   not 
disdain  to  drive  chariots  at  these  games. 

§  1.  Sylla  now  threw  himself  into  the  true  work  of  his  Dicta- 
torship, and  proceeded  to  issue  a  series  of  Laws  by  which  the 
Constitution  of  Rome  was  entirely  remodelled. 

§  8.  His  first  measure  confirmed  the  Proscription.  He  had 
cleared  the  stage  of  all  antagonists ;  and  he  now  ordained  that 
all  the  families  of  the  Proscribed  were  to  be  deprived  for  ever  of 
their  civic  rights.  The  second  measure  to  gain  this  end  wa« 
more  eflBcacious :  he  ordained  that  all  their  property  should  be 
sold  by  public  auction,  and  the  sums  received  placed  to  the 
public  account. 

Even  if  this  sale  had  been  fairly  conducted,  the  Treasury 
would  have  received  far  less  than  the  value  of  the  property  sold. 
But  the  sale  was  not  fairly  conducted.  The  auction  was  held 
before  the  Dictator's  chair.  His  favourites  were  the  chief  bidders  ; 
and  if  persons  unconnected  with  his  party  ventured  to  enter  the 
lists  against  them,  he  broke  out  into  angry  menace.  So  little  did 
he  regard  appearances,  that  he  used  to  talk  of  selling  his  "booty." 
Often  he  remitted  payment  altogether ;  at  other  times  he  Jbe- 
stowed  what  ought  to  have  been  sold  upon  his  wife  Ca3cilia, 
upon  his  mistresses  or  freedmen,  upon  favourite  actors,  dancers, 
and  musicians.  In  one  case,  made  familiar  to  us  by  a  speech  of 
Cicero,  Chrysogonus,  a  favoured  freedman,  caused  a  wealthy  citizen 
to  be  murdered,  and  took  possession  of  his  goods,  though  the 
man  was  not  on  the  Proscription-list,  and  though  the  time  pre- 
scribed in  the  law  for  the  sale  of  confiscated  property  had  gone 
by.*  The  spirit  in  which  the  sales  were  conducted  appears  from 
a  story  preserved  by  Cicero.  A  sorry  poet  handed  an  epigram 
to  the  Dictator  as  he  was  presiding  over  the  auction.  Sylla 
laughed,  and  ordered  that  the  man  should  have  a  sum  of  money 
from  the  proceeds  of  the  sale  then  in  progress, — on  condition 
that  he  should  write  no  more  poetry .f  The  measures  thus  en- 
forced at  Rome  were  executed  with  the  same  undeviating  rigour 
in  every  town  of  the  Italian  Peninsula. 

§  9.  But  of  the  confiscated  lands  of  the  disafFucted  towns 
great  part  was  not.  sold  at  all.  These  reserved  lands  were  des- 
tined to  reward  Sylla's  soldiery,  and  by  their  means  to  create  a 
new  constituency  for' the  Comitia.  At  least  150,000  men  who 
had  served  under  Sylla  or  his  lieutenants  in  the  East  and  in  Italy 
received  allotments.  Legions,  or  parts  of  Legions,  were  settled 
in  old  Italian  towns,  and  became  citizens  of  those  places,  interested 
by  the  nature  of  their  title  in  upholding  the  Dictator's  measures. 
The  disbanded  veterans  of  Cromwell's  army  were,  it  is  said, 
*  Pro  Sext.  Eoscio  Amerino,  43 — i5  f  Fro  Archid  Poetd,  c.  10. 


Chap.  LXI.  DICTATORSHIP  OF  SYLLA.  615 

the  most  industrious,  orderly,  and  useful  citizens  of  the  towns 
to  which  they  retired.  It  was  far  otherwise  with  the  licensed 
soldiery  of  Sylla.  They  wasted  their  newly-acquired  property 
in  riotous  living;  the  Cornelian  soldiers  became  the  terror  and 
disgrace  of  their  neighbourhood,  and  in  after  times  supplied  the 
ready  instruments  of  sedition  to  Catiline  and  Clodius. 

From  this  time  forth,  the  depopulation  of  Italy  proceeded 
rapidly.  From  this  time  forth,  may  be  dated  the  decay  of  distinct 
nationality  in  the  several  districts  of  the  Italian  Peninsula, 
Parts  of  Samnium  and  Lower  Etruria  became  almost  desolate. 
Apulia  was  given  up  to  shepherds.  From  this  time  forth  also,  a 
common  language  began  to  prevail  throughout  the  country  towns 
of  Italy.  The  disbanded  soldiery  had  all  learned  to  speak  a 
species  of  Latin,  and,  in  all  the  towns  in  which  they  settled,  they 
mingled  with  the  relics  of  the  old  population,  and  introduced  a 
general  use  of  this  language. 

§  10.  Having  disposed  in  this  summary  fashion  of  the  pro- 
perty confiscated  by  the  Proscription,  the  Dictator  proceeded  to 
mould  anew  the  Political  Constitution  of  Rome. 

The  Italians  and  others  who  had  received  the  suffrage  were 
left  in  possession  of  their  right,  unless  they  had  taken  part 
with  the  Marians  in  the  late  war, — an  exception  which  was 
probably  more  comprehensive  than  the  rule.  To  secure  personal 
influence  in  the  Tribes,  Sylla  selected  from  among  the  slaves  of 
the  Proscribed  10,000  of  the  youngest  and  most  active,  men, 
and  by  a  stroke  made  them  Citizens  of  Rome.  All  the  men 
thus  enfranchised  considered  themselves  as  Freedmen  of  the 
Dictator,  and  assumed  his  name.  These  Cornelii  proved  a 
strong  support  of  the  Syllan  Constitution  in  the  years  that 
followed. 

§  11.  But  while  he  thus  filled  the  ranks  of  the  Tribes  with  his 
creatures,  he  took  away  from  the  Tribes  all  real  and  substantive 
authority.  He  ordained  that  Candidates  for  the  Tribunate 
should  necessarily  be  Members  of  the  Senate ;  that  no  one  who 
had  been  Tribune  should  be  capable  of  holding  any  curule  oflSce ; 
that  no  Tribune  should  have  power  to  propose  a  Law  to  the 
Tribes ;  and  lastly,  that  the  right  of  Intercession  should  be 
limited  to  its  original  purpose,  that  is,  that  it  should  not  be 
available  to  stop  Decrees  of  the  Senate,  or  Laws  brought  befor* 
the  Senate,  but  only  to  protect  the  personal  liberty  of  Citizens 
from  the  arbitrary  power  of  the  Higher  Magistrates.  The  Tri- 
bunes were  thus  eff"ectually  shackled,  and  their  power  returned 
to  the  low  condition  in  which  it  had  been  during  the  earlier 
period  of  its  existence. 

These   measures   restored    Legislation   to   the   Centuriate  As- 


616  CIVIL   WARS:    FIRST  PERIOD.  Book  VI 

sembly,  from  which  of  late  years  it  had  passed  away.  But  here 
also  Sylla  ordained  that  the  old  rule  should  be  strictly  enforced, 
by  which  no  measure  could  be  submitted  to  either  of  the  Popular 
Assemblies  till  first  it  had  received  the  sanction  of  the  Senate. 
Thus  the  Assembly  of  the  Centuries  was  placed  under  the  direct 
control  of  that  Council. 

§  12.  The  crowning  work  of  his  Political  Reforms  was  the  rj 
constitution  of  the  Senate.  Its  numbers  had  been  greatly 
thinned  by  war,  massacre,  and  proscription.  To  fill  up  its  ranks 
to  the  old  complement  of  Three  Hundred,  he  first  named  the 
wealthiest  and  most  dignified  of  his  own  adherents.  A  large 
proportion  of  these  were  taken  from  the  Knights,  and  he  thus 
detached  from  that  Order  a  number  of  its  most  influential  mem- 
bers. Some  members  who  obtained  seats  had  begun  service 
with  Sylla  as  common  soldiers,  and  were  devoted  to  his  interests. 
The  number  of  Quaestors  was  at  the  same  time  raised  to  twenty, 
so  that,  for  the  future,  members  would  never  be  wanting  to 
supply  vacancies.  Sylla  did  not  employ  Censors  to  make  out 
the  list  in  due  form ;  indeed,  he  tacitly  abolished  the  Censorial 
oflSce.  The  last  Censors  had  held  office  in  the  year  86  b.c; 
the  next  belong  to  the  year  70  b.c,  in  which  the  most  im- 
portant of  Sylla's  political  regulations  were  set  aside. 

§  13.  With  respect  to  the  Magistracies,  Sylla  ordained  that 
there  should  be  twenty  Quaestors  instead  of  eight,  and  that 
there  should  Ibe  eight  Praetors  instead  of  six.  He  also  required 
the  strict  observance  of  the  Lex  Annalis.  Every  one  who  aspired 
to  the  Consulship  was  compelled  to  go  through  all  the  inferior 
grades  with  fixed  intervals  between  each.  As  in  every  succeeding 
year  the  costly  spectacles  expected  by  the  People  became  more 
costly,  these  offices  were  more  effectually  than  ever  confined  to  a 
limited  number  of  old  families ;  and  for  a  New  Man  to  obtain 
the  highest  offices  became  more  difficult  than  ever. 

It  was  not  to  be  expected  that  Sylla  would  leave  the  Judicial 
power,  as  C.  Gracchus  had  placed  it,  in  the  hands  of  the  Knights. 
There  had  been  a  constant  struggle  to  deprive  them  of  it,  and 
Sylla  now  at  once  restored  this  power  absolutely  to"  the  Senate. 
Thus  once  more  the  Senators  became  the  judges  of  their  own 
Order.  Of  all  the  Laws, of  Sylla  there  was  none  of  which  the 
repeal  was  more  loudly  demanded  than  this. 

§  14.  Such  were  the  chief  Political  measures  of  the  Dictator. 
Their  general  purpose  was  to  restore  the 'Constitution  to  its  state 
before  the  time  of  the  Gracchi.  It  was  still  a  Republic  in  outward 
form,  but  in  reality  a  close  Oligarchy.  The  Popular  Assemblies 
still  existed,  but  were  made  completely  dependent  upon  the 
Senate.     That  body,  composed  chiefly  of  those  who  could  win 


Chap.  LXL  DICTATORSHIP   OF  SYLL A.  617 

the  votes  of  the  People  by  bribing  freely,  and  by  exhibiting  costly 
shows,  monopolized  all  the  powers  of  the  State. 

§  15.  A  number  of  other  Cornelian  Laws  preserved  the  Dic- 
tator's name.  One  defined  more  clearly  the  Law  of  Treason 
against  the  Majesty  of  the  Republic,  originally  passed  by  the 
Tribune  Saturninus.  In  the  Tribune's  mouth,  the  Majesty  of 
the  Republic  meant  the  Majesty  of  the  People  ;  in  Sylla's  mouth, 
2t  meant  the  Majesty  of  the  Senate ;  under  Tiberius  and  his 
successors,  it  was  taken  to  mean  the  Majesty  of  the  Emperor's 
person.  But,  if  Sylla's  political  ordinances  were  framed  in  a 
jealous  and  exclusive  spirit,  his  Criminal  Legislation  was  well 
calculated  to  repress  the  disorders  consequent  upon  the  Civil 
Wars.  The  crime  of  assassination  was  sternly  checked  ;  and  the 
Dictator's  Criminal  Code  long  survived  his  political  measures. 

§  16.  In  the  next  year  (80  b.  c.)  the  Dictator  condescended  to 
fill  the  Consulship  in  company  with  Metellus  Pius ;  but  in  the 
following  year  (79  b.c.)  in  obedience  to  his  own  law  he  declined 
to  submit  his  name  to  the  Comitia.  Generally  speaking,  it  may 
be  said  that  his  government  became  more  lenient,  but  he  was 
perfectly  indiff"erent  to  justice  in  awarding  public  honours. 
L.  Licinius  Murena,  his  lieutenant  in  Asia,  invaded  the  dominions 
of  Mithridates  in  spite  of  strict  injunctions  to  the  contrary,  till 
orders  from  home  put  an  end  to  what  was  called  the  Second 
Mithridatic  War.  On  his  return  to  Rome,  Murena  claimed  a 
triumph,  and  his  claim  was  allowed  by  the  careless  indulgence 
of  the  Dictator.  But  when  Pompey,  returning  victorious  from 
Sicily  and  Africa,  also  claimed  a  triumph,  Sylla  refused  the 
claim.  The  young  General  not  yet  twenty-five  years  of  age,  had 
filled  no  office  of  State  ;  and  the  Dictator,  who  was  anxious  to 
restore  the  old  regulations  of  the  Republic,  attempted  to  satisfy 
Pompey's  ambitious  aspirations  by  saluting  him  by  the  name  of 
Magnus.  Pompey,  however,  was  obstinate  :  his  army  was  en- 
camped outside  the  walls ;  and  Sylla,  not  choosing  the  risk  of 
a  possible  struggle  with  the  rising  General,  gave  a  contemptuous 
permission.  "Well  then,  let  him  triumph."  To  crush  the 
Marian  party  effectually,  he  had  ordered  all  persons  connected 
with  it  by  marriage  to  divorce  their  wives.  Pompey,  who  had 
married  Antistia  from  policy  rather  than  aftection,  readily 
obeyed ;  and  married  -Emilia,  daughter  of  the  Dictator's  wife  by 
her  first  marriage.  But  there  was  another  young  man  who  was 
less  compliant.  This  was  C.  Julius  Caesar,  then  a  youth  in  his 
19th  year.  He  had  married  Cornelia,  daughter  of  Cinna ;  and 
he  boldly  refused  to  put  away  his  wife.  Caesar  was  not  only 
son-in-law  of  Cinna,  but  also  nephew  of  Marius ;  and  this  refusal 
would  have  cost  him  his  life,   had   not  powerful  friends  and 


618  J  CIVIL   WARS:    FIRST  PERIOD.  Book  VL 

kinsmen  interceded  for  him  with  the  Dictator.  "  You  know  not 
what  you  ask,"  replied  the  Dictator ;  "  that  profligate  boy  will 
be  more  dangerous  than  many  Mariuses."  Caesar  was  allowed 
to  escape,  but  was  for  some  time  obliged  to  skulk  in  fear  of  his 
life  among  the  Sabine  mountains. 

§  17.  Another  circumstance  more  strongly  shows  the  greater 
leniency  of  the  Dictator.  Young  Cicero,  who  was  of  the  same 
age  as  Pompey,*  had  returned  from  his  academical  studies  in 
Greece;  and  in  the  year  81  b.c.  commenced  that  brilliant  career 
which  made  him  one  of  the  great  men  of  Rome.  His  first  known 
oration,  for  P.  Quinctius,  contains  little  of  public  interest.  But 
his  second  was  in  favour  of  Soxt.  Roscius  of  Ameria,  a  young  man 
who  was  accused  by  a  notorious  informer  of  having  mur- 
dered his  own  father;  whereas  the  guilty  person  was  Chryso- 
gonus,  Sylla's  favourite  Freedman.  Young  Cicero  undertook 
the  defence ;  and.  the  boldness  with  which  he  conducted  it  is 
quite  as  remarkable  as  the  skill.  Cicero  lashed  the  favourite 
with  all  the  vigour  and  energy  of  youthful  eloquence,  while  he 
dexterously  excuses  Sylla  from  all  share  in  the  blame,  by  a 
compliment  which  is  almost  blasphemous.  "As  Jupiter,"  he 
said,  "is  obliged  to  allow  the  existence  of  pain  and  suffering  in 
the  universe,  so  Sylla  cannot  be  so  ubiquitous  as  to  see  his  will 
executed  everywhere  and  always."  The  jury,  composed  of 
Senators  though  it  was,  took  part  against  the  Dictator's  Freed- 
man, and  Roscius  was  acquitted.  It  must  be  observed,  however, 
that  Cicero  returned  to  his  studies  at  Rhodes  for  two  years. 

§  18.  Sylla's  increasing  moderation  may  have  surprised  many. 
But  all  were  much  more  surprised  when,  early  in  the  year  80 
B.C.,  he  abruptly  laid  down  his  Dictator's  oflSce,  which  he  had 
held  for  little  more  than  two  years,  and  appeared  in  the  Forum 
as  a  private  man,  where  he  ascended  the  Rostra,  rehearsed  his 
acts,  and  desired  any  one  who  had  reason  to  complain  to  come  for- 
ward and  speak.  No  one  answered  the  challenge.  The  blood 
of  his  opponents  could  not  speak  from  the  ground.  The  dis- 
franchised and  the  exiled  had  no  place  in  the  Assembly.  Above 
all,  it  was  hazardous  to  accept  the  challenge  thrown  down  by 
a  man  who,  though  no  longer  Dictator,  still  had  the  State 
waiting  on  his  nod. 

§  19.  Rome  and  Italy  were  now  in  complete  tranquillity.  In 
Spain  alone,  of  the  Provinces,  the  Marian  party  under  Sertorius 
maintained  a  threatening  attitude.  But  Metelliis  Pius  had  been 
despatched  as  Proconsul  to  quell  the  insurrection,  and  it  was 
expected  that  he  would  execute  his  commission  with  ease. 

§  20.  All,  therefore,  seemed  tranquil  wlien  Sylla  left  Rome  for 
ever,  to  seek  at  his  Puteoline  villa  on  the  bay  of  Naples  that 


Chap.  LXI  DICTATORSHIP    OF    SYLLA.  619 

which  he  loved  better  than  power  or  glory, — a  life  of  voluptuous 
ease.  He  loved  not  statesmen,  nor  soldiers,  nor  serious  men 
of  any  kind.  He  was  fond  of  genial  humour  and  unrestrained 
license,  and  therefore  admitted  jesters,  actors,  and  humorists 
to  unreserved  intimacy.  He  was  fond  of  sensual  pleasure ;  and 
therefore,  though  he  always  treated  his  wifa  Caecilia  with  respect, 
his  doors  were  open  to  dancing  girls  and  singing  girls.  He  was 
fond  of  literature,  and  therefore  gave  free  invitation  to  men  of 
letters.  In  company  of  this  various  kind  he  passed  hours 
lounging  in  a  boat  upon  the  Bay  of  Naples,  and  hours  at  table  or 
over  his  wine,  sometimes  conversing  on  art  and  literature,  some- 
times engaging  in  licentious  jesting  or  coarse  buffoonery.  At 
such  times  he  would  not  suffer  business  to  be  named.  Self- 
indulgence  and  amusement  were  the  sole  objects  of  his  life. 

§  21.  But  he  did  not  long  enjoy  this  lite  of  pleasurable  ease. 
About  a  year  after  he  had  resigned  the  Dictatorship,  he  was 
attacked  by  a  complication  of  disorders,  which  ended  in  a  loath- 
some disease.  His  body,  distempered  by  debauchery  and  labour, 
is  said  to  have  engendered  vermin  ;  and  thus  miserably  died  the 
great  Dictator  in  the  60tli  year  of  his  age. 

§  22.  Sylla  was  eminently  a  man  of  genius.  In  war  and  poli- 
tics, in  literature  and  encounters  o£  wit,  he  was  a  match  for  the 
masters  of  each  art  at  their  own  weapons.  That  which  gave  him 
advantage  was  his  perfect  knowledge  of  men,  and  his  just  confi- 
dence in  self,  unalloyed  by  any  tincture  of  personal  vanity.  In 
the  art  of  war,  he  was  inferior  to  Marius,  but  in  the  diplomatic 
arts  by  which  men  are  guided  or  deluded  he  was  unequalled. 
Yet  with  all  qualities  to  fit  him  for  active  life,  his  inclinations 
lay  not  that  way.  He  never  continued  his  exertions  for  a  longer 
time  than  was  required  for  his  immediate  object.  Properly 
speaking  he  was  not  ambitious.  He  desired  wealth  and  power, 
but  only  as  a  means,  his  real  end  being  the  facility  of  absolute 
self-indulgence.  His  passions  were  by  nature  fierce,  and  they 
were  made  fiercer  by  a  distempered  frame  of  body  and  by  un- 
just opposition.  Before  Marius  endeavoured  to  rob  him  of  the 
Mithridatic  command,  we  hear  not  of  any  barbarities  that  can 
be  attributed  to  him ;  and  after  the  Proscription  he  relapsed 
into  the  easiness  of  temper  which  best  suited  his  Epicurean 
principles. 


BOOK  VII. 
SECOND  PERIOD  OF   CIYIL   WARS. 


CHAPTER    LXII. 


REVOLUTIONARY   ATTEMPT   OF  LEPIDUS  I    SERTORIUS  I    SPARTACUS  I 
CONSULSHIP    OF    POMPEY    AND    CRASSUS.       (78 70  B.C.) 

§  1.  Symptoms  of  decay  in  the  constitution  of  Sylla :  Catulus  and  Lepidus, 
Consuls.  §  2.  Revolutionary  attempt  of  Lepidus.  §  3.  Adventures  of 
Sertorius.  §  4.  His  goveinment  of  Spain.  §  5.  Metellus  Pius  fails  in 
crushing  him:  Pompey  sent  to  his  aid.  §  6.  Sertorius  maintains  his 
superiority :  treaty  with  Mithridates.  §  7.  Sertorius  assassinated  by  Per- 
perna.  §  8.  Sertorian  war  concluded  by  Pompey.  §  9.  Gladiatorial  War : 
Spartacus.  §  10.  He  becomes  almost  master  of  Italy.  §  11.  Crassus 
commands  agakist  him:  his  skilful  measures.  §  12.  Defeat  and  death  of 
Spartacus-  §  13.  Claim  of  Pompey  to  merit  of  concluding  Gladiatorial 
War.  §  14-  Pompey  and  Crassus  elected  Consuls,  illegally.  §  15.  Popular 
measures  announced  by  Pompey :  Tribunate  reestablished.  §16.  Reform  of 
law-courts  proposed  by  Praetor  L.  Cotta,  opposed  by  Senate.  §  17.  Cicero's 
prosecution  of  Verres.  §  18.  Au.elian  Law  carried:  Reform  of  Senate. 
§  19.  Rivalry  of  Pompey  and  Crassus:  the  latter  acknowledges  superiority 
of  Pompey. 

§  1.  We  now  enter  upon  the  last  stage  in  the  Decline  and  Fall 
of  the  Republic.  By  a  violent  effort  Sylla  had  restored  the 
government  to  the  Senatorial  Nobility.  But  symptoms  inti- 
mating the  insecurity  of  the  fabric  which  he  had  hastily  reared 
on  blood-bathed  foundations  showed  themselves  even  before  his 
death.  After  his  secession,  Q.  Catulus  became  the  chief  of  the 
Senatorial  party.  He  was  son  of  the  Catulus  who  shared  the 
Cimbric  Triumph  with  Marius,  and  in  the  year  79  B.C.  he  appeared 
among  the  candidates  for  the  Consulship  with  the  certainty  of 
election.  The  person  who  aspired  to  be  his  colleague  was 
M.  ^milius  Lepidus,  a  man  of  illustrious  family,  but  of  vain 
and  petulant  character.  He  was  supported  by  many  friends, 
among  others  by  young  Pompey.  Sylla  knew  the  man,  and 
warned  Pompey  against  entrusting  him  with  power.  But  Pompey, 
who  already  began  to  talk  of  "  the  setting  and  the  rising  sun,'' 
disregarded  the  warning,  and  Lepidus  was  elected. 


Chap.  LXII.  SERTORIUS.  621 

§  2.  Scarcely  was  Sylla  dead  when  his  words  were  fulfilled. 
Lepidus  declared  himself  the  Chief  of  the  Italian  party,  and 
promised  to  restore  all  that  Sylla  had  taken  away.  To  prevent 
a  renewal  of  Civil  War,  the  Senate  bound  him  and  Catulus  alike 
by  oath  not  to  take  up  arms  during  their  Consulate.  But  Lepidus 
retired  to  his  Province  of  Transalpine  Gaul,  and,  pretending  that 
his  oath  did  not  bind  him  there,  began  to  levy  troops.  The 
Senate  summoned  him  to  return  to  Rome.  He  obeyed,  but  ife 
was  at  the  head  of  an  army.  To  oppose  him,  Catulus  took  posfc 
before  the  Mulvian  Bridge,  with  Pompey  for  his  lieutenant. 
Here  they  were  attacked  by  Lepidus,  who  was  easily  defeated. 
After  thfS  failure,  he  fled  to  Sardinia,  where  he  died  shortly  after. 
But  his  lieutenants,  M.  Perperna  and  L.  Junius  Brutus,  father  of 
Caesar's  murderer,  kept  the  troops  together,  and  waited  for  the 
course  of  events.  A  war  was  raging  in  Spain,  which  might  well 
encourage  the  hopes  of  discontented  persons. 

§  3.  It  has  been  mentioned  that  Q.  Sertorius  had  assumed  the 
government  of  Spain.  But  after  a  vain  struggle  against  superior 
forces,  he  was  obliged  to  take  refuge  in  Mauritania.  The  news 
from  Italy  was  dispiriting.  It  seemed  as  if  the  Marian  cause  was 
lo.^t  for  ever.  Sertorius  lent  ear  to  the  tales  of  seamen  who  had 
lately  made  a  voyage  to  the  Fortunate  Islands  (so  the  Ancients 
called  the  Azores),  and  seemed  to  recognise  the  happy  regions 
which  Greek  legends  assigned  as  the  abode  of  the  Blessed.* 
But  while  the  active  soldier  was  indulging  in  day-dreams  of  in- 
dolent tranquillity,  he  received  an  invitation  from  the  Lusitanians 
to  head  them  in  rising  against  the  Senatorial  Governors,  and 
obeyed  without  a  moment's  hesitation.  Viriathus  himself  did 
not  use  with  better  effect  the  energies  of  the  brave  mountaineers. 
The  South  of  Spain  was  soon  too  hot  to  hold  the  Syllan  leaders: 
the  proscribed  Marians  came  out  of  their  hiding-places  and 
joined  the  new  chief.  His  progress,  in  the  CQurse  of  two  years' 
time,  became  so  serious,  that  when  Metellus  Pius  laid  down  his 
Consulship,  he  was  sent  into  Spain  to  crush  Sertorius. 

§  4.  But  to  crush  Sertorius  was  no  easy  task.  He  was  no 
mere  soldier,  but  possessed  political  qualities  of  a  high  order. 
Like  Hamilcar  and  Hasdrubal  of  old,  he  flattered  the  Spaniards 
with  the  hope  of  rising  to  independence  under  his  rule.  The 
government  which  he  formed  indicated  a  disposition  to  dispute 
Empire  with  Rome.     He  formed  a  Senate  of  Three  Hundred, 

*       ...  fvda  MaKapcjv 
NafTOf  'l)Keavideg 

avpai  TTEpcTTVEOiaiv,  avde/ua  6i  ;^;/)V(to?5  ^Tieyet, 
TO.  fiiv  x^Pf^odev  an''  dyTiauv  devdepeojv, 
J.dcjp  6'  uT^la  (j>epf3ei,  k,  t.  A, — Find.  Olymp.  ii.  128,  sqq. 


622  CIVIL  WARS:    SECOND   PERIOD.  Book  VII 

consisting  partly  of  proscribed  Romans,  partly  of  Spanish  Chiefs 
— a  step  unparalleled  in  the  provincial  government  of  Rome. 
All  cities  in  his  power  he  organised  after  the  Italian  model ; 
and  at  Osca  (now  Huesca  in  Catalonia)  he  established  a  scliool 
for  the  noble  youth  of  Spain.  The  boys  wore  the  Roman 
garb,  and  were  taught  the  tongues  of  Rome  and  Athens.  Ser- 
torius  is  almost  the  only  statesman  of  antiquity  who  tried  to  use 
education  as  an  engine  of  government.  It  cannot  indeed  bo 
pretended  that  his  views  were  merely  philanthropic ;  no  doubt  he 
held  the  boys  as  hostages  for  the  fidelity  of  their  sires. 

His  great  talents,  above  all  his  acknowledgment  of  equality 
beween  Provincials  and  Romans,  won  him  golden  *  opinions. 
Everywhere  the  Spaniards  crowded  to  see  him,  and  loudly  pro- 
tested their  readiness  to  die  for  him.  Their  enthusiastic  reverence 
for  his  person  was  increased  by  the  presence  of  a  white  doe, 
which  continually  followed  him,  and  was  regarded  by  the  simple 
people  as  a  familiar  spirit,  by  means  of  which  he  held  communi- 
cation with  heaven. 

§  5.  Metellus  in  two  campaigns  found  himself  unequal  to  cope 
with  the  new  ruler  of  Spain.  In  the  second  of  these  years 
(11  B.C.)  Perperna,  who  had  retired  to  Gaul  with  the  best  troops 
of  Lepidus,  entered  Spain,  and  joined  the  popular  leader;  and 
the  Senate  hastily  despatched  Pompey  to  reinforce  Metellus.  On 
his  march  through  Gaul,  the  young  General  encountered  the  other 
remnant  of  the  army  of  Lepidus  under  Brutus ;  and  Brutus,  who 
fell  into  his  hands,  was  put  to  death  in  cold  blood. 

§  6.  Pompey's  aid,  however,  did  not  change  the  face  of  affairs. 
In  the  first  battle  the  young  General  was  saved  by  the  approach 
of  Metellus,  on  which  Sertorius  said  :  "  If  the  old  woman  had  not 
come  up,  I  should  have  given  the  boy  a  sound  drubbing  and  sent 
him  back  to  Rome."  At  the  end  of  15  b.c.  Pompey  wrote  an 
urgent  letter  to  the  Senate,  representing  the  insufficiency  of  his. 
forces,  and  two  more  legions  were  sent  to  reinforce  him.  Mean- 
time Sertorius  himself  had  reasons  for  apprehension.  Some  of 
his  Roman  friends,  disliking  his  policy  of  favouring  the  Pro 
vincials,  made  overtures  to  the  Senatorial  commanders;  and 
Sertorius,  severe  by  nature,  still  further  exasperated  the  ]ioman& 
of  his  party  by  forming  his  body-guard  exclusively  of  Spaniards. 
But  he  still  maintained  his  superiority  in  the  field.  Nor  was  it 
encouraging  to  learn  that  he  had  received  envoys  from  Mithri- 
dates,  who  was  about  to  renew  war  with  Rome.  Sertorius  agreed 
to  furnish  Roman  officers  to  train  the  soldiers  of  Asia,  while  the 
King  was  to  repay  the  loan  in  ships  and  money. 

§  1.  The  despotic  power  exercised  by  Sertorius  had  corrupted 
his  nature.     He  indulged  in  the  immoderate  use  of  wine,  was 


Chap.  LXIL  SPARTACUS.  623 

impatient  of  the  slightest  contradiction,  and  was  guilty  of  many 
acts  of  tyranny.  Even  the  Spaniards  began  to  fall  away ;  and 
Sertorius  in  a  moment  of  irritation  ordered  all  the  boys  at  Osca 
to  be  put  to  death.  This  cruel  and  impolitic  act  would  probably 
have  cost  him  his  power  and  his  life,  even  if  it  had  not  been 
terminated  by  treachery.  Perperna,  who  had  at  first  joined  him 
against  his  own  inclination,  thought  that  a  favourable  opportu- 
nity had  arrived  for  grasping  power.  ,  He  invited  Sertorius  to 
a  banquet  at  Osca ;  and  the  General,  having  drunk  freely  accord- 
ing to  his  custom,  fell  an  easy  prey  to  the  dagger  of  the  assassin 

(72  B.C.). 

§  8.  But  when  Perperna  had  wrought  this  shameful  deed,  he 
found  that  the  name  of  Sertorius  was  still  powerful  among  the 
Spaniards.  Many  of  them,  now  that  their  great  leader  was  no 
more,  forgot  his  faults,  and  with  the  devoted  enthusiasm  of  their 
nation  threw  themselves  into  the  flames  of  his  funeral  pyre.  A 
few  days  after  the  death  of  Sertorius,  Perperna  attempted  to  lead 
the  soldiery  against  Pompey,  but  he  sustained  an  ignominious 
dsfeat.  His  men  dispersed,  and  he  was  taken  prisoner.  When 
brought  before  Pompey,  he  endeavoured  to  gain  favour  by  hand- 
ing to  him  letters  which  had  been  interchanged  by  Sertorius 
with  some  of  the  chief  men  at  Rome.  But  Pompey,  with  prudent 
magnanimity,  threw  the  letters  into  the  fire  and  refused  to  hear 
him.  In  the  course  of  a  year  the  last  relics  of  the  Marian  party 
•in  Spain  were  extinguished. 

Before  this  was  effected,  Rome  was  engaged  in  conflict  v/itr. 
Mithridates.  The  history  of  this  war  shall  be  reserved  for  a 
separate  chapter.  But  here  must  be  noticed  a  formidable  out- 
break that  took  place  in  Italy,  and  threatened  the  very  existence 
of  the  State.     This  was  the  war  of  the  Gladiators. 

§  9.  For  the  purpose  of  the  barbarous  shows  which  were  so 
much  enjoyed  at  Rome,  it  was  the  custom  to  keep  schools  for 
training  gladiators,  who  were  let  out  by  their  owners  to  the  ^diles. 
At  Capua  there  was  a  large  school  of  this  kind  ;  and  among  the 
gladiators  in  training  there  was  Spartacus,  a  Thracian,  who  had 
once  led  his  countrymen  against  Roman  commanders,  but  now, 
having  been  taken  prisoner,  was  destined  to  make  sport  for  his 
conquerors.  He  persuaded  about  seventy  of  his  fellow-bondsmen 
to  join  him  in  breaking  loose :  better  it  was,  he  argued,  to  die  in 
battle  on  the  open  field,  than  on  the  sand  of  the  amphitheatre. 
This  handful  of  brave  men  took  up  a  strong  position  upon  Mount 
Vesuvius,  where  Spartacus  was  presently  joined  by  slaves  and 
outlaws  of  all  descriptions.  The  gladiators,  old  soldiers  like 
himself,  supplied  him  with  officers.  QCnomaus  and  Crixus,  the 
former  a  Greek,  tne  latter  a  Gaul,  acted  as  his  lieutenants.     He 


624  CIVIL  WARS:    SECOND   PERIOD.  Book  Vll 

enforced  strict  discipline ;  and,  so  long  as  lie  was  able,  obliged 
his  followers  to  abstain  from  acts  of  rapine.  Two  Roman  Praetors 
attacked  him,  but  they  were  beaten  with  loss,  and  the  numbers 
of  his  army  swelled  every  day.  All  this  happened  in  73  b.c, 
after  the  Mithridatic  War  had  broken  out,  and  before  the  Ser- 
torian  War  was  ended. 

§  10.  In  the  next  year  (72  b.c),  the  same  which  witnessed  the 
murder  of  Sertorius,  Spartacus  had  become  strong  enough  to 
take  the  oftensive.  He  had  to  face  a  formidable  power,  for  both 
Consuls  were  ordered  to  take  the  field.  But,  at  the  head  of 
more  than  100,000  men,  he  forced  the  passes  of  the  Apennines 
and  entered  Picenum.  His  subordinates,  however,  proved  un- 
manageable :  and  Spartacus,  aware  that  the  power  of  Rome  must 
prevail,  bent  all  his  energies  towards  forcing  his  way  across  the 
Alps,  in  the  hope  of  reaching  some  remote  region  inaccessible  to 
Rome.  As  he  pressed  northwards,  he  was  assaulted  by  both 
the  Consuls,  but  defeated  them  both,  and  made  his  way  to 
Cisalpine  Gaul ;  but  here  he  was  repulsed  by  the  Praetor  Cassius, 
and  obliged  by  the  impatience  of  his  followers  to  retrace  his 
steps.  Still,  every  other  Roman  officer  who  dared  to  meet  him  was 
defeated:  at  one  time  the  brave  Gladiator  is  said  to  have  meditated 
a  descent  upon  Rome  itself.  But  he  relinquished  this  desperate 
plan,  and  spent  the  remainder  of  the  year  in  collecting  treasure 
and  arms.  Little  discipline  was  now  observed.  The  extent  of 
the  ravages  committed  by  the  bands  under  his  command  may  be- 
guessed  from  the  well-known  line  of  Horace,  in  which  he  promised 
Lis  friend  a  jar  of  wine  made  in  the  Social  War,  "  if  he  could  find 
one  that  had  escaped  the  clutches  of  roaming  Spartacus."* 

§  11.  The  management  of  the  war  was  now  committed  to 
Crassus,  who  had  really  won  the  Battle  of  the  Colline  gate. 
Ever  since  the  triumph  of  Sylla  he  had  lived  quietly  at  Rome, 
profiting  by  the  Proscription  to  buy  up  property  cheap;  and 
after  that  period  he  had  been  busied  in  making  the  most  profit- 
able use  of  the  large  fortune  which  he  had  amassed. 

Crassus  took  the  field  with  six  new  legions,  to  be  added  to  the 
remains  of  the  Consular  Armies.  The  disorganised  battalions 
of  these  armies  he  punished  by  the  unjust  and  terrible  penalty 
of  decimation ;  but  his  rigour  was  successful  in  restoring  disci- 
pline. He  found  Spartacus  besieging  Rhegium,  with  the  view  of 
establishing  a  connexion  with  Sicily,  and  rekindling  the  Servile 
War  in  that  Island.  The  Gladiator  had  even  agreed  with  a 
squadron  of  Cilician  Pirates  to  convey  2000  of  his  men  across 
the  straits;  but  the  faithless  marauders  took  the  money  and 
sailed  without  the  men.  Crassus  determined  to  shut  up  the 
*  3  Oarm.  xiv.  19. 


Chap.  LXII     CONSULSHIP  OF  POMPEY  AJ^D  CRASSUS.  625 

enemy  by  drawing  entrenchments  across  the  narrowest  part  of 
the  Calabrian  Peninsula.  Twice  in  one  day  did  Spartacus  en- 
deavour to  break  through  the  lines ;  twice  he  was  thrown  back 
with  great  slaughter.  But  he  continued  to  defend  himself  with 
dauntless  pertinacity ;  and  the  Senate,  hearing  that  Pompey  was 
on  his  way  back  from  Spain,  joined  him  in  the  command  with 
Crassus,  and  urged  him  to  accelerate  his  march. 

§  12.  Crassus,  afraid  of  losing  his  laurels,  determined  to  assault 
Spartacus ;  but  the  brave  Gladiator  anticipated  him  by  forcing 
a  passage  through  the  lines,  and  marching  upon  Brundusium, 
where  he  hoped  to  seize  shipping  and  make  his  escape  from 
Italy.  But  M.  Lucullus,  brother  of  Lucius,  the  commander 
against  Mithridates,  had  just  returned  with  a  force  of  veteran 
soldiers  from  Macedonia  to  Brundusium.  Spartacus,  foiled  in 
his  intention,  turned  like  a  wolf  at  bay  to  meet  Crassus.  A 
fearful  conflict  ensued,  which  remained  doubtful  till  Spartacus 
was  wounded  by  a  dart  through  the  thigh.  Supported  on  his 
knee,  he  still  fought  heroically,  till  he  fell  overpowered  by  num- 
bers. Most  of  his  followers  were  cut  to  pieces;  but  a  strong 
body  of  the  insurgents  drew  off  in  good  order  to  the  mountains. 
A  division  of  5000  made  their  way  to  the  North  of  Italy,  where 
Pompey  fell  in  with  them  on  his  way  home  from  Spain,  and  slew 
them  to  a  man.  About  6000  more  were  taken  prisoners  by 
Crassus,  who  hung  them  along  the  road  from  Rome  to  Capua. 

§  13.  To  Crassus  belongs  the  credit  of  bringing  this  dreadful 
war  to  a  close.  In  six  months  he  had  finished  his  work.  But 
Pompey  claimed  the  honour  of  concluding  not  only  the  Sertorian 
War,  but  also  the  war  with  Spartacus.  In  fact  he  had  not  much 
cause  for  boasting  in  either  case.  The  daggers  of  Perperna  really 
brought  the  Spanish  contest  to  an  end  ;  and  as  to  the  gladiatorial 
conflict,  the  lucky  chance  by  which  Pompey  intercepted  5000 
fugitives  was  his  only  claim  to  credit.  But  the  young  General 
was  a  favourite  with  the  soldiery  and  with  the  People,  while 
Crassus  from  his  greedy  love  of  money  enjoyed  little  popularity. 
Public  opinion,  therefore,  seconded  claims  which  were  put  forward 
without  modesty  or  justice. 

§  14.  Neither  Pompey  nor  Crassus  would  enter  the  City;  for 
both  desired  a  Triumph,  and  their  armies  lay  at  the  gates  to 
3hare  the  honours.  The  wish  of  Pompey  was  at  once  granted; 
but  to  Crassus  only  an  Ovation  was  ponceded. 

Before  they  entered  the  City,  they  had  both  asked  permission 
to  offer  themselves  as  Candidates  for  the  Consulship.  Both  were 
excluded  by  the  Laws  of  Sylla.  Crassus  was  still  Praetor,  and  at 
least  two  years  ought  to  elapse  before  his  Consulship.  Pompey 
was  only  in  his  thirty-fifth  year,  and  had  not  even  been  Quaestor. 

27 


626  CIVIL   WARS:  SECOND   PERIOD.  Book  VIL 

The  Senate,  however,  dared  not  refuse  Poinpey ;  for  he  would 
not  disband  his  army,  and  his  tone  brooked  no  refusal.  And 
what  was  granted  to  Ponipey  could  not  be  denied  to  Crassus, 
who  also  kept  his  soldiers  under  arms.  Thus,  at  the  demand  of 
two  chiefs,  each  backed  by  an  army,  the  Senate  were,  within 
eight  years  after  Sylla's  death,  obliged  to  break  his  Laws.  Pom- 
pcy  was  elected  by  acclamation.  Crassus  might  have  been  loss 
successful,  had  there  not  been  a  secret  understanding  between 
him  and  Pompey.  On  the  Calends  of  January,  10  b.c,  Pompey 
and  Crassus  entered  on  their  memorable  Consulship. 

§  15.  On  that  day  Pompey  gave  intimation  of  his  intention 
to  pursue  a  popular  course  of  policy.  In  a  set  speech  he  declared 
his  intention  of  releasing  the  Tribunes  from  the  trammels  im- 
posed upon  them  by  Sylla,  and  of  attempting  a  Reform  of  the 
Judicial  system.  Both  of  Pompey's  announcements  were  received 
with  shouts  of  applause.  To  the  former  the  Senate  oft'ered  but 
a  feeble  opposition.  The  Tribunes  were  restored  to  the  exercise 
of  their  power,  and  with  their  restoration  it  may  be  said  that  the 
key-stone  of  the  arch  erected  by  Sylla  fell.  With  the  resuscita- 
tion of  this  popular  power  revived  also  the  independence  of  the 
Tribe- Assembly,  and  hence  followed  by  necessity  a  struggle  be- 
tween that  body  and  the  Senate. 

§  16.  But  the  other  measure  broached  by  Pompey  was  one 
which  the  Senate  determined  to  oppose  to  the  uttermost.  They 
could  not  tamely  abandon  their  absolute  power  over  the  Law- 
courts.  Yet  in  the  last  ten  years  scandal  had  been  great.  Among 
other  persons  Caesar  had  reason  to  complain.  After  his  escape 
from  Sylla's  vengeance,  he  also,  like  Cicero,  resorted  to  the 
schools  of  Greek  Philosophy.  On  his  return,  though  only  in  his 
23rd  year,  he  indicted  Cn.  Dolabella  for  misgovernment  in  Mace- 
donia. Dolabella  was  defended  by  Q.  Hortensius,  the  first 
Advocate  of  the  day,  a  determined  adherent  of  the  Senatorial 
Party,  and  as  a  matter  of  course  he  was  acquitted.  It  had, 
however,  been  remarked  that  the  Knights  were  little  less  corrupt 
than  the  Senators ;  and  the  law  proposed  under  Pompey's 
authority  by  the  City-Praetor,  L.  Aurelius  Cotta,  was  so  devised 
as  to  establish  a  Court  composed  of  three  elements,  each  of  which 
might  sei-ve  as  a  check  upon  the  other  two.  In  each  Jury  one- 
third  of  the  Jurymen  was  to  be  furnished  by  the  Senate,  one- 
third  by  the  Knignts,  and  t^je  remaining  third  by  the  Tribunes 
of  the   Treasury.*      Catulus   endeavoured   to    promote    a   com- 

*  The  Trihuni  jErarii.  Originally  they  were  the  Presidents  of  the  Tribes 
and  collectors  of  the  Tributum,  but  their  name  hardly  ever  occurs  m  Romac 
authors.  It  is  probable  that  there  was  one  Tribumis  yErarhis  for  every  Cen- 
tury in  the  new  Comitia  Centuriata,  and  therefore  in  all  350  in  number. 


Chap.  LXII.     CONSULSHIP  OF  POMPEY  AND  CRASSUS.  621 

promise;  but  Poinpey  was  resolute,  and  the  Nobles  prepared  to 
maintain  their  privilege  by  arms. 

§  17.  An  event,  however,  occurred  which  smoothed  the  way 
for  Cotta's  Law.  Cicero,  as  we  have  mentioned,  after  the  great 
credit  he  had  won  by  his  bold  defence  of  Sext.  Roscius,  had 
quitted  Rome  for  two  years.  He  returned  in  77  b.c,  and  imme- 
diately began  to  dispute  with  Hortensius  the  sway  which  he 
exercised  in  the  Law-Courts.  Except  during  the  year  75  B.C., 
when  he  was  serving  as  Quaestor  in  Sicily,  he  was  employed  as 
a:i  Advocate  at  Rome,  llis  polished  eloquence  excited  universal 
admiration;  his  defence  of  many  wealthy  clients  brought  him  in 
much  money  and  connected  him  with  many  powerful  families. 
He  was  of  the  same  age  as  Pompey;  and,  being  now  a  Candi- 
date for  the  ^dileship,  he  began  to  be  eager  for  political  dis- 
tinction. To  obtain  this  by  military  commands  was  not  suited 
to  his  tastes  or  talents.  But  it  was  possible  to  achieve  it  by  the 
public  impeachment  of  some  powerful  offender.  C.  Cornelius 
Verres,  a  man  connected  with  some  of  the  highest  Senatorial 
families,  had  for  three  years  been  Praetor  of  Sicily,  from  which 
province  he  had  returned  after  practising  extortions  and  iniquities 
unexampled  even  in  those  days.  The  Sicilians,  remembering  the 
industry  and  equity  with  which  Cicero  had  lately  executed  the 
functions  of  Quaestor  in  their  island,  begged  him  to  come  forward 
as  the  accuser  of  this  man;  and  the  Orator,  who  saw  how  he 
might  at  once  strengthen  the  hands  of  Pompey,  and  share  the 
popular  triumph  of  the  Consul,  readily  undertook  the  cause. 

The  first  attempt  which  the  dexterous  Advocate  of  Verres  made 
to  elude  Cicero's  attack  was  to  put  forward  Q.  Csecilius  Niger, 
who  had  been  Quaestor  under  Verres,  to  contend  that  to  him 
belonged  the  task  of  accusation.  But  Cicero  exposed  the  in- 
tended fraud  so  unanswerably  that  even  the  Senatorial  Jurymen 
named  Cicero  as  prosecutor.*  He  demanded  ninety  days  for 
the  purpose  of  collecting  evidence  in  Sicily.  But  he  only  used 
fifty  of  them,  and  on  ^he  5th  of  August  he  opened  this  famous 
impeachment.  He  had  in  the  mean  time  been  elected  Jl^dile. 
But  Hortensius  had  also  become  Consul-elect;  and  one.  of  the 
Metelli,  a  warm  friend  of  the  accused,  was  designated  to  succeed 
Glabrio,  who  now  presided  in  the  Court  as  Praetor  Peregrinus.  It 
was  therefore  a  great  object  for  Verres  to  get  the  trial  postponed 
to  next  year,  when  his  great  Senatorial  friends  would  fill  the 
most  important  offices  in  the  State.  To  baffle  this  design,  Cicero 
contented  himself  with  a  brief  statement  of  his  case,  and  at 
once  proceeded  to  call  witnesses.  So  overpowering  was  the 
evidence,  that  Hortensius  threw  up  his  brief,  and  Verres  sought 
*  See  the  Divinatio  in  Q.  Ccecilium. 


•J 


628  CIVIL  WARS:    SECOND   PERIOD.  Book  VIL 

impunity  in  a  voluntary  exile.  To  show  what  he  could  have 
done,  Cicero  published  the  Five  great  Pleadings,  in  which  he 
intended  to  have  set  forth  the  crimes  of  Verres;  and  they 
remain  to  us  as  a  notable  picture  of  the  misery  which  it  was  in 
the  power  of  a  Roman  Proconsul  to  inflict. 

Soon  after  the  trial  came  to  this  abrupt  issue,  the  Law  was 
passed,  seemingly  with  little  opposition ;  and  thus  a  second 
great  breach  was  made  in  the  Syllan  Constitution. 

§  18.  The  corrupt  state  of  the  Senate  itself  was  made  manifest 
by  a  step  now  taken  by  Catulus  and  his  friends.  They  restored 
the  Censorial  oflice,  which  had  been  suspended  for  sixteen  years. 
The  Censors  of  the  year  70  b.c.  discharged  their  duties  with 
severe  integi'ity,  and  sixty-four  Senators  were  degraded.  For 
Catulus  they  revived  the  high  rank  of  Princeps,  and  he  was  the 
last  independent  Senator  who  held  that  rank.  When  it  was 
next  called  into  existence,  it  served  to  give  a  Title  to  the  des- 
potic authority  of  Augustus.  The  review  of  the  Knights  was 
made  remarkable  by  the  fact  that  the  Consul  Pompey  appeared 
in  the  procession,  leading  his  horse  through  the  Forum,  and 
submitting  himself  to  the  Censorial  scrutiny. 

§  19.  The  jealousy  of  Crassus  increased  with  Pompey's  popu- 
larity. Both  the  Consuls  continued  to  maintain  an  armed  force 
near  the  City ;  and,  though  the  liberal  measures  of  Pompey  had 
won  the  Forum,  yet  the  gold  of  Crassus  commanded  many  fol- 
lowers. The  Senate  dreaded  that  the  days  of  Marius  or  Cinna 
might  return.  But  Crassus  calculated  the  risks  of  a  conflict,  and 
prudently  resolved  to  give  a  pledge  of  peace.  At  the  close  of 
the  year  he  publicly  offered  his  hand  to  Pompey,  which  the  latter 
deigned  to  accept  after  the  manner  of  a  prince.  It  did  not  suit 
Crassus  to  disturb  credit  and  imperil  his  vast  fortune  by  a  civil 
war :  Pompey  was  satisfied  so  long  as  no  other  disputed  his  claim 
to  be  the  first  Citizen  of  the  Republic. 

Thus  ended  by  far  the  most  remarkable  year  that  had  passed 
since  the  time  of  Sylla.  Two  generals,  backed  by  an  armed 
force,  had  trampled  on  the  great  Dictator's  laws :  and  one  of 
them  had  rudely  shaken  the  political  edifice  reared  in  so  much 
blood.  Behind  them  appeared  the  form  of  one  who  sought  to 
gain  by  eloquence  and  civil  arts  what  had  lately  been  arrogated 
by  the  sword.  But  it  was  some  years  yet  before  Csesar  descended 
into  the  political  arena, 


Cn.  Pompeius  Magnus. 


CHAPTER    LXIIL 


THIRD    OR    GREAT    MITHRIDATIC    WAR  I     POMPEY    IN    THE    EAST. 
(74—61   B.C.) 

§  1.  Second  Mithridatic  War.  §  2.  Preparations  of  Mithridates.  §  3. 
Third  Mithridatic  War :  the  King  defeats  the  Consul  Cotta,  and  lays 
siege  to  Cyzicus.  §  4.  L.  LueuUus,  the  other  Consul,  relieves  Cyzicus. 
§  5.  Drives  Mithridates  into  Armenia.  §  6.  Sends  to  demand  Mithridates 
from  Tigranes :  relieves  Asiatics  from  arrears  of  debt.  §  7.  Invades 
Armenia,  and  takes  Tigranocerta.  §  8.  Obliged  to  relinquish  his  advance 
upon  Artaxata:  takes  Nisibis.  §  9.  Mithridates  defeats  Triarius  in 
Pontus:  army  of  LueuUus  mutinies.  §  10.  Account  of  Cilician  pirates* 
Gabinian  Law,  empowering  Pompey  to  put  them  down.  §  11.  Brilliant 
success  of  Pompey.  §  12.  Minilian  Law,  investing  Pompey  with  com- 
mand over  the  East.  §  13.  He  drives  Mithridates  across  the  Caucasus. 
§  14.  Effect  of  his  victories:  further  successes :  he  returns  to  Pontus.  §  15. 
His  campaign  in  Syria :  siege  of  Jerusalem.  §  16.  Death  of  Mithridatea 
§  17.  Pompey's  progress  through  Asia  and  Greece  ;  return  to  Italy. 

§  1.  It  has  been  mentioned  that  so  soon  as  Sylla's  back  was 
turned,  Murena  assailed  Mithridates  anew.  Archelaus,  who  had 
been  disgraced  by  his  master,  was  his  secret  instigator.  Mithri- 
dates submitted  silently,  till  he  found  the  Roman  General  pre- 
paring to  repeat  his  invasion.  Then  he  collected  a  large  force, 
fell  suddenly  upon  Murena  near  the  Halys,  and  defeated  him. 
Envoys  now  arrived  from  Rome,  commanding  Murena  to  desist 


630  CIVIL   WARS:    SECOND   PERIOD.  Book  VII 

from  his  rash  enterprise  :  and  thus  ended  what  is  usually  called 
the  Second  Mithridatic  War. 

§  2.  This  reckless  attack  was  enough  to  provoke  a  less  adven- 
turous spirit  than  that  of  Mithridates.  The  death  of  the  great 
Dictator,  the  outbreak  of  party  quarrels,  and  the  successes  of 
Sertorius,  led  the  King  to  think  that  a  favourable  moment  had 
arrived.  It  was  about  the  year  15  b.c,  that  he  concluded  his 
Treaty  with  Sertorius.  But  the  Roman  leader's  career  was  cut 
short,  and  the  Treaty  was  of  no  effect. 

Soon  after  this,  Nicomedes  of  Bithynia  died,  and  left  his  king- 
dom by  will  to  the  Roman  People.  But  Mithridates  at  once 
led  an  army  consisting  of  120,000  foot,  armed  and  trained  in 
the  Roman  fashion,  with  16,000  horse,  into  Bithynia.  A  powerful 
fleet  cooperated  with  this  formidable  force,  and  the  whole 
country  submitted  without  a  blow. 

§  3.  The  Consuls  of  the  year  were  M.  Aurelius  Cotta,  and  L. 
Licinius  Lucullus.  Lucullus,  eldest  son  of  a  Lucullus  who  had 
commanded  in  the  Second  Sicilian  Slave  War,  and  grandson  of 
him  who  had  behaved  so  treacherously  to  the  Spaniards,*  had 
done  good  service  under  Sylla  in  the  First  Mithridatic  War,  and 
seemed  to  have  earned  a  right  to  command  in  the  present  out- 
break. But  Cotta  had  obtained  the  Province  of  Bithynia  by 
lot,  and  Lucullus  was  destined  by  this  capricious  dispenser  of 
patronage  to  the  quiet  rule  of  Cisalpine  Gaul.  It  happened, 
however,  that  the  Province  of  Cilicia  became  vacant,  and  the 
Senate  conferred  it  upon  him  as  an  extraordinary  command. 
On  the  arrival  of  Lucullus  in  Asia,  he  heard  that  Cotta  had  been 
obliged  to  throw  himself  into  Chalcedon,  where  he  was  block- 
aded by  the  King.  Lucullus  carried  with  him  no  more  than  two 
Legions.  Besides  these  he  found  four  in  Asia,  two  of  which 
were  the  licentious  soldiery  of  Fimbria.  But  there  was  no  time 
to  pick  and  choose.  He  advanced  into  Mysia  with  about  30,000 
foot  and  1,600  horse. 

Meanwhile,  Mithridates  had  laid  siege  to  Cyzicus,  a  town 
which  stands  on  what  is  now  a  peninsula,  though  at  that  time 
it  was  separated  from  the  mainland  by  a  narrow  channel.  With 
his  large  army  he  cut  it  off  from  all  communication  with  the  land, 
while  his  powerful  fleet  served  at  once  to  blockade  the  place,  and 
to  keep  his  army  well  supplied. 

§  4.  Lucullus  cautiously  advanced  towards  Cyzicus,  and  con- 
trived to  post  his  army  so  strongly,  that  on  the  one  hand  he 
was  quite  secure  from  attack,  while  on  the  other  he  completely 
commanded  the  enemy's  lines.  Winter  was  at  hand.  The 
Pontic  fleet  was  unable  to  keep  the  sea ;  and  as  Lucullus  had 
*  Chapt.  xliv.  §  12. 


Chap.  LXIII.  THIRD   MITHRIPATIC    WAR.  631 

intercepted  communication  with  the  interior,  supplies  began  to 
fail.  By  famine  and  disease  the  enemy  was  at  length  so  weak- 
ened, that  Lucullus  closed  in  upon  them,  and  the  besiegers 
became  in  their  turn  besieged.  After  persisting  bravely  for 
some  time,  Mithridates  sent  off  his  sick  towards  Bithynia,  while 
he  showed  a  bold  front  towards  Lucullus.  But  the  Roman 
general  sent  a  detachment  in  pursuit,  while  he  had  still  force 
enough  to  keep  his  own  ground,  and  u:e  wretched  fugitives  were 
cut  off  to  a  man.  The  remainder  of  the  Pontic  army  then  broke 
out  from  their  lines  and  marched  along  the  coast  for  Lampsacus. 
Lucullus  followed  close,  and  attacked  them  at  every  advantageous 
point.  On  the  JEsopus,  on  the  Granicus,  great  numbers  fell ; 
only  a  shattered  remnant  of  the  host  arrived  at  Lampsacus. 
Here,  in  company  with  the  Lampsacenes,  who  dreaded  the  ven- 
geance of  Rome,  they  embarked  on  board  the  fleet  for  Nico- 
media.  But  the  greater  part  perished  in  a  storm,  and  the  vast 
army  which  Mithridates  had  collected  and  trained  with  so  much 
anxious  care  was  annihilated  in  little  more  than  a  year.  Mithri- 
dates himself  was  indebted  to  a  pirate  for  his  escape  to  Sinope. 
For  the  whole  of  that  year  and  the  next  Lucullus  continued 
steadily  to  advance  upon  the  kingdom  of  Pontus.  At  the  end  of 
72  B.C.  Lucullus  sent  letters  wreathed  in  laurel  recording  his 
successes  to  the  Senate. 

§  5.  Winter  checked  not  the  activity  of  the  Roman  com- 
mander, lie  crossed  the  Ilalys  late  in  the  season.  Alarmed  at 
the  approach  of  the  Romans,  Mithridates  left  Sinope,  his  capital 
city,  and  betook  himself  to  the  mountain-fortress  of  Cabeira, 
wiMiin  reach  of  the  kingdom  of  his  son-in-law  Tigranes.  To 
this  monarch,  who  styled  himself  King  of  Kings,  he  sent  for  aid, 
as  well  as  to  his  own  son  Machares,  whom  he  had  made  sovereign 
over  the  Crimean  Bosphorus  and  its  dependencies.  The  strong 
town  of  Amisus,  however,  held  out  during  the  winter ;  and  in 
the  spring  of  Vl  b.c,  Lucullus,  leaving  Murena  (son  of  him  who 
had  earned  a  disgraceful  triumph  from  the  Second  Mithridatic 
War)  to  continue  the  siege,  advanced  against  Cabeira.  Mithri- 
dates fled  precipitately,  and  was  so  hotly  pursued,  that  his  cap- 
ture would  have  been  certain,  had  not  the  Roman  horsemen 
stopped  to  collect  a  quantity  of  gold  which  had  fallen  from  a 
pack-horse  in  the  King's  suite.  He  took  refuge  in  Armenia. 
Amisus  now  surrendered ;  Sinope  followed  its  example ;  and  by 
the  close  of  the  third  campaign,  all  the  country  from  the  Halys 
to  the  Euphrates  was  at  the  feet  of  Rome. 

§  6.  In  the  course  of  the  next  year  (YO  b.c.)  Lucullus  sent  App. 
Clodius  to  demand  the  person  of  Mithridates  from  Tigranes. 
The  envoy  did  not  return  from  this  mission   for  some  months  ,* 


632  CIVIL  WARS:    SECOND   PERIOD.  Book  VII. 

and  Lucullus  employed  the  interval  in  making  a  tour  of  Asia 
Minor,  with  the  purpose  of  restoring  order  in  the  Province  and 
its  contiguous  principalities.  His  mild  and  generous  temper 
won  the  favour  of  the  people.  It  had  been  formerly  his  task  to 
collect  the  tribute  imposed  by  Sylla  upon  Asia  Minor,  and  he 
had  performed  this  duty  with  all  the  gentleness  which  its  nature 
permitted.  But  since  his  departure,  the  imposts  had  been 
multiplied  six-fold  by  the  extortionate  interest  demanded  for 
taxes  in  arrear.  Lucullus  at  once  fixed  the  rate  of  interest  at 
one  per  cent.,  struck  off  the  accumulated  sums  from  the  capital 
of  the  debt,  and  made  other  stringent  rules  for  checking  the 
malpractices  of  the  Roman  Capitalists.  These  proceedings  made 
him  many  enemies ;  moreover,  by  forbidding  pillage,  he  lost  the 
affections  of  Legions  accustomed  to  license. 

§  7.  Early  in  69  b.c,  App.  Clodius  returned  with  the  answer 
of  Tigranes.  This  haughty  monarch  had  not  as  yet  admitted 
his  unfortunate  father-in-law  to  his  presence.  But  the  tone  of 
the  Roman  Envoy  displeased  him ;  he  was  especially  wroth 
because  he  was  not  honoured  with  the  title  of  King  of  Kings, 
and  he  refused  to  give  up  the  person  of  Mithridates.  Lucullus 
at  once  crossed  the  upper  Euphrates  with  a  small  force,  and 
pushed  on  through  wild  mountain  districts  to  Tigranocerta,  the 
Western  Capital  of  Armenia.  Mithridates  advised  Tigranes  not 
to  hazard  an  action  with  the  invaders.  But  the  King  scornfully 
rejected  his  advice.  "Those  Romans,"  he  said,  "for  ambassadors 
are  too  many,  for  enemies  too  few."  But  a  terrible  defeat  was  the 
consequence  of  his  temerity;  and  the  slaughter  of  his  broken 
host  was  only  stopped  by  the  approach  of  night.  Tigranes  tore 
off  his  diadem,  and  fled  eastward,  having  learnt  by  bitter  expe- 
rience that  his  father-in-law  had  formed  too  true  an  estimate  of 
the  Roman  soldiery.  Tigranocerta,  though  defended  by  walls 
50  cubits  high,  was  betrayed  by  the  Greek  inhabitants  of  the 
place.  Machares,  son  of  Mithridates,  viceroy  of  the  Crimea,  paid 
homage  to  Rome.  The  King  of  the  Parthians,  a  powerful  tribe, 
which  had  poured  from  the  mountainous  districts  south  of  the 
Indian  Caucasus,  and  had  become  lords  of  Central  Asia  from  the 
Indus  to  the  Euphrates,  sent  offers  of  alliance.  Roman  tacticians 
loudly  commended  Lucullus,  who  had  subdued  the  disciplined 
army  of  Mithridates  by  systematic  operations,  and  had  crushed 
the  barbarous  hordes  of  Tigranes  by  adventurous  boldness. 

§  8.  Next  year  (68  b.c.)  the  Roman  leader  continued  his  vic- 
torious career.  Tigranes  attempted  to  make  a  stand  upon  the 
Arsanias,  a  tributary  of  the  Euphrates,  but  was  again  defeated, 
and  fled  to  Artaxata,  the  second  capital  of  Armenia,  which  lies  in 
the  valley  of  the  Araxes,  northward  of  Mount  Ararat.     Lucullus, 


CiLiP.  LXIIL  THIRD   MITHRIDATIC  WAR.  .633 

nothing  daunted,  was  anxious  to  continue  the  pursuit.  Bui 
already  the  soldiery  had  shown  mutinous  inclinations,  and  the 
Tribunes  declared  that  the  army  would  advance  no  farther  East- 
ward. Lucullus  unwillingly  gave  way,  and  turned  his  course 
southward,  crossed  the  range  of  Taurus  into  the  warmer  region 
between  the  upper  valleys  of  the  Tigris  and  Euphrates,  then 
called  Mygdonia,  where  he  took  by  storm  the  large  and  wealthy 
town  of  Nisibis.  In  the  ensuing  winter  events  happened  that 
destroyed  his  well-grounded  hopes  of  eventual  success. 

§  9.  Mithridates,  finding  that  Pontus  was  occupied  by  a  feeble 
corps  of  the  Roman  army  under  the  command  of  L.  Valerius 
Triarius,  suddenly  re-appeared  in  his  own  kingdom.  Early  next 
spring  (67  b.c.)  news  of  this  bold  descent  reached  Lucullus,  who 
hastened  to  support  his  lieutenant.  But  Triarius,  presumptuous 
and  eager  for  triumph,  attacked  Mithridates  at  Zela,  without 
waiting  for  the  arrival  of  the  General,  and  he  was  defeated, 
with  the  loss  of  his  own  life.  The  King,  satisfied  with  his 
advantage,  retreated  to  the  mountains,  and  Lucullus  gave  orders 
for  pursuit.  But  the  mutinous  spirit,  partially  disclosed  in  the 
foregoing  year,  now  broke  out  with  undissembled  fury.  The 
flame  was  fanned  by  Publ.  Clodius  Pulcher,  younger  brother  of 
the  App.  Clodius  who  had  been  sent  as  envoy  to  Tigranes, 
and  brother-in-law  to  the  General.  His  subsequent  career 
proved  his  reckless  and  selfish  temper.  On  the  present  occasion, 
though  he  was  but  one  or  two  and  twenty,  he  conceived  he  had 
been  neglected  by  Lucullus.  In  the  army  he  found  ready  mate- 
rials for  sedition.  The  men  had  indeed  some  reason  for  dis- 
content. The  soldiers  of  Fimbria  had  been  absent  from  Italy 
for  nearly  twenty  years ;  and  since  Lucullus  took  the  command 
they  had  suff'ered  great  hardships.  Lucullus,  though  a  good 
general  and  a  just  ruler,  had  none  of  that  genial  frankness  which 
wins  the  affection  of  soldiers,  and  his  luxurious  habits  excited 
jealousy.  The  army  agreed  to  defend  Pontus  from  Mithridates, 
but  positively  refused  to  undertake  any  new  operations. 

§  10.  Events  were  even  now  occurring  which  transferred  the 
command  to  other  hands.  While  the  Roman  arms  were  threat- 
ening the  shores  of  the  Caspian  and  the  confines  of  the  Parthian 
Monarchy,  while  Lucullus  was  mortified  at  seeing  a  magnificent 
Triumph  slip  from  his  grasp,  a  formidable  enemy  was  assailing 
the  very  shores  of  Italy.  From  ancient  times,  as  at  the  present 
day,  the  creeks  of  Asia  Minor,  and  the  islets  of  the  Archipelago, 
had  been  the  resort  of  piratical  bands,  who  sallied  out  for 
plunder,  and  disappeared  as  if  by  magic  before  attack.  During 
the  distractions  that  followed  the  Social  and  Civil  Wars,  these 
Pirates  had  gained  a  power  and  an  audacity  unknown  before. 

*27* 


634  CIVIL   WARS :    SECOND   PERIOD.  Book  VIL 

Their  chief  nests  were  in  the  ports  of  Cilicia  and  Pisidia ;  and 
they  possessed  strongholds  in  tlie  mountain  valleys  which  lead 
down  from  Taurus  to  that  coast.  Hence  these  Pirates  are 
often  called  Cilicians,  and  often  Isaurians, —  the  district  of 
Isauria,  in  the  heart  of  the  Pisidian  mountain  range,  being 
one  of  their  chief  fastnesses.  Of  late  they  had  been  encou- 
raged by  the  patronage  and  money  of  Mithridates.  Their 
audacity  was  extreme.  At  one  time  young  Caesar  was  in  their 
hands ;  and  P.  Clodius,  who  had  left  the  army  of  Lucullus  after 
his  success  in  fomenting  mutiny,  was  now  their  prisoner.  Not 
long  before  this,  they  had  carried  off  two  Praitors  from  Italy. 
The  grand-daughter  of  the  great  Orator  M.  Antonius  had  been 
seized  by  them  at  Misenum ;  the  very  port  of  Ostia  had  been 
plundered  by  their  galleys.  In  the  year  78  b.c,  Q.  Servilius 
Vatia  was  sent  as  Proconsul  to  Cilicia,  and  he  carried  on  the  war 
with  so  much  success,  that  he  assumed  the  title  of  Isauricus. 
In  75  B.C.,  M.  Antonius,  the  son  of  the  Orator,  was  invested 
with  an  extraordinary  command  over  the  Mediterranean,  in  order 
to  clear  the  seas  of  the  Pirates.  But  he  used  his  great  power 
for  plunder  and  extortion  ;  his  operations  covered  the  Roman 
arms  with  dishonour ;  and,  dying  in  Crete,  he  was  called  Creticus 
in  derision.  The  depredations  of  the  Pirates  continued.  Q. 
Metellus,  Consul  in  69  b.c,  was  ordered  to  continue  the  war 
against  Crete,  with  a  view  to  further  operations  against  the 
Pirates,  and  gave  good  promise  of  a  successful  issue.  But 
Pompey  was  becoming  impatient  for  employment.  He  was 
popular ;  his  mijitary  character  stood  higher  than  that  of  any 
other  man  at  Rome ;  and  it  was  with  general  approbation,  that 
in  the  year  67  b.c,  the  Tribune  An.  Gabinius,  a  creature  of 
his  own,  brought  forward  a  law  enabling  the  People  to  elect  a 
person  of  Consular  rank,  who  should  exercise  over  the  whole 
Mediterranean  a  power  still  more  absolute  than  had  been  con- 
ferred upon  Antonius.  Every  one  knew  that  Pompey  was  to 
be  the  person.  The  Senate  were,  almost  to  a  man,  suspicious 
of  his  intentions.  It  was  thought  that  he  purposed  to  make 
himself  the  chief  of  Rome  ;  and  the  proposition  was  opposes), 
as  dangerous  to  freedom,  by  the  Senatorial  leaders,  Catulus, 
llortensius,  and  others.  Caesar  supported  it  in  the  Senate; 
but  he  stood  almost  alone.  Pompey  was  threatened  with  the 
ominous  words  : — "  You  aspire  to  be  Romulus ;  beware  the  fate 
of  Romulus."  AVhen  the  Tribes  met  to  pass  the  Bill,  a  Tribune 
named  Trebellius  was  induced  to  interpose  his  veto;  nor  could 
threats  or  persuasions  move  him,  till  Gabinius  put  it  to  the  vote 
that  he  should  be  deprived  of  his  Tribunate,  as  Octavius  had 
been  deprived  by  Gracchus.     Not  till  seventeen  Tribes  had  voted 


Chap.  LXIII.        BRILLIANT   SUCCESS   OF   POMPEY.  635 

for  his  deprivation,  did  Trebellius  yield,  and  then  the  Bill  was 
passed  by  acclamation.  No  sooner  was  this  result  known,  than 
the  price  of  provisions  fell. 

§  11.  No  part  of  Pompey's  life  is  so  brilliant  as  its  next  years. 
During  the  winter  he  got  a  large  Fleet  ready  for  sea.  Twenty- 
four  lieutenants,  among  whom  appear  the  names  of  Cato  and 
A'arro,  some  commanding  squadrons  of  the  fleet,  some  protect- 
ing the  coast  with  troops,  obeyed  his  orders.  He  directed  all 
these  forces  to  encircle  tKe  West  of  the  Mediterranean,  and  by 
simultaneous  movements  to  drive  the  flying  squadrons  of  the 
enemy  before  them  towards  the  East.  In  the  brief  space  of  forty 
days  he  returned  to  Rome,  and  reported  that  the  whole  sea  West 
of  Greece  had  been  cleared  of  the  Pirates.  Meantime,  a  powerful 
Fleet  had  assembled  at  Brundusium ;  and  hastening  across  Italy 
to  that  port  he  took  the  command  in  person.  He  continued 
his  plan  of  action  by  sweeping  every  inlet  of  the  Archipelago,  so 
as  to  force  the  enemy  to  the  Cilician  coast.  Their  assembled 
ships  ventured  to  give  him  battle  off  the  rock-fortress  of  Cora- 
cesium,  and  sufl"ered  a  complete  defeat.  A  general  submission 
followed,  due  as  nuich  to  the  leniency  of  Pompey  as  to  his 
victory ;  and  in  the  course  of  three  months  from  the  day  on  which 
he  commenced  operations  the  war  was  ended.  A  large  number 
of  the  Pirates  were  settled  in  the  Cilician  town  of  Soli,  which 
was  henceforth  named  Pompeiopolis. 

About  the  same  time,  Metellus  completed  the  conquest  of 
Crete,  and  Pompey  sought  to  include  that  island  in  his  command. 
But  Metellus  resisted  the  encroachment,  and  the  Senate  backed 
him.  After  some  delay,  he  was  honoured  with  a  Triumph  and 
assumed  the  name  of  Creticus  as  a  title  of  real  honour. 

§  12.  At  the  moment,  then,  when  Lucullus  was  unwillingly 
obeying  his  soldiery,  Pompey,  in  the  full  blaze  of  victory,  was 
setthng  the  affairs  of  Cilicia.  During  the  winter  he  remained 
in  the  East.  His  friends  at  Rome  put  forward  his  name  as  the 
only  person  fit  to  be  entrusted  with  the  task  of  concluding  the 
Mithridatic  War.  At  the  very  beginning  of  the  year  66  b.c,  the 
Tribune  Manilius  moved  that  a  second  commission  should  be 
issued  to  invest  Pompey  with  the  chief  command  over  all  Roman 
dominions  in  the  East,  till  he  had  brought  the  war  with  Mithri- 
dates  to  an  end.  The  Senatorial  Chiefs  opposed  the  law  of 
Manilius,  but  less  vehemently  than  they  had  opposed  the  law  of 
Gabinius,  and  a  new  supporter  of  the  popular  hero  appeared  in 
the  person  of  Cicero.  The  eloquent  advocate  had  never  yet 
addressed  the  Tribes  on  any  political  question,  and  he  could  rot 
have  found  an  occasion  better  suited  for  his  first  essay  than  the 
praises  of  Pompey.     The  task  was  easy,  and  the  audience  eager ; 


636  CrViL   WARS:    SECOND  PERIOD.  Book  VTl 

but  never  was  a  more  splendid  offering  paid  to  military  genius 
than  was  now  paid  to  Porapey  by  the  rising  Orator.*  Success 
was  a  matter  of  course.  Pompey  received  by  acclamation  the 
most  extensive  authority  ever  yet  conferred  by  law  upon  a  Ro- 
man Citizen,  with  the  exception  of  the  Dictatorial  power  given 
to  Sylla.  He  was  in  fact  appointed  Dictator  of  the  East ;  and 
with  the  army  placed  at  his  command,  it  would  have  been  easy 
to  establish  himself  as  master  of  the  West  also.  It  must  be 
confessed,  that  the  Senatorial  Chiefs  had  some  reason  to  object 
to  this  unlimited  authority.  Necessity  was  an  excuse  in  Sylla's 
case ;  for  without  him  there  would  have  been  anarchy.  But  no 
necessity  now  existed ;  for  it  cannot  be  doubted,  that  Lucullus, 
with  proper  reinforcements,  would  have  brought  the  war  to  a 
speedy  conclusion.  But  the  cause  of  Pompey  was  identified  with 
the  cause  of  the  People ;  Lucullus  was  held  to  be  a  champion  of 
the  Senate ;  and  the  popular  will  prevailed. 

§  13.  During  the  year  of  inaction  that  had  preceded  Pompey's 
appointment,  Mithridates  had  collected  a  fresh  army,  with  which 
he  occupied  the  frontier  of  Pontus.  Pompey  received  his  new 
commission  in  the  summer  of  66  b.c,  and  he  at  once  pushed 
forward  towards  Cabeira,  through  a  country  wasted  by  previous 
campaigns.  Mithridates,  anxious  to  avoid  a  battle,  retired 
towards  the  sources  of  the  Halys,  but  he  was  overtaken  by  the 
Roman  general,  and  obliged  to  give  battle  on  a  spot  afterwards 
marked  by  the  city  of  Nicopolis,  founded  by  Pompey  in  memory 
of  the  battle.  Here  Mithridates  was  entirely  defeated,  and  with 
only  a  few  stragglers  succeeded  in  crossing  the  Euphrates.  But 
Tigranes  refused  to  harbour  him  in  Armenia ;  and  he  made  his 
way  northward,  with  great  difficulty,  through  the  wild  mountain 
tribes  of  Caucasus  to  Dioscurias  (Iskuria)  on  the  coast  of  Cir- 
cassia.  Banished  from  the  regions  south  of  Caucasus,  his  adven- 
turous genius  formed  the  conception  of  uniting  the  Sarmatian 
tribes  northward  of  the  Black  Sea,  and  making  a  descent  upon 
Italy.  Panic-stricken  at  his  father's  approach,  Machares,  Viceroy 
of  the  Crimea,  sought  death  by  his  own  hand ;  and  the  Crimea 
again  became  subject  to  Mithridates. 

§  14.  So  great  was  the  terror  caused  by  the  victories  of  the 
Roman  General,  that  Tigranes  would  have  prostrated  himself 
at  his  feet,  had  not  Pompey  prevented  the  humiliation;  and 
Phraates  of  Parthia,  who  had  assumed  the  proud  title  of  King  of 
Kings,  lately  arrogated  by  Tigranes,  sent  to  make  an  alliance 
with  the  victorious  Roman,  who  turned  his  steps  Northward  in 
pursuit     of    Mithridates.      At     mid-winter    he     celebrated     the 

*  See  his  speech  Pro  imperio  Cn.  Pompeii,  commonly  called  pro  Leg« 
Manilla,  especially  e.  16. 


Chap.  LXIII.       POMPEY'S   CAMPAIGN  IN   SYRIA.  637 

Saturnalia  on  the  River  Cyrus  (Kur),  and  in  the  spring  advanced 
along  the  coast  to  the  Phasis.  But  learning  that  Mithridates 
was  safe  in  the  Crimea,  he  turned  back  to  his  old  quarters  on 
the  Cyrus,  and  spent  the  summer  in  reducing  the  tribes  which 
occupied  the  southern  slopes  of  Caucasus.  One  of  his  victories 
was  celebrated  by  the  foundation  of  another  Nicopolis.  But 
he  was  obliged  to  return  to  Pontus  for  winter-quarters.  Here 
he  received  ambassadors  from  the  neighbouring  potentates,  and 
busied  himself  in  reducing  Pontus  to  the  form  of  a  Roman 
Province.  For  the  next  two  years  he  occupied  himself  by  cam- 
paigns in  the  famous  countries  to  the  south  of  Asia  Minor. 

§  15.  Syria  had  been  of  late  years  subject  to  Tigranes.  In 
the  summer  of  64  b.c,  Pompey,  descending  through  Cappadocia 
to  Antioch,  took  possession  of  the  kingdom  of  the  Seleucida3 
and  reduced  it  to  the  form  of  a  Roman  Province.  The  Itura^ans, 
the  northern  Idumaeans,  and  all  the  country  below  Taurus 
crouched  submissive  at  his  feet.  As  he  advanced  Southward, 
his  authority  was  called  in  to  settle  a  quarrel  between  two 
brothers  of  that  Royal  Family,  which  had  inherited  the  Jewish 
sceptre  and  high  priesthood  from  the  brave  Maccabees.  Aristo- 
bulus  was  the  reigning  King  of  Juda3a,  but  his  title  was  dis- 
puted by  his  brother  Hyrcanus.  It  was  the  latter  who  applied 
for  aid  to  tiie  Roman  General.  Pompey  accepted  the  appeal. 
But  the  Jews,  attached  to  the  reigning  prince,  refused  obe- 
dience, and  Pompey  was  obliged  to  undertake  the  siege  of  Jeru- 
salem. For  three  months  the  Jews  defended  themselves  with 
their  wonted  obstinacy ;  but  their  submission  was  enforced  by 
famine,  and  Pompey  entered  the  Holy  City.  Pillage  he  forbade ; 
but,  excited  by  the  curiosity  which  even  then  the  spiritual  wor- 
ship of  Jehovah  created  in  the  minds  of  Roman  idolaters,  he 
entered  the  sacred  precincts  of  the  Temple,  and  ventured  even 
to  intrude  into  the  Holy  of  Holies,  and  to  stand  behind  that 
solemn  veil  which  had  hitherto  been  lifted  but  once  a  year,  and 
that  by  the  High  Priest  alone.  We  know  little  of  the  impression 
produced  upon  Pompey's  mind  by  finding  the  shrine  untenanted 
by  a'.iy  object  of  worship.  But  it  is  interesting  to  compare  the 
irreverent  curiosity  of  the  Roman  with  the  conduct  attributed 
to  the  Great  Alexander  upon  a  similar  occasion.  Hyrcanus  was 
established  in  the  sovereignty,  on  condition  of  paying  a  tribute 
to  Rome :  Aristobulus  followed  the  conqueror  as  his  prisoner. 

§  16.  Aretas,  King  of  the  NabathaBan  Arabs,  defied  the  arms 
of  Pompey;  and  the  conqueror  was  preparing  to  enter  the  rocky 
deserts  of  Idumsea,  so  as  to  penetrate  to  Pctra.  when  he  received 
news  which  suddenly  recalled  him  to  Asia  Minor.  Mithridates 
was  no  more.     He  had  been  endeavouring  to  execute  his  great 


638  CIVIL   WARS :    SECOND   PERIOD.  Book  VIL 

degign  of  uniting  all  the  barbarous  Tribes  of  Eastern  Europe 
against  Rome,  and  so  excited  the  alarm  of  his  remaining  subjects, 
that  his  son  Pharnaces  found  it  an  easy  task  to  raise  them  to 
insurrection.  The  old  monarch,  rendered  desperate  by  seeing 
his  last  hopes  baulked,  had,  while  Pompey  was  yet  before  Jeru- 
salem, terminated  his  own  life  at  Panticapa^um  (Kertch)  in  the 
Crimea.  Pompey  hastened  to  Sinope,  to  which  place  the  body 
of  the  old  King  had  been  sent  by  his  son.  It  was  honoured  with 
a  royal  funeral,  and  placed  in  the  sepulchre  of  his  fathers. 

§  17.  The  remainder  of  the  year  63  b.c.  was  spent  by  the 
General  in  regulating  the  new  Provinces  of  Bithynia,  Pontus, 
and  Syria,  and  in  settling  the  kingdoms,  which  he  allowed  to 
remain  under  Roman  protection  on  the  frontiers  of  these  Pro- 
vinces. Pharnaces,  son  of  Mithridates,  was  left  in  the  possession 
of  the  Crimea  and  its  dependencies :  Deitorarus,  chief  of  Galatia, 
received  an  increase  of  territory ;  Ariobarzanes  was  restored  for 
the  fourth  time  to  the  principality  of  Cappadocia.  All  this  was 
done  by  Pompey's  sole  authority,  without  advice  from  the  Senate. 

Early  in  62  b.c.  he  left  Asia,  and  proceeded  slowly  through 
Macedonia  and  Greece, — so  slowly,  that  on  the  1st  of  January 
61  B.C.,  he  had  not  yet  appeared  before  the  walls  of  Rome  t( 
claim  his  Triumph.  He  had  been  absent  from  Italy  for  nearly 
seven  years.  His  intentions  were  known  to  none.  But  the 
power  given  him  by  the  devotion  of  his  soldiers  was  absolute ; 
and  the  Senatorial  Chiefs  might  well  feel  anxiety  till  he  disclosed 
his  will.  But  before  we  speak  of  his  arrival  in  Rome,  we  must 
relate  the  important  events  that  had  occurred  during  his  absence. 


Slab  from  Arch  of  Titus,  representing  the  Spoils  of  Jerusalem  borne  in  Triumph. 


M.  TuUius  Cicero. 


CHAPTER     LXIY, 


FROM  CONSULSHIP  OF  POMPEY  AND  CRASSUS  TO  RETURN  OF  POMPEV 
FROM  THE  EAST  :    C^SAR  I    CICERO  :    CATILINE.       (69 61   B.C.) 

§  1.  Life  of  Caesar  to  67  b.c.  §  2.  His  Qugestorship  and  ^dileship :  acknow- 
ledged as  leader  of  the  Marian  Party.  §  3.  Discontent  with  government 
of  Senate  among  (1)  families  of  Proscribed,  (2)  soldiers  of  Sylla,  (3)  pro. 
fligate  youn;^  Nobles.  §  4.  Catiline :  his  previous  life :  accused  by  P. 
Clodius,  and  prevented  standing  for  Consulship.  §  5.  First  plot  of 
Catiline :  Cicei-o's  offer  t  >  defend  him.  §  6.  Election  of  Cicero  and  C. 
Antonius  to  Consulship,  Catiline  being  rejected.  §7.  Cicero's  Consulship: 
he  takes  part  with  Senate :  speaks  against  Agrarian  Law  of  RuUus.  §  8. 
Impeachment  of  Rabirius  for  taking  up  arms  against  Saturninus.  §  9. 
Cicero  opposes  the  restoration  of  the  Sons  of  the  Proscribed.  §  10.  Election 
of  Caesar  to  Chief  Pontificate.  §-11-  Catiline's  plans  betrayed  to  Cicero: 
Consuls  invested  with  dictatorial  power:  Catiline  again  loses  Consulship  : 
Cicero's  First  Speech:  Catiline  leaves  Rome:  Second  Speech.  §  12.  AUo- 
brogian  Envoys  seized.  §  13.  Arrest  of  Conspirators  left  at  Rome: 
Cicero's  Third  Speech,  §  14.  Debate  in  Senate  on  punishment  of  prisoners: 
Cicero's  Fourth  Speech:  they  are  put  to  death.  §  15.  Cicero  defends 
Murena,  Consul-elect.  §  16.  Catiline  defeated  and  slain  early  in  next 
year.  §  17.  Discussion  as  to  complicity  of  Crassus  and  Caesur  in  Cati- 
line's conspiracy. 
§  1.  Though  the  restoration  of  the  Tribunate  and  the  with- 
drawal  of  the  Judicial   power  had  given   a  rude  shock  to  tho 


640  CIVIL  WARS:    SECOND   PERIOD.  Book  VH. 

Senatorial  Oligarchy,  they  still  remained  masters  of  Rome.  But 
a  chief  was  growing  up  who  was  destined  to  restore  life  to  the 
Marian  party,  to  become  master  of  the  Roman  world,  and  to  be 
acknowledged  as  the  greatest  man  whom  Rome  ever  produced. 

C.  Julius  Caesar  was  born  of  an  old  Patrician  family  in  the  year 
100  B.C.  He  was  therefore  six  years  younger  than  Pompey  and 
Cicero.  His  father,  C.  Caesar,  did  not  live  to  reach  the  Consul- 
ship. His  uncle  Sextus  held  that  high  dignity  in  91  b.c,  just 
before  the  outbreak  of  the  Social  War.  But  the  connexion  on 
which  the  young  Patrician  most  prided  himself  was  the  marriage 
of  his  aunt  Julia  with  C.  Marius ;  and  at  the  early  age  of  seven- 
teen he  declared  his  adhesion  to  the  popular  party  by  espousing 
Cornelia,  the  daughter  of  Cinna,  who  was  at  that  time  absolute 
master  of  Rome.*  We  have  already  noticed  his  bold  refusal  to 
repudiate  his  wife,  and  his  narrow  escape  from  Sylla's  assassins. 
His  first  military  service  was  performed  under  L.  Minucius  Thcr- 
mus,  who  was  left  by  Sylla  to  take  Mytilene.  In  the  siege  of 
that  place  he  won  a  civic  crown  for  saving  a  citizen.  On  the 
death  of  Sylla  he  returned  to  Rome,  and,  after  the  custom  of 
ambitious  young  Romans,  he  indicted  Cn.  Dolabella,  for  extor- 
tion in  Macedonia.  The  Senatorial  Jury  acquitted  Dolabella  as 
a  matter  of  course ;  but  the  credit  gained  by  the  young  Orator 
was  great;  and  he  went  to  Rhodes  to  study  rhetoric  under 
Molo,  in  whose  school  Cicero  had  lately  been  taking  lessons. 
It  was  on  his  way  to  Rhodes  that  he  fell  into  the  hands  of 
Cilician  pirates.  Redeemed  by  a  heavy  ransom,  he  collected 
some  ships,  attacked  his  captors,  took  them  prisoners,  and  cru- 
cified them  at  Pergamus,  according  to  a  threat  which  he  had 
made  while  he  was  their  prisoner.  About  the  year  74  b.c.  he 
heard  that  he  had  been  chosen  as  one  of  the  Pontifices,  and 
he  instantly  returned  to  Rome,  where  he  remained  for  some 
years,  leading  a  life  of  pleasure,  taking  little  part  in  politics,  but 
yet,  by  his  winning  manners  and  open-handed  generosity,  laying 
in  a  large  store  of  popularity,  and  perhaps  exercising  an  unseen 
influence  over  the  events  of  the  time. 

§  2.  It  wss  in  67  b.c,  as  we  have  seen,  that  Pompey  left  the 
City  to  take  the  command  against  the  Pirates.  At  the  same 
time,  Caesar,  being  in  his  thirty-third  year,  was  elected  Quaestor, 
and  signalised  his  year  of  office  by  a  panegyric  over  his  aunt 
Julia,  the  widow  of  Marius.  His  wife  Cornelia  died  in  the  same 
year,  and  gave  occasion  to  another  funeral  harangue.  In  both 
of  these  speeches  the  political  allusions  were  evident;  and  he  ven- 
tured to  have  the  bust  of  Marius  carried  among  his  family  images 

*  He  was  already  married  to  Cossutia,  a  rich  heiress,  whom  he  divorced 
to  marry  Cornelia. 


Chap.  LXIV.  CATILINE.  641 

for  the  first  time  since  tlie  Dictatorship  of  Sylla.  In  65  b.c. 
he  was  elected  Curule  vEdile,  when  he  increased  his  popularity 
by  exhibiting  320  pairs  of  gladiators,  and  conducting  the  games 
on  a  scale  of  unusual  magnificence.  The  chief  expense  of  these 
exhibitions  was  borne  by  his  colleague,  M.  Bibulus,  who  com- 
plained that  Caesar  had  all  the  credit  of  the  shows, — "just  as 
the  temple  of  the  Dioscuri,  though  belonging  both  to  Castor  and 
Pollux,  bore  the  name  of  Castor  only."  But  he  did  not  confine 
himself  to  winning  applause  by  theatrical  spectacles.  As  Curator 
of  the  Appian  Way,  he  expended  a  large  sum  from  his  own 
resources.  The  Cimbrian  trophies  of  Marius  had  been  thrown 
down  by  Sylla,  and  no  public  remembrance  existed  of  the  ser- 
vices rendered  to  Rome  by  her  greatest  soldier.  Caesar  ordered 
these  trophies,  with  suitable  inscriptions,  to  be  secretly  restored ; 
and  in  one  night  he  contrived  to  have  them  set  up  upon  the 
Capitol,  so  that  at  daybreak  men  were  astonished  by  the  unac- 
customed sight.  Old  soldiers  who  had  served  with  Marius  shed 
tears.  All  the  party  opposed  to  Sylla  and  the  Senate  took  heart 
at  this  boldness,  and  recognised  their  chief.  So  important  was 
the  matter  deemed,  that  it  was  brought  before  the  Senate,  and 
Catulus  accused  Caesar  of  openly  assaulting  the  Constitution. 
But  nothing  could  be  done  to  check  his  movements,  for  in  all 
things  he  kept  cautiously  within  the  Law. 

§  3.  The  year  of  his  ^Edileship  was  marked  by  the  appearance 
of  a  man  destined  to  an  infamous  notoriety, — L.  Sergius  Catilina, 
familiar  to  all  under  the  name  of  Catiline. 

For  some  time  after  the  death  of  Sylla  the  weariness  and 
desire  of  repose  which  always  follows  revolutionary  movements 
had  disposed  all  men  to  acquiesce  in  the  rule  established  by 
the  Dictator.  But  more  than  one  class  of  persons  found  them- 
selves ill  at  ease.  First,  the  families  proscribed  by  Sylla  cherished 
the  thoughts  that  they  might  recover  what  they  had  lost,  and 
the  enthusiasm  displayed  when  Caesar  restored  the  trophies  of 
Marius,  revealed  to  the  Senate  the  hopes  of  their  political  ene- 
mies. Secondly,  there  were  a  vast  number  of  persons,  formerly 
attached  to  Sylla,  who  shared  the  discontent  of  the  Marian 
party.  The  Dictator  left  all  real  power  in  the  hands  of  a  few 
great  families.  Ilis  own  creatures  were  allowed  to  amass  money, 
but  remained  without  political  power;  and  the  upstarts  who 
enjoyed  a  transient  greatness  under  Sylla  found  themselves 
reduced  to  obscurity.  With  the  recklessness  of  men  who  had 
become  suddenly  rich,  they  had  squandered  their  fortunes  as 
lightly  as  they  had  won  them.  These  men  were  for  the  most 
part  soldiers,  and  ready  for  any  violence.  They  only  wanted 
chiefs.     These  chiefs  they  found  among  the  profligate  members 


642  CIVIL   WARS:    SECOND   PERIOD.  Book  VII. 

of  noble  families,  who  like  themselves  were  excluded  from  the 
counsels  of  the  respectable  though  narrow-minded  men  who 
composed  the  Senate  and  administered  the  government.  These 
were  the  young  Nobles,  effeminate  and  debauched,  reckless  of 
blood,  of  whom  Cicero  speaks  with  horror.* 

§  4.  Of  these  adventurers  Catiline  was  the  most  remarkable. 
He  belonged  to  an  old  Patrician  Gens,  and  had  distinguished 
iiimself  both  by  valour  and  cruelty  in  the  late  Civil  War.  W3 
have  noticed  how  he  is  said  to  have  murdered  his  own  brother, 
and  to  have  secured  impunity  by  getting  the  name  of  his  victim 
placed  on  the  proscribed  lists,  as  well  as  the  ready  zeal  with  which 
he  delivered  up  Marius  Gratidianus  to  torture.  A  beautiful  and 
profligate  lady,  by  name  Aurelia  Orestilla,  refused  his  proffered 
hand  because  he  had  a  grown-up  son  by  a  former  marriage ; 
this  son  speedily  ceased  to  live.  Notwithstanding  his  crimes, 
the  personal  qualities  of  Catiline  gave  him  great  ascendancy 
over  all  who  came  in  contact  with  him.  His  strength  and 
activity  were  such,  that  he  was  superior  to  the  soldiers  at  their 
own  exercises,  and  could  encounter  skilled  gladiators  with  their 
own  weapons.  His  manners  were  frank,  and  he  was  never 
known  to  desert  friends.  By  qualities  so  nearly  resembling 
virtues,  it  is  not  strange  that  he  deceived  many,  and  obtained 
mastery  over  more.  In  68  b.c.  he  was  elected  Praetor,  and  in 
the  following  year  became  Governor  of  the  Province  of  Africa. 
Here  he  spent  two  years  in  the  practice  of  every  crime  that  is 
imputed  to  Roman  Provincial  rulers.  During  the  year  of  Ca3sar's 
^lileship,  Catiline  was  accused  by  the  profligate  P.  Clodius 
Pulcher.  He  had  intended  in  that  year  to  offer  himself  Candi- 
date for  the  Consulship.  But  while  this  accusation  was  pending 
the  Law  forbade  him  to  come  forward ;  and  this  obstacle  so 
irritated  him  that  he  planned  a  new  Revolution. 

§  5.  The  Senatorial  Chiefs,  in  their  wish  to  restore  outward 
decency,  had  countenanced  the  introduction  of  a  severe  Law  to 
prevent  Bribery  by  L.  Calpurnius  Piso.  Under  this  law  P.  Cor- 
nelius S'jlla  and  P.  Autronius  Paetus,  Consuls-elect  for  65  b.c, 
were  indicted  and  found  guilty.  Their  election  was  declared 
void ;  and  their  accusers  were  nominated  Consuls  by  the  Senate, 
without  the  formality  of  an  election.  Catiline  found  Autro- 
nius ready  for  any  violence ;  and  these  two  entered  into  a  con- 
spiracy with  another  profligate  young  Nobleman,  by  name  Cn. 
Piso,  to  murder  the  new  Consuls  on  the  Calends  of  January,— 
the  day  on  which  they  entered  upon  office, — and  to  seize  the 
supreme  authority  for  themselves.     The  scheme  is  said  to  have 

*  "Libidinosa  et  delicata  juventus,"  ad  Att.  i.  19,  8:  "sanguinaria 
juventus,"  ib.  ii.  t,  3. 


v<» 


Chap.  LXIV.  CICERO'S    CONSULSHIP.  643  ^ 

failed  only  because  Catiline  gave  the  signal  of  attack  before  the 
armed  assassins  had  assembled  in  sufficient  numbers. 

Catiline  was  acquitted  on  his  trial,  no  doubt  through  the  in- 
tentional misconduct*  of  the  case  by  Clodius.  We  are  astonished 
to  read  a  private  letter  of  Cicero's,  in  which  the  Orator  expresses 
his  willingness  to  act  as  Catiline's  advocate.f  Cicero's  excuse  is 
that  in  the  next  year  he  was  to  be  Candidate  for  the  Consul- 
ship ;  if  Catiline  were  acquitted  he  would  be  a  competitor ;  and 
it  would  be  better  to  have  him  as  a  friend  than  as  an  enemy. 
This  alone  speaks  loudly  for  the  influence  of  Catiline ;  for  at  the 
same  time  Cicero  declares  that  his  guilt  was  clear  as  noonday  .J 

§  6.  There  was  indeed  reason  to  fear  Catiline's  success.  Five 
of  the  six  Candidates  who  opposed  him  were  men  of  little  note. 
The  sixth  was  Cicero,  whose  obscure  birth  was  a  strong  objec- 
tion against  him  in  the  eyes  of  the  Nobility.  But  there  was 
no  choice.  C.  Antonius,  brother  of  M.  Antonius  Creticus  and 
younger  son  of  the  Orator,  was  considered  sure  of  his  election; 
and  he  was  inclined  to  form  a  coalition  with  Catiline.  Cicero  was 
supported  by  the  Equites,  by  the  friends  of  Pompey,  whom  he 
had  served  by  his  speech  for  the  Manilian  Law,  and  by  a  number 
of  persons  whom  he  had  obliged  by  his  services  as  Advocate. 
What  part  he  had  hitherto  taken  in  politics  had  been  decidedly 
in  opposition  to  the  Senate.  But  necessity  knows  no  rule ;  and 
to  keep  out  Catiline,  whom  they  feared,  the  Senatorial  Chiefs 
resolved  to  support  Cicero,  whom  they  disliked.  The  personal 
popularity  of  the  Orator  and  the  support  of  the  Aristocracy 
placed  him  at  the  head  of  the  poll.  Antonius  was  returned  as 
his  colleague,  though  he  headed  Catiline  by  the  votes  of  very 
few  Centuries. 

§  7.  We  now  come  to  the  memorable  year  of  Cicero's  Consul- 
ship, 63  B.C.  It  was  generally  believed  that  Catiline's  second 
disappointment' would  drive  him  to  a  second  conspiracy.  Imme- 
diately after  his  election,  Cicero  attached  himself  to  the  Senate 
and  justified  their  choice.  To  detach  Antonius  from  Catiline, 
he  voluntarily  ceded  to  him  the  lucrative  Province  of  Macedonia, 
which  he  had  obtained  by  lot.  But  Catiline's  measures  were 
conducted  with  so  much  secrecy,  that  for  several  months  no  clue 
was  obtained  to  his  designs. 

*  Prcevaricatio,  as  the  Romans  called  it. 

f  "Hoc  tempore  Catilinam,  competitorem  nostrum,  defendere  cogita- 
bamus  ....  Spero  si  absolutus  erit,  coDJunctiorem  ilium  fore  in  ratione 
petitionis;  sin  aliter  acciderit,  humaniter  feremus." — Ad  Att.  i.  2,  3.  The 
use  of  the  imperfect  cogitahamus  indicates  that  Cicero's  advocacy  was  either 
not  really  offered  or  not  accepted. 

X  "  Catilina,  si  judieatum  erit  meridie  non  lucere,  certus  erit  competitor." — 
Ad  Att.  i.  1,  2. 


644  ^  •      CIVIL  WARS :    SECOND   PERIOD.  Book  VIL 

Meantime  Cicero  had  other  difficulties  to  meet.  Among  the 
Tribunes  of  the  year  were  two  persons  attached  to  Caesar's 
party,  Q.  Servilius  Rullus  and  T.  Attius  Labienus.  The  Tribunes 
entered  upon  their  office  nearly  a  month  before  the  Consuls; 
and  Rullus  had  already  come  forward  with  an  Agrarian  Law,  to 
revive  the  measure  of  Cinna,  and  divide  the  Public  Lands  of- 
Campania  among  the  poor  citizens.  Cicero's  devotion  to  his 
new  friends  was  shown  by  the  alacrity  with  which  he  opposed 
this  measure.  On  the  Calends  of  January,  the  very  day  upon 
which  he  entered  office,  he  delivered  an  harangue  against  it  in 
the  Senate,  which  he  followed  up  by  speeches  in  the  Forum.* 
He  pleased  himself  by  thinking  that  it  v/as  in  consequence  of 
these  efforts  that  Rullus  withdrew  his  bill.  But  it  is  probable 
that  Caesar,  the  real  author  of  the  law,  cared  little  for  its  success. 
In  bringing  it  forward  he  secured  favour  for  himself.  In  forcing 
Cicero  to  take  part  against  it,  he  deprived  the  orator  of  a  large 
portion  of  his  popularity. 

§  8.  Soon  after  this,  Caesar  employed  the  services  of  Labienus 
to  make  an  assault  upon  the  arbitrary  power  assumed  by  the 
Senate  in  dangerous  emergencies.  It  will  be  remembered  that, 
in  the  sixth  Consulship  of  Marius,  the  revolutionary  enterprise 
of  Saturninus  had  been  put  down  by  resorting  to  this  arbitrary 
power.  Labienus,  whose  uncle  had  perished  by  the  side  of 
Saturninus,  now  indicted  C.  Rabirius,  an  aged  Senator,  for 
having  slain  the  Tribune.  It  was  well  known  that  the  actual 
perpetrator  of  the  deed  was  a  slave,  who  had  been  publicly 
rewarded  for  his  services.  But  Rabirius  had  certainly  been  one 
of  the  assailants,  and  he  was  indicted  for  High  Treason  [per- 
duellio).  If  he  were  found  guilty,  it  would  follow  that  all  who 
hereafter  obeyed  the  Senate  in  taking  up  arms  against  sedi- 
tious persons  would  be  liable  to  a  similar  charge.  The  cause  was 
tried  before  the  Duumviri,  one  of  whom  was  L.  Caesar,  Consul 
of  the  preceding  year;  the  other  was  C.  Caesar  himself.  Hor- 
tensius  and  Cicero  defended  the  old  Senator.  It  would  seem 
almost  impossible  for  Caesar  to  condemn  Rabirius,  seeing  that 
Marius  himself  had  led  the  attack  against  Saturninus.  But  Caesar 
was  not  troubled  by  scruples.  The  Duumviri  found  Rabirius 
guilty. 

From  this  judgment  the  old  Senator  appealed  to  the  popular 
Assembly.  Cicero  came  forward,  in  his  Consular  robes,  to  defend 
him.  He  was  allowed  only  half-an-hour  for  his  speech ;  but  the 
defence  which  he  condensed  into  that  narrow  space  was  unan- 
swerable, and  must  have  obtained  a  verdict  for  his  client,  if  it 

*  Fragments  of  three  speeches  De  Lege  Agrarid  remain.  See  Orelli's 
edition,  ii.  p.  527,  sqq. 


Chap.  LXIV.  CICERO   AND   CATILINE-  645  J 

had  been  adaressed  to  a  calm  audience.  The  People,  however, 
were  eager  to  humiliate  the  Senate,  and  were  ready  to  vote 
according  to  their  present  passion.  Rabirius  would  certainly 
have  been  condemned,  had  not  Q.  Metellus  Celer,  Praetor  of  the 
City,  taken  down  the  standard  which  from  ancient  times  floated 
from  the  Janiculum  during  the  sitting  of  the  Comitia.*  But 
Caesar's  purpose  was  eftectually  answered.  The  governing  body 
had  been  humbled,  and  their  right  •  to  place  seditious  persona 
under  a  sentence  of  outlawry  had  been  called  in  question. 

§  9.  Cicero  lost  still  more  favour  by  the  successful  opposition 
which  he  offered  to  an  attempt  to  restore  the  sons  of  those  who 
had  been  on  the  proscribed  lists  of  Sylla.  In  this  he  served  the 
purpose  of  the  Senate  by  excluding  from  the  Comitia  their  mortal 
enemies ;  but  he  incurred  many  personal  enmities,  and  he  advo- 
cated a  sentence  which  could  be  justified  only  by  necessity. 

§  ]  0.  About  this  time  the  age  and  infirmities  of  Metellus  Pius 
made  probable  a  vacancy  in  the  high  oflSce  of  Pontifex  Maximus ; 
and  Labienus  introduced  a  Law  by  which  the  right  of  election 
to  this  office  was  restored  to  the  Tribes,  according  to  the  rule 
observed  before  Sylla's  Revolution.  "When  Metellus  died,  Caesar 
offered  himself  as  a  candidate  for  this  high  office.  Catulus,  Chief 
of  the  Senate,  also  came  forward,  as  well  as  P.  Servilius  Isauri- 
cus.  Caesar  had  been  one  of  the  Pontiff's  from  early  youth :  but 
he  was  known  to  be  unscrupulous  in  his  pleasures  as  in  his  politics, 
overwhelmed  with  debt,  careless  of  religion.  His  election,  how- 
ever, was  a  trial  of  political  strength  merely.  It  was  considered 
so  certain,  that  Catulus  attempted  to  persuade  him  to  withdraw 
by  offering  to  pay  his  debts ;  but  Cae^^ar  peremptorily  refused, 
saying  that  if  he  needed  more  money,  he  would  borrow  more. 
He  probably  anticipated  that  the  Senate  would  use  force  to 
oppose  him ;  for  on  the  morning  of  the  election  he  parted  from 
his  mother  Aurelia  with  the  words,  "  I  shall  return  as  Pontifex 
Maximus,  or  not  at  all."  His  success  was  triumphant.  Even 
in  the  Tribes  to  which  his  opponents  belonged  he  obtained  more 
votes  than  they  counted  altogether.  No  fact  can  more  strongly 
prove  the  strength  which  the  popular  party  had  regained  under 
his  adroit  but  unseen  management.  It  is  worth  noting  that  in 
this  year  was  born  his  sister's  son,  M.  Octavius,  who  reaped  the 
fruit  of  all  his  ambitious  endeavours. 

§  11.  The  year  was  fast  waning,  and  nothing  was  known  to  the 
public  of  any  attempts  on  the  part  of  Catiline.     That  dark  and 

*  A  custom  probably  derived  from  the  times  when  the  Etruscans  were  foes 
of  Rome.  The  removal  of  the  standard  was,  in  those  times,  a  sign  of  the 
enemy's  approach,  and  on  this  signal  the  Comitia  centuriata  became  an  army 
rendy  for  battle.     The  form  remained,  though  the  reason  had  long  passed  by. 


646 


^  CIVIL   WARS:  SECOND   PERIOD.  Book  YIL 


enterprising  person  had  offered  himself  a  third  time  as  Candi- 
date for  the  Consulship,  and  he  was  anxious  not  to  stir  till  the 
result  was  known.  But  Cicero  had  become  acquainted  with  a 
woman  named  Fulvia,  mistress  to  Curius,  one  of  Catiline's  con- 
fidential friends,  and  by  her  means  he  obtained  immediate 
knowledge  of  the  designs  of  the  conspirators.  At  length  he 
considered  them  so  far  advanced,  that  on  the  21st  of  October  ht 
assembled  the  Senate  and  laid  all  his  information  before  them. 
On  the  next  day  a  Decree  was  framed  to  invest  the  Consuls  with 
Dictatorial  power,  but  at  present  this  Decree  was  kept  secret. 

Soon  after,  the  Consular  Comitia  were  held,  and  the  election 
of  the  Centuries  fell  on  D.  Junius  Silanus  and  L.  Licinius 
Murena,  adherents  of  the  Senatorial  party.  Catiline,  disap- 
pointed of  his  last  hopes,  convened  his  friends  at  the  house  of 
M.  Porcius  Laeca,  on  the  nights  of  the  6th  and  7*th  of  November  ;* 
and  at  this  meeting  it  was  determined  to  proceed  to  action. 
C.  Mallius,  an  old  Centurion,  who  had  been  employed  in  levying 
troops  secretly  in  Etruria,  was  sent  to  Fassulae,  and  ordered  to 
prepare  for  war;  Catiline  and  his  associates  were  to  organise 
movements  within  the  City. 

Cicero,  informed  of  these  resolutions  through  Fulvia,  resolved 
to  dally  no  longer  with  the  peril.  He  summoned  the  Senate  to 
meet  on  the  8th  of  November  in  the  Temple  of  Jupiter  Stator. 
Catiline,  with  marvellous  effrontery,  appeared  in  his  place  as  a 
Senator ;  but  every  one  quitted  the  bench  and  left  him  alone. 
Cicero  now  rose,  and  delivered  that  famous  speech  which  is  en- 
titled his  First  Oration  against  Catiline.  The  conspirator  rose  to 
reply;  but  a  general  shout  of  execration  prevented  him.  Unable 
to  obtain  a  hearing,  he  left  the  Senate-house  ;  and,  perceiving  that 
his  life  was  in  danger  at  Rome,  he  summoned  his  associates 
together,  handed  over  the  execution  of  his  designs  to  M,  Len- 
tulus  Sura,  Praetor  of  the  City,  and  C.  Cethegus,  and  left  Rome 
before  morning  to  join  Mallius  at  Faesula3.  On  the  following 
morning  Cicero  assembled  the  People  in  the  Forum,  and  in  his 
Second  Speech  told  them  of  the  flight  of  Catiline. 

§  12.  The  Senate  now  made  a  second  Decree,  in  which  Catiline 
was  proclaimed  a  Public  Enemy ;  and  the  Consul  Antonius  was 
directed  to  take  the  command  of  an  army  destined  to  act  against 
him,  while  to  Cicero  was  committed  the  care  of  the  City.  Cicero 
was  at  a  loss ;    for  he  was  not  able  to  bring   forward  Fulvia  as  a 

*  Our  llth  of  Jan.  62  b.c.  In  this  and  all  following  dates  correction  must 
be  made  to  obtain  the  real  time.  The  Roman  1st  of  January  of  this  year  would 
be  by  our  reckoning  the  14th  of  March.  It  must  be  observed  also  that  th« 
Romans  reckoned  the  nif^fht  as  belonging  to  the  following  day.  What  we  call 
the  night  of  the  6th  of  November  would  be  with  them  the  night  of  the  Ith. 


Chap.  LXIV.  CICERO    AND   CATILINE.  647 

witness,  and  after  the  proceedings  against  Rabirius  he  feared 
resorting  to  the  use  of  Dictatorial  power.  But  at  this  moment 
he  obtained  direct  evidence  against  the  conspirators.  There 
were  then  present  at  Rome  ambassadors  from  the  Allobroges, 
whose  business  it  was  to  solicit  relief  from  the  debts  which  that 
people  had  incurred  to  the  Roman  Treasury.  The  Senate  heard 
them  coldly,  and  Lentulus  took  advantage  of  their  discontent 
to  stir  them  to  insurrection.  At  first  they  lent  ear  to  his  offers, 
but  thought  it  prudent  to  disclose  the  matter  to  Q.  Fabius 
Sanga,  whose 'family  was  engaged  to  protect  their  interests  at 
Rome.*  Fabius  communicated  with  Cicero.  By  the  Consul's 
directions,  the  Allobrogian  Envoys  continued  their  intrigue  with 
Lentulus,  and  demanded  written  orders,  signed  by  the  chief 
conspirators,  to  serve  as  credentials  to  their  nation.  Bearing 
these  documents,  they  set  out  from  Rome  on  the  evening  of  the 
3rd  of  December  (5th  of  Feb.,  62  b.c),  accompanied  by  one  T.  VuU 
turcius,  who  carried  letters  from  Lentulus  to  Catiline.  Cicero 
ordered  the  Praetors,  L.  Flaccus  and  C.  Pomptinus,  to  take  post 
upon  the  Mulvian  Bridge.  Here  the  Envoys  were  arrested,  and 
all  their  papers  seized. 

§  13.  Early  next  morning,  Cicero  sent  for  Lentulus,  Cethegus, 
and  the  others  who  had  signed  the  Allobrogian  credentials. 
Ignorant  of  what  had  passed,  they  came ;  and  the  Consul,  hold- 
ing the  Praetor  Lentulus  by  the  hand,  and  followed  by  the  rest, 
went  straight  to  the  Temple  of  Concord,  where  he  had  sum- 
moned the  Senate  to  meet.  Vulturcius  and  the  Allobrogian 
Envoys  were  now  brought  in,  and  the  Praetor  Flaccus  produced 
the  papers  which  he  had  seized.  The  evidence  was  brought  so 
clearly  to  a  point,  that  the  Conspirators  confessed  their  hand- 
writing ;  and  the  Senate  decreed  that  Lentulus  should  be  de- 
prived of  his  Prsetorship,  and  that  all  the  prisoners  should  be 
put  into  the  hands  of  eminent  Senators,  who  were  to  be  answer- 
able for  their  persons.  Then  Cicero  went  forth  into  the  Forum, 
and  in  his  Third  Speech  detailed  to  the  assembled  People  all  the 
circumstances  which  had  been  discovered.  Not  only  had  two 
Knights  been  commissioned  by  Cethegus  to  kill  Cicero  in  his 
chamber,  a  fate  which  the  Consul  eluded  by  refusing  them  ad- 
mission, but  it  had  also  been  resolved  to  set  the  City  on  fire  in 
twelve  places  at  once,  as  soon  as  it  was  known  that  Catiline  and 
Mallius  were  ready  to  advance  at  the  head  of  an  armed  force. 
Lentulus,  who  belonged  to  the  great  Cornelian  Gens,  had  been 
buoyed  up  by  a  Sibylline  prophecy,  which  promised  the  dominion 
over  Rome  to  "  three  Cs  :"    he  was  to  be  the  third  Cornelius 

*  They  had  been  conquered  by  Q.  Fabius  Maximus,  nephew  of  Scipio 
vEmilianus.     See  Chapt.  liv.  §  4. 


C48"  CIVIL  WARS :    SECOND   PERIOD.  Book  VIL 

after  Cornelius  Cinna  and  Cornelius  Sylla.  But  it  was  to  his 
remissness  that  Cethegus  attributed  their  failure ;  and  it  is  pro- 
bable, that  if  the  conduct  of  the  business  had  been  left  to  this 
desperate  man,*  some  attempt  at  a  rising  would  have  been  made. 

The  certainty  of  danger  and  the  feeling  of  escape  filled  all 
hearts  with  indignation  against  the  Catilinarian  gang ;  and  for  a 
moment  Cicero  and  the  Senate  rose  to  the  height  of  popularity. 

§  14.  Two  days  after  (Dec.  5=Feb.  7,  62  b.c),  the  Senate  was 
once  more  summoned  to  decide  the  fate  of  the  captive  conspi* 
rators.  Silanus,  as  Consul-elect,  was  first  asked  his  opinion,  and 
he  gave  it  in  favour  of  Death.  Ti.  Nero  moved  that  the  ques- 
tion should  be  adjourned.  Caesar,  who  was  then  Praetor-elect, 
spoke  against  capital  punishment  and  proposed  that  the  prisoners 
should  be  condemned  to  perpetual  chains  in  various  cities  of 
Italy, — taking  care  to  remind  the  Senate  that  their  power  to 
inflict  the  penalty  of  death  was  questionable.  His  speech  pro- 
duced such  an  effect,  that  even  Silanus  declared  his  intention 
to  accede  to  Nero's  motion.  But  Cicero  and  Cato  delivered 
vehement  arguments  in  favour  of  extreme  punishment,  and  the 
majority  voted  with  them.  Immediately  after  the  vote,  the 
Consul,  with  a  strong  guard,  conveyed  the  prisoners  to  the 
loathsome  dungeon,  called  the  Tullianum,  and  here  they  were 
strangled  by  the  public  executioners. 

It  is  difficult  to  see  how  the  State  could  have  been  imperilled 
by  suff'ering  the  culprits  to  live,  at  least  till  they  had  been 
allowed  the  chances  of  a  regular  trial.  If  Rabirius  was  held 
guilty  for  assisting  in  the  assault  upon  Saturninus,  a  man  who 
was  actually  in  arms  against  the  government,  what  had  Cicero 
to  expect  from  those  who  were  ready  to  deliver  this  verdict? 
It  was  not  long  before  he  had  cause  to  rue  his  over-zealous 
haste.  But  for  the  moment,  the  popular  voice  ratified  the  judg- 
ment of  Cato,  when  he  proclaimed  Cicero  to  have  deserved  the 
title  of  "  Father  of  his  Country." 

§  15.  Before  the  close  of  the  year,  the  Consul-elect  Murena 
was  indicted  by  C.  Sulpicius,  one  of  his  competitors,  for  Bribery, 
and  the  accusation  was  supported  by  Cato.  Hortensius  and 
Cicero  undertook  the  defence.  Cicero's  speech  is  extant;  and 
the  buoyant  spirits,  with  which  he  assails  the  legal  pedantry  of 
Sulpicius  and  the  impracticable  Stoicism  of  Cato,  show  how  highly 
he  was  elated  by  his  success  in  crushing  the  conspiracy.  There 
can  be  no  doubt  that  Murena  was  guilty.  The  only  argument 
of  force  used  in  his  defence  by  Cicero,  was  that  it  was  dangerous 
to  leave  the   State  with  one  Consul  when  Catiline  was  in  the 

*  "Manus  vesana  Cethegi,"  Lucan  ii.  5i3;  eomp.  Cic.  in  Catil.  iv.  6. 


Chap.  LXiV  CRASSUS  AJSTD  C^SAR.  549 

field.     And  this  argument  probably  it  was  that   procured  the 
acquittal  of  the  Consul-elect 

§  16.  The  sequel  may  be  briefly  related.  Before  the  execution 
of  his  accomplices,  Catiline  was  at  the  head  of  two  complete 
Legions,  consisting  chiefly  of  Sylla's  veterans.  When  news  of 
the  failure  of  the  plot  reached  the  insurgents,  many  deserted ; 
and  Catiline  endeavoured  to  retreat  into  Cisalpine  Gaul.  But  the 
passes  were  beset  by  the  Pro-praetor  Metellus  Celer ;  the  Consul 
Antonius  was  close  behind ;  and  it  became  necessary  either  to 
fight  or  surrender.  Catiline  chose  the  braver  course.  His  small 
army  was  drawn  up  with  skill.  Antonius,  mindful  of  former 
intimacy  with  Catiline,  alleged  illness  as  a  plea  for  giving  up  the 
command  of  his  troops  to  M.  Petreius,  "a  skilful  soldier.  A  short 
but  desperate  conflict  followed.  Mallius  fell  fighting  bravely. 
Catiline,  seeing  that  the  day  was  lost,  rushed  into  the  thick  of 
battle  and  also  fell  with  many  wounds.  He  was  found,  still 
breathing,  with  a  menacing  frown  stamped  upon  his  brow.  None 
were  taken  prisoners ;  all  who  died  had  their  wounds  in  front. 

§  17.  It  is  impossible  to  part  from  this  history  without  adding 
a  word  with  respect  to  the  part  taken  by  Caesar  and  Crassus. 
Both  these  eminent  persons  were  supposed  to  have  been  more 
or  less  privy  to  Catiline's  designs;  if  the  first  conspiracy  attri- 
buted to  Catiline  had  succeeded,  we  are  told  that  the  assassins 
of  the  Consuls  had  intended  to  declare  Crassus  Dictator,  and  that 
Caesar  was  to  be  Master  of  the  Horse.  And  many  believed  that 
he  at  least,  if  not  Crassus  also,  was  guilty. 

Nothing  seems  more  improbable  than  that  Crassus  should  have 
countenanced  a  plan  which  involved  the  destruction  of  the  city, 
and  which  must  have  been  followed  by  the  ruin  of  credit.  He 
had  constantly  employed  the  large  fortune  which  he  had  amassed 
in  the  Syllan  Proscription  for  the  purposes  of  speculation  and 
jobbing.  To  a  money-lender  and  speculator,  a  violent  Revolu- 
tion, attended  by  destruction  of  property  and  promising  abolition 
df  debts,  would  be  of  all  things  the  least  desirable.  Crassus 
was  not  without  ambition,  but  he  never  gratified  the  lust  of 
power  at  the  expense  of  his  purse. 

The  case  against  Caesar  bears  at  first  sight  more  likelihood. 
Sallust  represents  Cato  as  hinting  that  Caesar's  wish  to  spare 
the  conspirators  arose  from  his  complicity  with  them.  In  the 
next  year  (62  b.c.)  after  Caesar  had  entered  upon  his  Praetorship^ 
a  person  named  Vettius,  employed  by  Cicero  as  a  spy,  ofi'ered 
to  produce  a  letter  from  Caesar  to  Catiline,  which  would  prove 
his  guilt.  Cicero  and  the  more  prudent  of  the  Senators  wished 
at  once  to  quash  these  tales.  But  Caesar  would  not  be  content 
with  this,  and  in  full  Senate  he  called  on  the  Ex-consul  to  state 

28 


650  CIVIL  WARS:    SECOND  PERIOD.  Book  VIL 

what  he  knew  of  the  matter.  Cicero  rose,  and  declared  that  so 
far  from  Csesar  being  implicated  in  the  plot,  he  had  done  all  that 
could  be  expected  from  a  good  citizen  to  assist  in  crushing  it. 
The  People,  having  learnt  what  was  the  question  before  the 
Senate,  crowded  to  the  doors  of  the  House  and  demanded  Caesar's 
safety.  His  appearance  assured  them,  and  he  was  welcomed 
with  loud  applause.  It  was  only  by  his  interference  that  Vettius 
was  saved  from  being  torn  in  pieces. 

In  truth,  of  evidence  to  prove  Caesar's  complicity  with  Cati- 
line there  was  none ;  and  the  further  the  case  is  examined,  the 
less  appears  to  be  the  probability  of  such  complicity.  The 
course  he  had  pursued  for  the  purpose  of  undermining  the  power 
of  the  Senate  had  been  so  successful,  that  he  was  little  likely  to 
abandon  it  for  a  scheme  of  reckless  violence,  from  which  others 
would  reap  the  chief  advantage.  Even  if  Catiline  had  succeeded, 
he  must  have  been  crushed  by  Pompey,  who  was  just  returning 
to  Italy  at  the  head  of  his  victorious  Legions.  The  desire  of 
Caesar  to  save  the  lives  of  Lentulus  and  the  rest  is  at  once 
explained,  when  we  remember  that  he  had  just  before  promoted 
the  prosecution  of  Rabirius.  As  the  leader  of  the  popular  party, 
it  was  his  cue  always  and  everywhere  to  protest  against  the 
absolute  power  assumed  by  the  Senate,  as  unconstitutional  and 
illegal.  It  is  possible  that  he  may  have  suspected  the  design? 
of  Catiline,  and  he  may  have  been  souoded  by  that  reckless 
person  as  a  well-known  opponent  of  the  Senate.  But  without 
claiming  for  Csesar  any  credit  for  principle,  we  may  safely  con- 
clude that  it  was  not  expedient  for  him  to  have  any  dealings 
with  Catiline ;  and  we  may  be  sure  that  he  wa«  the  last  man  to 
be  misled  into  a  rash  enterprise  which  was  not  expedient  for 
himself. 


C.  Julius  Caesar. 


CHAPTER    LXV. 

pompey's  return:  first  triumvirate:  Cesar's  consulship: 
clodius.     (62 58  b.c.) 

J  1.  Cicero's  vanity:  coldness  of  Pompey:  Metellus  Nepos,  Tribune,  attacks 
Cicero.  §  2.  Caesar  departs  for  Spain:  Return  of  Pompey,  his  caution: 
Crassus  lauds  Cicero.  §  3.  Senate  oflfends  Pompey,  (1)  by  refusing  to 
confirm  his  Acts  in  the  East,  (2)  by  thwarting  provision  proposed  for  his 
Veterans.  §  4.  Caesar  in  Spain.  §  5.  He  returns  to  stand  for  the  Con- 
sulship :  First  Triumvirate.  §  6,  Caesar's  Law  to  provide  for  Pompey's 
Veterans :  opposition  of  Senate  frustrated.  §  1.  Caesar's  Law  to  confirm 
Pompey's  Acts.  §  8.  Another  to  excuse  Equites  from  a  hard  bargain. 
§  9.  Vatinian  Law,  investing  Caesar  with  government  of  Cisalpine  Gaul 
and  Illyria  for  five  years:  Senate  add  Province  of  Transalpine  Gaul.  §  10. 
Marriage  of  Pompey  and  Julia:  Perplexity  of  Cicero.  §  11.  Violation  of 
Mysteries  of  Bona  Dea  by  Clodius :  Cicero  speaks  against  him :  he  is  made 
Plebeian  by  Caesar's  influence :  elected  Tribune.  §  1 2.  Cicero,  threatened 
by  a  Bill  of  penalties  for  putting  Catilinarians  to  death,  goes  into  exile. 
§  13.  Cato:  his  character:  sent  to  annex  Cyprus  to  the  Empire.  §  14. 
Democratic  measures  of  Clodius. 


§  1.  In  the  first  heat  of  liis  triumph,  Cicero  disclosed  the  weak- 
ness of  his  character.  He  was  full  of  vanity,  a  quality  which 
above  all   others  deprives  a  man  of  the  influence  which  may 


(J52  CIVIL   WARS:    SECOND   PERIOD.  Book  VIL 

otherwise  be  due  to  integrity,  industry,  and  ability.  The  Senators 
were  irritated  by  hearing  Cicero  repeat: — "I  am  the  Saviour  of 
Rome ;  I  am  the  Father  of  my  Country."  Pompey  also,  now  on 
the  eve.  of  returning  to  Italy,  had  been  watching  Cicero's  rise, 
not  without  jealousy.  Metellus  Nepos,  his  Legate,  had  already 
returned  to  Rome  with  instructions  from  his  Chief,  and  had  been 
elected  Tribune  for  the  next  year.  Cicero,  in  the  fulness  of  his 
heart,  wrote  Pompey  a  long  account  of  his  Consulate,  in  which 
he  had  the  ill  address  to  compare  his  triumph  over  Catiline  with 
Pompey's  Eastern  Conquests.  The  General  took  no  notice  of 
Cicero's  actions ;  and  the  Orator  wrote  him  a  submissive  letter, 
in  which  he  professes  his  hope  of  playinjy  Laelius  to  his  great 
correspondent's  Africanus.  Meanwhile  Metellus  Nepos  made 
no  secret  of  his  disapproval  of  Cicero's  conduct  in  putting  citizens 
to  death  without  trial.  On  the  Calends  of  January,  when  the 
Ex-consul  quitted  office  and  intended  to  have  delivered  an  elabo- 
rate panegyric  on  himslef  and  the  Senate,  the  Tribune  inter- 
dicted him  from  speaking.  He  could  do  nothing  more  than 
step  forward  and  swear  aloud  that  "he  alone  had  preserved  the 
Republic."  The  people,  not  yet  recovered  from  the  fear  of 
Catiline  and  his  crew,  shouted  in  answer  that  he  had  sworn  the 
truth. 

Metellus  Nepos  followed  up  this "  assault  by  two  Bills, — *  Tie 
empowering  Pompey  to  be  elected  Consul  for  the  second  time  in 
his  absence ,  the  other  investing  him  with  the  command  in  Italy 
for  the  purpose  of  quelling  the  Insurrection  of  Catiline.  Caesar 
supported  these  motions :  But  when  Nepos  began  to  read  them 
previously  to  submitting  them  to  the  votes  of  the  Assembly,  Cato, 
also  one  of  the  Tribunes  for  the  year,  snatched  the  paper  from 
the  hand  of  his  Colleagae,  and  tore  it  in  pieces.  Nepos  then 
began  to  recite  his  Laws  from  memory ;  but  another  Tribune 
placed  his  hand  over  his  mouth,  A  tumult  followed;  and  for 
the  time  the  Senate  triumphed  over  Pompey. 

§  2.  On  laying  down  his  Praetorship,  Caesar  obtained  Spain  for 
his  Province.  His  debtors  threatened  to  detain  him.  In  this 
^-mergency  he  applied  to  Crassus ;  and  Crassus,  believing  in  the 
fortune  of  Caesar,  advanced  the  required  sums,  so  that  the 
Pro-praetor  set  out  for  Spain  at  the  beginning  of  61  b.c. 

Pompey  had  arrived  in  Italy,  but  not  at  Rome.  Great  appre- 
hensions were  felt  there;  for  he  was  as  silent  on  political  matters 
as  Monk  on  the  eve  of  the  Restoration,  and  his  intentions  were 
suspected.  But  at  Brundusium  he  addressed  his  soldiers,  thanked 
them  for  their  services,  and  dismissed  them  to  their  homes  till 
it  was  time  for  them  to  attend  his  Triumph.  He  then  set  out 
for  Rome,  accompanied  by  a  few  friends.     Outside  the  walls  ho 


Chap.  LXV.  POMPEY'S   RETURN.  653 

halted,  and  asked  permission  from  the  Senate  to  enter  the  City, 
as  Sylla  had  done,  without  forfeiting  his  claim  to  a  Triumph. 
Cato  opposed  the  application,  and  it  was  refused.  Pompey 
therefore  remained  outside  the  walls ;  and  his  Triumph,  the 
third  which  he  had  enjoyed,  did  not  take  place  till  the  end  of 
September.  It  lasted  two  days,  and  the  sum  of  money  paid  into 
the  Treasury  exceeded  all  former  experience.  After  the  Triumph 
ie  addressed  speeches  both  to  the  Senate  and  to  the  People,  so 
cautiously  framed,  that  no  one  could  form  any  conclusion  with 
respect  to  his  intentions ;  in  particular,  he  avoided  expressing 
any  opinion  with  respect  to  the  part  taken  against  the  Catilinarian 
conspirators.  Crassus,  always  jealous  of  Pompey,  took  advantage 
of  his  rival's  reserve  to  pronounce  a  panegyric  upon  Cicero ;  and 
this  gave  the  Orator  an  opportunity  of  delivering  the  speech 
which  he  had  prepared  for  the  Calends  of  January.  Cicero  sat 
down  amid  cheers  from  all  sides  of  the  House.  It  was  probably 
the  happiest  moment  of  his  life.* 

§  3.  The  Consuls-elect  were  L.  Afranius,  an  old  officer  of 
Pompey,  and  Q.  Metellus  Celer,  elder  brother  of  Nepos.f  The 
chief  officers  of  State,  therefore,  were  likely  to  be  at  the  beck  of 
the  great  Eastern  Conqueror.  But  Afranius  had  no  political 
influence,  and  Metellus  Celer,  exasperated  because  Pompey  had 
divorced  his  sister,  sided  with  the  Senate.  Caesar  was  in  Further 
Spain :  Crassus  was  ready  to  oppose  Pompey ;  and  the  game,  if 
prudently  played,  might  have  been  won  by  the  Senatorial  leaders. 
But  about  this  time  they  lost  Catulus ;  and  the  blind  obstinacy 
of  Metellus  Celer,  Cato,  and  others,  converted  Pompey  from  his 
cold  neutrality  into  a  warm  antagonist. 

During  his  stay  in  the  East  after  the  death  of  Mithridates,  he 
had  formed  Provinces  and  re-distributed  kingdoms  without  the 
assistance  of  a  Senatorial  Commission.  He  now  applied  to  have 
his  arrangements  confirmed  by  the  Senate.  But  Lucullus  and 
Metellus  Creticus,  irritated  at  seeing  that  in  the  blaze  of  his 
triumphant  success  their  own  unquestionable  merits  had  been 
forgotten,  spoke  warmly  in  the  Senate  of  the  appropriation  of 
their  labours  by  Pompey,  and  persuaded  the  majority  to  with- 
hold the  desired  confirmation.  At  the  same  time  an  Agrarian 
Law,  proposed  by  L.  Flaviui.  a  Tribune,  to  assign  certain  lands  in 
guerdon  to  Pompey's  veteran  soldiers,  was  opposed  by  the  Consul 
Metellus  Celer  with  rancorous  determination.     Pompey,  who  dis- 

*  For  a  lively  description  of  the  whole  scene,  see  Cicero  ad  Att.  i.  14. 
f  It  was  from  this  year  that  Pollio  began  his  History  of  this  Civil  "War :— ' 

"  Motum  ex  Metello  Consule  civicum, 
Bellique  causas,"  etc. — Horat.  Od.  ii.  1. 


654  CIVIL  WARS:    SECOND   PERIOD.  Book  V 11. 

liked  popular  tumults,  suffered  the  measure  to  be  withdrawn,  and 
brooded  over  the  insult  in  haughty  silence. 

§  4.  Caesar  had  taken  his  departure  for  Spain  before  Pompey's 
return.  In  that  Province  he  availed  himself  of  some  disturb- 
ances on  the  Lusitanian  border  to  declare  war  against  that 
gallant  people.  He  overran  their  country,  and  turned  his  arms 
against  the  Gallsecians,  who  seem  to  have  been  unmolested  since 
the  days  of  Dec.  Brutus.  In  two  campaigns  he  became  master 
of  spoils  sufficient  not  only  to  pay  off  a  great  portion  of  his 
debts,  but  also  to  enrich  his  soldiery.  There  can  be  no  doubt 
that  he  must  have  acted  with  great  severity  to  wring  these  large 
sums  from  the  native  Spaniards  :  indeed  he  never  took  thought 
for  the  sufferings  of  people  not  subject  to  Roman  sway.  But 
he  was  careful  not  to  be  guilty  of  oppression  towards  the  Pro- 
vincials ;  and  his  rule  in  the  Spanish  Provinces  was  long  re- 
marked for  its  equitable  adjustment  of  debts  due  to  Roman 
Tax-collectors. 

§  5.  He  left  Spain  in  time  to  reach  Rome  before  the  Consular 
Elections  of  the  year  60  b.c. — for  he  intended  to  present  him- 
self as  a  candidate.  But  he  claimed  a  Triumph,  and  therefore 
applied  to  the  Senate  for  leave  to  sue  for  the  Consulship  without 
appearing  personally  in  the  City.  The  Senate  was  disposed  to 
grant  this  request ;  but  Cato  adjourned  the  question  by  speaking 
against  time ;  and  Caesar,  who  scorned  appearance  in  comparison 
with  reality  of  power,  relinquished  his  Triumph  and  entered  the 
City.  He  found  Pompey  in  high  dudgeon  with  the  Senate ;  and 
to  strengthen  their  hands,  propo'sed  to  include  Crassus  in  their 
political  union.  The  advances  made  by  Crassus  to  Cicero  and  to 
the  Senate  had  been  ill  received,  and  he  lent  a  ready  ear  to  the 
overtures  of  the  dexterous  negotiator  who  now  addressed  him. 
Pompey,  at  the  instance  of  CaDsar,  relinquished  the  old  enmity 
which  he  bore  to  Crassus ;  and  thus  was  formed  that  famous 
Cabal  which  is  commonly,  though  improperly,  called  the  First 
Triumvirate.* 

Thus  supported  secretly  by  the  power  of  Pompey  and  the 
wealth  of  Crassus,  and  borne  onward  by  his  own  popularity,  Caesar 
was  elected  to  the  Consulship  by  acclamation.  But  the  Senatorial 
Chiefs  exhausted  every  art  of  intrigue  and  bribery  to  secure  the 
return  of  M.  Calpurnius  Bibulus,  known  to  be  a  man  of  unflinch- 
ing resolution,  as  his  colleague.  He  was  son-in-law  to  Cato,  who 
to  obtain  a  political  advantage  did  not  hesitate  to  sanction  the 
corrupt  practices  which  on  other  occasions  he  loudly  denounced. 

*  Improperly,  because  it  was  a  secret  combination,  and  not  an  open 
assumption  of  political  power,  such  as  to  Roman  ears  was  implied  in  the 
word  Triumvirate. 


Chap.  LXY.  FIRST  TRIUMVIRATE.  e55\ 

Bibulus  was  elected;  and  from  the  antagonism  of  the  two 
Consuls,  the  approaching  year  seemed  big  with  danger. 

§  6.  Caesar  began  the  acts  of  his  Consulship  by  a  measure  so 
adroitly  drawn  up  as  to  gratify  at  once  his  own  adherents  and 
Porapey.  It  was  an  Agrarian  Law,  framed  on  the  model  of  that 
which  had  been  proposed  last  year  by  Pompey's  agents.  Before 
bringing  it  forward  in  the  Assembly  he  read  it  over  clause  by 
clause  in  the  Senate,  and  not  even  Cato  was  able  to  find  fault. 
But  Bibulus  declared  that  the  measure  should  not  pass  while  he 
was  Consul,  and  therefore  refused  to  sanction  any  further  meet- 
ings of  the  Senate.  Caesar,  unable  to  convene  the  great  Council 
without  his  colleague,  threw  himself  upon  the  People,  and  enlarged 
his  Agrarian  Law  to  the  dimensions  of  the  Laws  formerly  pro- 
posed by  Cinna  and  by  Rullus.  Cicero  now  took  alarm^  and  the 
Senatorial  Order  united  in  opposition  to  any  distribution  of  their 
favourite  Campanian  lands.  On  the  day  appoint^ed  for  taking 
the  votes  of  the  People,  the  most  violent  of  the  Oligarchy  met  at 
the  house  of  Bibulus,  whence  they  sallied  into  the  Forum  and 
attempted  to  dissolve  the  Assembly  by  force.  But  Caesar 
ordered  his  Lictors  to  arrest  Cato,  and  the  rest  were  obliged  to 
seek  safety  in  flight.  After  another  vain  attempt  to  stop  pro- 
ceedings, on  pretence  of  the  auguries,  Bibulus  shut  himself  up  in 
his  house  for  the  remainder  of  his  term  of  office,  and  contented 
himself  with  protesting  from  time  to  time  against  the  acts  of  his 
Colleague.  After  this  victory,  Caesar  called  upon  Pompey  and 
Crassus  before  the  whole  Assembly  to  express  their  opinions 
with  respect  to  the  Bill.  Pompey  warmly  approved  it,  and 
declared  that  if  others  drew  swords  to  oppose  it  he  would  cover 
it  with  his  shield.  Crassus  spoke  in  a  similar  strain.  After  this 
public  manifestation  of  the  union  of  the  Triumvirs  all  oppo- 
sition ceased.  The  Bill  became  Law,  and  Caesar  forced  every 
Senator  to  swear  obedience  to  its  provisions.  Even  Cato  com- 
plied, and  Cicero  looked  on  in  blank  perplexity. 

§  7.  Caesar  followed  up  this  successful  movement  by  procuring 
from  the  People  a  full  acknowledgment  of  Pompey's  Acts  in  the 
East.  Here  again  what  the  Senate  had  captiously  refused  was 
skilfully  employed  to  cement  the  union  of  the  Triumvirs. 

§  8.  The  next  step  taken  by  the  dexterous  Consul  was  to 
establish  his  credit  with  another  class  in  the  community,  the 
Equites,  who  also  (it  may  be  observed)  were  especially  favoured 
both  by  Pompey  and  Cicero.  The  Orator,  during  his  Consulship, 
endeavoured  to  efi"ect  a  union  between  the  Senatorial  and  Eques- 
trian Orders.  The  Tax-collectors  had  made  a  high  offer  for  the 
taxes  of  Asia  at  the  last  auction;  they  prayed  to' be  let  off"  their 
contract,  and  Cicero  undertook  their  cause.     But  Cato  opposed 


/ 


656  CIVIL   WARS :    SECOND   PERIOD.  Book  VIL 

it  with  all  his  force,  and  the  Equites  were  held  strictly  to  their 
bargain.  At  Cajsar's  suggestion  a  Law  was  now  passed,  re- 
mitting a  third  part  of  what  they  had  agreed  to  give.  Here, 
also,  the  favour  which  the  Senate  might  have  achieved  by  a 
gracious  act  was  transferred  to  their  most  dangerous  enemy. 

§  9.  Before  he  quitted  office,  Caesar  determined  to  provide  for 
his  future  power.  The  Senate  had  assigned  him  the  insignificant 
province  of  managing  the  forests  and  public  pastures  of  Italy. 
But  the  Tribune  Vatinius,  his  creature,  proposed  a  Law  by  which 
Caesar  was  specially  invested,  as  Proconsul,  with  the  government 
of  Cisalpine  Gaul  and  Illyricum,  and  the  command  of  two  Le- 
gions ;  and  this  government  was  conferred  upon  him  for  the  ex- 
traordinary term  of  five  .years.  No  doubt  his  purpose  in  obtain- 
ing this  Province  was  to  remain  as  near  Rome  as  possible,  and  by 
means  of  the  troops  under  his  orders,  to  assume  a  commanding 
position  with  regard  to  Roman  politics.  Circumstances  unex- 
pectedly enlarged  his  sphere  of  action,  and  enabled  him  to  add 
to  his  political  successes  the  character  of  a  triumphant  General. 
For  some  time  past  there  had  been  threatening  movements  in 
Transalpine  Gaul.  The  Allobrogians,  who  had  been  treated 
with  little  consideration  after  the  Catilinarian  conspiracy,  had 
endeavoured  to  redress  their  grievances  by  arms,  and  had  been 
subdued  by  Pomptinus,  one  of  the  Praetors  employed  by  Cicero  at 
the  Mulvian  Bridge.  The  ^duans,  who  inhabited  modern  Bur- 
gundy, though  in  alliance  with  Rome,  were  suspected  of  having 
favoured  this  revolt.  On  the  banks  of  the  Rhine  the  Suevi,  a 
powerful  German  Tribe,  were  threatening  inroads  which  revived 
the  memory  of  the  Cimbric  and  Teutonic  times ;  and  the  Hel- 
vetians were  moving  uneasily  within  their  narrow  borders.  An 
able  and  active  commander  was  required  to  meet  these  various 
dangers;  and  the  Senate  probably  thought  that  by  removing 
Caesar  to  a  distant,  perilous,  and  uncertain  war,  they  might 
expose  him  to  the  risk  of  failure,  or  that  absence  might  diminish 
the  prestige  of  his  name.  They  therefore  added  the  Province  of 
Transalpine  Gaul,  with  an  additional  Legion,  to  the  Provinces 
already  conferred  upon  him  by  popular  Vote.  Pompey  and 
Crassus  supported  the  Decree,  a  fact  which  perhaps  caused  the 
Senate  to  repent  of  their  liberality. 

§  10.  Pompey,  we  have  said,  had  divorced, his  wife  Caecilia, 
and  Caesar  took  advantage  of  this  circumstance  to  cement  his 
union  with  Pompey  by  offering  him  the  hand  of  Julia,  his  young 
and  beautiful  daughter.  Pompey  accepted  the  offer,  and  bad  no 
reason  to  repent  as  a  husband,  whatever  may  be  thought  of  its 
effect  on  his  public  career.  So  far,  Cicero  had  still  hoped  against 
hope  in  Pompey.     In  his  letters,  he  represents  his  union  with 


Chap.  LXV.  FIRST  TRItJMV IRATE.  657 

Pompey  as  so  close,  that  the  young  men  nicknamed  the  great 
general  Cnceus  Cicero;*  he  professes  his  unshaken  confidence  in 
his  illustrious  friend ;  he  even  hopes  that  they  may  be  able  to 
reform  Caesar.  His  confidence  is  shaken  by  Pompey's  approba- 
tion of  Caesar's  Agrarian  Law ;  and  he  begins  to  fear  that  the 
great  Eastern  Conqueror, — Sampsiceranus,  Alabarches,  the  Jeru- 
salemitef  (such  are  the  names  which  he  uses  to  indicate  the 
haughty  bearing  of  Pompey), — is  aiming  at  a  tyranny.  Still  he 
continues  to  hope  that  the  great  man  will  at  length  declare 
himself  for  the  Senate,  till  at  length  he  is  roused  from  these 
waking  dreams  by  the  marriage  of  Pompey  with  Julia,  and  by 
the  approach  of  personal  danger  to  himself. 

§  11.  Caesar,  during  his  Praetorship,  had  lent  the  house  which 
belonged  to  him  as  Chief  Pontifl^  for  the  celebration  of  the 
mysteries  of  the  Bona  Dea,— rites  at  which  it  was  not  lawful  for 
any  but  women  to  be  present.  Young  App.  Clodius,  the  same 
who  had  promoted  mutiny  in  the  army  of  Lucullus,  either  had 
or  aspired  to  have  an  intrigue  with  Pompeia,J;  Caesar's  wife,  and 
contrived  to  enter  the  forbidden  precincts  disguised  as  a  singing 
girl.  He  was  discovered  by  his  voice;  and  the  matter  was 
important  enough  to  be  referred  to  the  Senate.  But  nothing 
was  done  till  the  next  year,  when  Clodius  was  Quaestor.  He  was 
then  brought  to  trial,  and  pleaded  an  alibi.  Caesar  and  Cicero 
were  summoned  as  witnesses  against  him.  Caesar  had  divorced 
his  wife  in  consequence  of  the  aftair.  But  professed  ignorance  of 
all  that  had  passed.  "Why  then,"  it  was  asked,  "have  you  put 
away  your  wife?" — a  question  to  which  he  gave  the  famous 
reply  : — "Caesar's  wife  must  be  above  suspicion."  Cicero,  on  the 
other  hand,  who  justly  detested  the  profligate  character  of  the 
accused,  said  that  he  had  seen  and  spoken  with  Clodius  on  that 
very  day  at  Rome.  He  thus  overthrew  the  plea  of  alibi,  and 
followed  up  his  evidence  by  pointed  speeches  in  the  Senate. 
There  was  no  doubt  of  the  guilt  of  Clodius.  But  the  matter 
was  treated  as  a  trial  of  political  strength ;  he  was  acquitted ; 
and,  before  Caesar's  Consulship,  he  had  conceived  the  desire  of 
becoming  Tribune  of  the  Plebs,  so  as  to  satisfy  his  vengeance 
upon  Cicero.  But  his  Patrician  pedigree — sole  relic  of  the  old 
distinction  between  the  Orders — forbade  his  election  to  this 
office.      Caesar,   in   the   first    instance,   attempted    to   gain   the 

*  AdAti.i.  16,  11. 

f  Jhid.  ii.  9,  1 ;  14,  1 ;  16,  2,  <fec.  Sampsiceranus  was  the  King  of  Emesa  in 
Syria,  Strabo,  xvi.  p.  1092.  Alabarches  {Ibid.  ii.  17,  3),  an  Oriental  name 
for  the  collector  of  cerfain  dues  and  taxes. 

X  She  was  no  way  related  to  Pompey,  being  the  daughter  of  Pompeius 
Eufns,  Sylla's  son-in-law. 

28*  X  ' 

((  UN? 


658  CIVIL  WARS :    SECOND   PERIOD.  Book  VII. 

support  of  Cicero,  as  he  had  gained  the  support  of  Pompey, 
by  promises.  The  Orator  received  these  advances  with  plea- 
sure, more,  however,  in  the  hope  of  converting  the  popular 
statesman  than  with  any  thought  of  being  converted.  But 
Caesar  was  not  the  man  to  be  led  by  Cicero.  He  soon  saw  the 
Orator's  drift,  and  endeavoured  to  alarm  him  by  threatening  to 
support  a  Law  for  making  Clodius  a  Plebeian.  But  Cicero  still 
relied  on  Pompey,  and  soon  after  provoked  Caesar  to  fulfil  hi^ 
threat.  C.  Antonius,  Cicero's  Colleague  in  the  Consulship,  had 
lately  returned  from  his  Macedonian  Government.  He  had  been 
guilty  of  more  than  the  usual  measure  of  extortion  and  oppres- 
sion, and  Clodius  sought  popularity  by  impeaching  him.  Cicero 
appeared  as  his  Advocate,  and  took  occasion  to  contrast  his  own 
forgotten  services  in  the  Catilinarian  conspiracy  with  the  present 
condition  of  public  affairs.  An  immediate  report  of  this  speech 
was  conveyed  to  Caesar.  It  was  delivered  at  noon,  and  the  same 
afternoon  Caesar  gave  his  consent  to  the  Law  for  making  Clodius 
a  Plebeian.  Presently  after,  the  reckless  Noble  was  elected 
Tribune  for  the  ensuing  year,  that  is  for  58  B.C.  Cicero  was  in 
consternation. 

The  Consular  Elections  were  equally  disheartening.  Caesar 
had  lately  espoused  Calpurnia,  daughter  of  L.  Piso.  This  man 
was  chosen  Consul,  together  with  Au.  Gabinius,  who  had  moved 
the  Law  for  conferring  the  command  over  the  Mediterranean 
upon  Pompey.  It  was  evident  that  these  Consuls,  one  the 
father-in-law  of  Caesar,  the  other  a  creature  of  Pompey,  would 
be  mere  tools  of  the  Triumviral  Cabal. 

§  12.  In  December  Clodius  entered  upon  office  as  Tribune. 
Caesar  did  not  set  out  for  his  Province  before  the  end  of  March 
in  the  next  year  (58  B.C.).  In  the  course  of  these  three  months 
he  used  Clodius  as  an  instrument  for  removing  from  Rome  the 
persons  most  likely  to  thwart  his  policy.  Close  to  the  gates  lay 
the  Legions  which  he  had  levied  for  service  in  Gaul,  ready,  if 
need  were,  to  support  Clodius  in  the  Forum. 

The  first  person  assailed  w^s  Cicero.  Caesar  was  willing  to 
spare  the  Orator  the  rude  assaults  of  Clodius.  He  therefore 
offered  him  first  one  of  the  commissionerships  for  executing 
the  Agrarian  Law,  and  then  a  lieutenancy  under  himself  in  Gaul. 
But  Cicero  declined  both  offers;  and  Caesar  determined  to  re- 
move him  from  Rome,  left  him  to  the  mercies  of  the  Tribune. 
Clodius  gave  notice  of  a  Bill,  enacting  that  any  magistrate  who 
had  put  Roman  Citizens  to  death  without  regular  trial  should 
be  banished  from  Italy,  thus  embodying  in  a  law  the  principle 
which  Caesar  had  maintained  by  the  indictment  of  Rabirins. 
At    first    Cicero   trusted    to    Pompey   and    his   own   imaginary 


Chap.  LXV.  FIRST  TRIUMVIRATE.  659  ^ 

popularity.  But  the  haste  with  which  Cicero  had  acted  had 
been  condemned  by  Pompey  even  before  his  league  with  Caesar ; 
and  many  who  had  applauded  Cicero  at  the  time  now  took  part 
with  Clodius.  Finding  also  that  the  Tribune  was  supported  by 
Caesar  in  the  background,  the  frightened  OratoF  put  on  mourning, 
and  canvassed  for  acquittal.  Great  part  of  the  Senators  and 
Knights  followed  his  example;  but  Clodius  persevered,  and  the 
Consuls  ordered  the  mourners  to  resume  their  usual  apparel. 
As  a  last  chance,  Cicero  appealed  to  Pompey  himself,  who  main- 
tained the  cold  reserve  which  he  had  aftected  ever  since  his 
return,  and  told  him,  with  bitter  mockery,  to  seek  assistance  from 
the  Consuls.  In  this  desperate  case  he  held  counsel  with  his 
friends.  The  Senators  felt  that  Cicero's  cause  was  their  own,  and 
repented  of  the  coldness  they  had  shown  him  of  late.  LucuUus 
shook  off  his  luxurious  indolence  for  a  moment,  and  advised  an 
appeal  to  arms.  But,  after  full  deliberation,  even  Cato  recom- 
mended the  Orator  to  quit  Italy,  and  wait  for  better  times.  He 
complied  with  a  heavy  heart, — for  Rome,  the  Forum,  and  the 
Senate-House,  were  all  the  world  to  him, — and  left  the  capital 
before  Caesar's  departure  for  his  Province.  No  sooner  was  his 
back  turned,  than  Sex.  Clodius,  a  client  of  the  audacious  Tribune, 
brought  in  a  second  Bill,  by  which  Cicero  was  expressly  attacked 
by  name.  He  was  forbidden  to  approach  within  400  miles  of 
Rome :  all  who  harboured  him  within  those  limits  were  sub- 
jected to  heavy  penalties :  all  his  property  was  confiscated :  his 
favourite  house  on  the  Palatine,  his  villas  at  Tusculum  and  at 
Formiae,  were  to  be  destroyed.  The  great  Orator  lingered  on  the 
southern  shores  of  his  beloved  Italy,  in  hope  that  his  friends  might 
even  yet  baffle  the  designs  of  Clodius.  But  his  hope  faded  and 
vanished.  In  his  letters  he  pours  forth  unmanly  lamentations; 
accuses  all, — Cato,  Hortensius,  even  his  friend  Atticus ;  refuses 
to  see  his  brother  Quintus ;  and  seriously  debates  the  question 
of  suicide.  Atticus  began  to  be  alarmed  for  his  friend's  sanity. 
At  length  he  crossed  the  sea,  and  sought  refuge  at  Thessalonica. 

§  13.  The  next  person  to  be  disposed  of  was  Cato.  This 
remarkable  man  has  already  come  before  us  on  one  or  two  occa- 
sions which  serve  to  indicate  his  character.  He  was  great- 
grandson  of  the  old  Censor,  and  resembled  him  in  many  points, 
though  he  wanted  the  political  shrewdness  of  his  ancestor.  He 
was  five  years  younger  than  Caesar,  and  at  present  therefore 
not  more  than  thirty-seven  years  of  age.  From  the  time  when 
his  speech  determined  the  fate  of  Catiline,  his  strong  will  had 
made  him  one  of  the  leaders  of  the  Senatorial  Oligarchy ;  and 
after  the  death  of  Catulus,  he  took  the  most  determined  part 
in  opposing  the  popular  party.     But  his  Stoic  Philosophy  almost 


660 


J  CIVIL   WARS:   SECOND   PERIOD.  Book  Vll. 


unfitted  him  for  the  political  life  of  that  dissolute  age.  He 
applied  the  rules  of  Zeno's  inflexible  logic  to  politics  as  to 
mathematics,  without  regard  to  times  or  persons  or  places,  and 
treated  questions  of  mere  expedience  as  if  they  were  matters  of 
moral  right  and  wrong.  At  times,  however,  party  spirit  over- 
came even  Cato's  scruples,  and  to  gain  a  political  victory  he 
forgot  the  rules  of  his  philosophy. 

No  accusation  could  be  brought  against  Cato  as  against 
Cicero;  and  therefore,  to  remove  him  from  Rome,  he  was 
charged  with  a  business  of  apparent  honour.  Ptolemy,  brother 
of  the  King  of  Egypt,  was  Prince  of  Cyprus ;  and  when  Clodius 
was  in  the  hands  of  the  pirates  this  Prince  contributed  the 
paltry  sum  of  two  talents  towards  his  ransom.  The  Tribune, 
who  never  forgot  or  forgave,  now  brought  in  a  Law,  by  which 
Cyprus  was  annexed  to  the  Roman  Empire ;  and  Cato,  though 
he  had  held  no  Curule  office,  was  invested  with  Praetorian  rank 
for  the  execution  of  this  iniquitous  business.  Cato  pretended 
not  that  he  was  ignorant  of  the  real  purpose  of  this  mission. 
But  he  declared  himself  ready  to  obey  the  Law,  left  Rome  soon 
after  Cicero's  departure,  and  remained  absent  for  about  two 
years.  When,  therefore,  Caesar  set  out  for  Gaul,  the  Senate  was 
left  in  a  state  of  paralysis  from  the  want  of  leaders. 

§  14.  After  Caesar's  departure,  Clodius  pursued  his  democratic 
measures  without  let  or  hindrance.  He  abolished  the  Law  of  the 
Comitial  Auspices  by  which  Bibulus  had  attempted  to  thwart 
Caesar.  He  distributed  the  Libertines  and  City-rabble  into  all 
the  Tribes.  He  restored  the  trade-unions  and  companies,  which 
had  been  abolished  by  the  Senate  nine  years  before.  He  gave 
such  an  extension  to  the  unwise  Corn-law  of  C.  Gracchus,  that 
grain,  instead  of  being  sold  at  a  low  rate,  was  distributed 
gratuitously  to  all  citizens  of  Rome.  For  the  time  Clodius  was 
master  of  Rome.  Caesar  was  in  Gaul.  Neither  Pompey  nor 
Crassus  stirred  hand  or  foot  to  interfere. 


Coin  of  Cwsar. 


Coin  to  commemorate  Conquest  of  Gaul, 


CHAPTER    LXVI. 

CiESAR    IN    GAUL:      BREACH    BETWEEN    POMPEY    AND    C^SAR. 
(58—50  B.C.) 

S  1.  Caesar  expels  Helvetians  and  Suevians  from  Gaul.  §  2.  Conquest  ol 
Belgians,  §  3.  Conquest  of  coast-land  from  North  to  Loire.  §  4.  Caesai 
holds  court  at  Lucca  during  winters.  §  5.  Quarrel  of  Ponipey  with  Clodius. 
§  6.  Recall  of  Cicero.  §  *7.  Dearness  of  corn  at  Rome  :  Pompey  made  con- 
troller of  the  market  for  five  years,  §  8.  Cicero  proposes  to  annul  acts  of 
Clodius  :  opposition  of  Cato.  §  9.  Commission  to  restore  Ptolemy  Auletes 
to  throne  of  Egypt.  §  10.  Domitius  candidate  for  Consulship :  his  hostility 
to  Caesar:  meeting  of  Triumvirs  at  Lucca.  §  11.  No  Consuls  elected 
for  56  B.C.:  Pompey  and  Crassus  assume  the  Consulship.  §  12.  Trebo- 
nian  Law,  granting  Spain  to  Pompey  and  Syria  to  Ciassus  for  five  years ; 
prolongation  of  Caesar's  command.  §  13.  Splendid  shows  exhibited  by 
Pompey.  §  14,  Cicero  joins  Triumvirs.  §  15.  Death  of  Julia,  §  16. 
Crassus  leaves  Rome  for  the  East.  §*  17.  Campaign  of  Crassus  in  Parthia 
his  death.  §  18,  Caesar's  expedition  into  Germany.  §  19.  Into  Britain. 
§  20,  Final  conquest  of  Gaul.  §  21.  Pompey  governs  Spain  by  deputy: 
his  policy.  §  22.  Death  of  Clodius :  Pompey  Sole  Consul :  exile  of  Milo. 
§  23.  Pompey's  measures  to  maintain  superiority  over  Caesar. 

§  1 .  A  FEW  days  after  Cicero  had  left  Rome,  Caesar  received  news 
from  Gaul  which  compelled  his  precipitate  departure.  The 
Helvetians  were  advancing  upon  Geneva,  with  the  purpose  of 
crossing  the  Rhone  near  that  town,  the  extreme  outpost  of  the 
Province  of  Transalpine  Gaul,  and  forcing  their  way  through 
that  Province  to  seek  new  settlements  in  the  West.  In  eight 
days,  the  active  Proconsul  travelled  from  the  gates  of  Rome  to 
Geneva.  Arrived  there,  he  lined  the  river  with  fortifications 
such  as  compelled  the  Helvetians  to  pass  into  Gaul  by  a  longer 
route  over  the  Jura  ;  he  followed  them  across  the  Arar  (Saone), 
and  after  a  murderous  battle  near  Bibracte  (Autun  in  Burgundy), 
siompelled  the  remnant  to  return  to  their  own  country. 


662  CIVIL  WARS :    SECOND   PERIOD.  Book  VII 

Immediately  after  defending  the  Province  from  these  invaders, 
he  accepted  the  invitation  of  the  ^duans  and  Gauls  dwelling 
westward  of  the  Saone  to  expel  from  their  borders  a  formidable 
German  Tribe,  which  had  passed  the  Rhine  and  was  threatening 
to  overrun  all  Gaul.  These  Suevi,  who  have  left  their  name  in 
modern  Suabia,  were  led  by  a  great  chief  named  Ariovistus. 
Ariovistus  at  first  proposed  to  divide  Gaul  with  the  Romans; 
but  Ca3sar  promptly  rejected  all  such  overtures.  So  alarmed 
were  the  Roman  Legionaries  at  the  prospect  of  a  contest  with 
the  Germans,  huge  in  frame  and  multitudinous  in  number,  that 
it  required  all  Caesar's  adroitness  to  restore  their  confidence. 
"  If,"  he  said,  "  all  deserted  him,  he  would  himself  brave  every 
hazard,  and  face  the  foe  with  the  Tenth  Legion  alone."  These 
words  rallied  the  Legionaries.  A  desperate  battle  was  fought 
about  five  miles  from  the  Rhine,  somewhere  north  of  Bale,  in 
which  the  Germans  were  utterly  defeated ;  and  Ariovistus  him- 
self only  escaped  in  a  boat  across  the  great  river  which  was  long 
to  remain  as  the  western  boundary  of  the  Teutonic  race. 

§  2.  Caesar's  troops  wintered  in  the  heart  of  the  country  which 
he  had  set  free  from  the  Suevian  invaders.  This  position  roused 
the  jealousy  of  the  Belgic  Tribes  to  the  north  of  the  Seine,  and  a 
powerful  confederacy  was  formed  to  bar  any  designs  entertained 
by  Caesar  for  extending  the  dominion  of  Rome  in  Gaul.  Caesar 
did  not  wait  to  be  attacked.  He  raised  two  new  Legions  without 
demanding  the  authority  of  the  Senate,  and  early  next  year  (57 
B.C.)  entered  the  Belgic  territory,  which  was  bounded  southward 
by  the  Seine  and  Marne.  Here  he  occupied  a  strong  position  on 
the  Aisne,  and  baffled  all  the  eff"orts  of  the  confederates  to  dislodge 
him  or  draw  him  out  to  battle.  Wearied  out,  they  dispersed, 
each  to  their  own  homes;  and  Caesar  then  advanced  rapidly 
into  the  country  of  the  Nervians,  the  most  formidable  people  of 
the  Belgic  League,  who  occupied  the  district  between  the  Sambre 
and  the  Scheld.  As  he  was  forming  his  camp  upon  the  right 
bank  of  the  former  river,  he  was  surprised  by  the  enemy,  and  his 
whole  army  was  nearly  cut  off".  He  retrieved  the  disaster  only  at 
imminent  peril  to  himself,  and  had  to  do  the  duty  both  of  a 
common  soldier  and  a  general.  But  when  the  first  confusion  was 
over,  Roman  discipline  prevailed ;  and  the  brave  Barbarians  were 
repulsed  with  prodigious  slaughter.  After  this  desperate  battle, 
he  received  the  submission  of  the  whole  country  below  the 
Bhine. 

§  3.  In  the  following  year  (56  b.c),  he  built  a  fleet,  and  quickly 
reduced  the  amphibious  people  of  Brittany,  who  had  defied  his 
power  and  insulted  his  officers.  He  attempted  also,  but  without 
•access,  to  occupy  a  post  at  Martigny  in  the  Valais,  for  the  pur- 


Chap.  LXVL  RECALL  OF   CICERO.  663 

pose  of  commanding  the  Pass  of  the  Pennine  Alp  (Great  St.  Ber- 
nard), received  the  submission  of  the  Aquitanians  in  the  extreme 
south  through  his  young  lieutenant  P.  Crassus,  son  of  the 
Triumvir,  and  himself  chastised  the  wild  Tribes  occupying  the 
coast-land  which  now  forms  Picardy,  Artois,  and  French  Flanders, 
the  Menapii  and  the  Morini — "remotest  of  mankind."*  Thus 
in  three  campaigns,  he  seemed  to  have  conquered  the  whole  of 
Gaul,  from  the  Rhine  and  Mount  Jura  to  the  Western  Ocean. 
The  brilliancy  and  rapidity  of  his  successes  silenced  all  hostility 
at  Rome.  A  thanksgiving  of  fifteen  days — an  unprecedented 
length  of  time — was  decreed  by  the  Senate. 

§  4.  The  winter  months  of  each  year  were  passed 'by  the  Pro- 
consul on  the  Italian  side  of  the  Alps.  After  travelling  through 
his  Cisalpine  Province  to  hold  assizes,  inspect  public  works, 
raise  money  for  his  wars,  and  recruit  his  troops,  he  fixed  his 
head-quarters  at  Luca  (Lucca) — a  town  on  the  very  frontier  of 
Roman  Italy,  within  two  hundred  miles  of  Rome  itself.  Here  he 
could  hold  easy  communication  with  his  partisans  at  home. 
Lucca  during  his  residence  was  more  like  a  regal  court  than  the 
quarters  of  a  Roman  Proconsul.  At  one  time  200  Senators  were 
counted  among  his  visitors;  120  Lictors  indicated  the  presence 
of  the  numerous  magistrates  who  attended  his  levees.  Both 
Pompey  and  Crassus  came  to  hold  conference  with  him.  To 
explain  the  object  of  this  visit,  we  must  know  what  had  passed 
at  Rome  since  his  departure  two  years  before. 

§  5.  It  has  been  mentioned  that  Clodius  remained  absolute 
at  Rome  during  the  year  58  b.c.  But  the  insolence  and 
audacity  of  the  Tribune  at  length  gave  oftence  to  Pompey. 
Clodius  had  seized  the  person  of  a  son  of  Tigranes,  whom  the 
great  conqueror  had  brought  with  him  from  the  East,  and  had 
accepted  a  large  ransom  for  the  young  prince.  The  Praetor  L. 
Flavins,  a  creature  of  Pompey,  endeavoured  to  arrest  the  liberated 
prisoner ;  but  Clodius  interfered  at  the  head  of  an  armed  force, 
and  in  the  struggle  several  of  Pompey's  adherents  were  slain. 
The  great  man  determined  to  punish  the  Tribune  by  promoting 
the  recall  of  Cicero.  Ever  since  the  departure  of  the  Orator,  his 
friends  had  been  using  all  exertions  to  compass  this  end.  His 
brother  Quintus,  who  had  lately  returned  from  a  three  years' 
government  in  Asia,  and  was  about  to  join  Caesar  as  one  of  his 
Legates, — his  friend  Atticus,  who  on  this  occasion  forsook  his 
usual  epicurean  ease, — his  old  but  generous  rival  Hortensius, — 
all  joined  with  his  wife  Terentia,  a  woman  of  masculine  spirit,  to 

*  "  Extremosque  hominum  Morinos." — Virg.,  JEn.  viii.  727  ; — where  this 
line  and  that  which  precedes  ought  probably  to  be  transposed. 


664  CIVIL  WARS:    SECOND   PERIOD.  Book  VII 

promote  his  interests;  and  Cicero  ventured  to  Dyrrhachium, 
though  it  was  within  the  prescribed  limit  of  400  miles.  Pom- 
pey's  quarrel  with  Clodius  was  announced  by  the  election  to  the 
Consulate  of  P.  Lentulus  Spinther,  a  known  friend  of  Cicero, 
and  Q.  Metellus  Nepos,  a  creature  of  Pompey. 

§  6.  The  new  Consuls,  on  entering  office  (58  b.c),  immediately 
moved  for  the  Orator's  recall.  It  was  not,  however,  easy  to  carry 
a  Law  for  this  purpose.  Clodius,  though  no  longer  Tribune,  had 
adherents  in  the  new  College,  who  interposed  their  veto.  The 
motion,  dropt  for  the  moment,  was  presently  renewed ;  and 
Clodius  entered  the  Forum  at  the  head  of  a  retinue  fully  prepared 
for  any  violence.  A  regular  battle  followed,  which  left  Clodius 
master  of  the  field.  For  some  days  Rome  was  at  his  mercy. 
With  his  own  hand  he  fired  the  temple  of  the  Nymphs  and 
destroyed  the  Censorial  Registers.  He  attacked  his  enemies' 
houses,  and  many  persons  were  slain  in  these  riotous  assaults. 
No  public  attempt  was  made  to  stop  him.  But  a  young  Noble- 
man, named  T.  Annius  Milo,  bold  and  reckless  as  Clodius  himself, 
raised  a  body  of  Gladiators  at  his  own  charge,  and  succeeded  in 
checking  the  lawless  violence  of  the  Tribune  by  the  use  of  violence 
as  lawless.  The  bill  for  Cicero's  recall  was  now  again  brought 
forward,  but  was  not  passed  till  the  month  of  August. 

Meantime  the  impatient  Orator  had  continued  to  accuse  his 
friends  of  coldness  and  insincerity.  But  when  the  Law  was 
passed,  all  the  clouds  vanished.  Early  in  September,  about  a 
year  and  four  months  after  his  departure,  he  approached  the 
City,  and  crowds  attended  him  along  the  whole  length  of  the 
Appian  Way.  From  the  Porta  Capena  to  the  Capitol,  the  steps 
of  the  Temples,  and  every  place  of  vantage,  were  thronged  by 
multitudes,  who  testified  their  satisfaction  by  loud  applause. 
For  the  moment,  the  popularity  which  had  followed  his  Consuh 
ship  returned,  and  in  honest  pride  he  ascended  to  the  Capitoline 
Temple  to  return  thanks  to  the  Gods  for  turning  the  hearts  of 
the  People. 

§  7.  At  this  time  there  was  a  great  scarcity  of  corn  at  Rome, 
which  was  in  part  occasioned  by  the  disturbed  state  of  Egypt, 
one  of  the  chief  granaries  of  Italy.  The  King,  Ptolemy  Auletes, 
had  lately  been  expelled  by  his  subjects,  and  was  now  at  Rome 
seeking  aid  from  the  Senate  to  procure  restoration  to  his  throne. 
The  People,  accustomed  to  be  fed  by  the  State,  murmured 
loudly.  Prices  fell  after  the  return  of  Cicero,  and  his  friends 
attributed  this  cheapness  to  his  recall;  but  before  he  entered 
Rome,  they  rose  again,  and  Clodius  attributed  this  dearness  to 
the  same  cause.  On  the  day  after  his  triumphant  entry,  there- 
fore, the  Orator  appeared  in  the    Senate,  and   after  returning 


Chap.  LXVI.    THE   SENATE  AND  THE  TRIUMVIRATE.  665 

thanks  moved  that  an  extraordinary  Commission  should  be 
issued  to  Pompey,  by  which  he  was  to  be  entrusted  with  a  com- 
plete control  over  the  corn-market  of  the  Empire.  The  Consuls 
closed  with  the  proposal,  and  added  that  the  Commission  should 
run  for  five  years,  with  the  command  xyf  money,  troops,  fleets, 
and  all  things  necessary  for  absolute  authority.  The  Senate 
dared  not  oppose  the  Bill,  but  Pompey  was  obliged  to  relinquish 
the  clauses  which  invested  him  with  military  power.  He  proved 
unable  to  influence  prices,  or  in  other  words  to  force  nature,  and 
the  coveted  appointment  resulted  in  unpopularity. 

§  8.  At  the  same  time,  handsome  sums  were  voted  to  Cicero 
to  enable  him  to  rebuild  his  ruined  houses,  and  to  compensate 
him  for  the  destruction  of  his  property.  Encouraged  by  his  pre- 
sent popularity,  he  proceeded  to  institute  a  prosecution  against 
Clodius  for  seditious  conduct  during  his  office ;  but  the  reckless 
demagogue  received  support  from  an  unexpected  quarter.  Cato 
had  just  returned  from  executing  the  hateful  Commission  given 
him  by  Clodius.  The  helpless  Prince  of  Cyprus,  despairing  of 
resistance,  had  put  an  end  to  his  own  life ;  and  the  Roman,  with 
rigorous  punctuality,  proceeded  to  sell  the  royal  property,  and 
reduced  the  island  to  the  condition  of  a  Roman  Province.  On  his 
return,  he  paid  large  sums  into  the  Treasury,  insisted  on  his 
accounts  being  examined  with  minute  scrutiny,  and  took  pride 
in  having  executed  his  Commission  with  strict  severity.  But 
his  acts  would  be  illegal,  were  the  Tribunate  of  Clodius  declared 
illegal.  Cato,  therefore,  came  forward  as  a  defender  of  Clodius 
and  his  Tribunate. 

§  9.  While  the  question  was  pending,  fresh  passions  were  ex- 
cited by  the  petition  of  Ptolemy  Auletes.  The  King  had  con- 
sulted Cato  during  his  sojourn  in  the  East ;  and  Cato  had  advised 
him  to  procure  restoration  by  any  means  rather  than  by  applica- 
tion to  Rome.  But  Ptolemy  neglected  the  advice;  and  every 
Senator  of  influence  claimed  the  lucrative  task  of  restoring  the 
King  of  Egypt.  Pompey  sought  it,  and  Crassus  sought  it.  The 
Senate,  however,  was  too  jealous  of  the  Triumvirate  to  listen 
either  to  Pompey  or  to  Crassus :  and  it  was  conferred  upon  the 
late  Consul  Lentulus  Spinther,  who  had  obtained  the  Province  of 
Cilicia.  But  the  Tribune  C.  Cato  produced  an  oracle  from  the 
Sibylline  books,  which  forbade  the  use  of  an  army.  Lentulus, 
therefore,  obtained  a  commission  without  the  power  of  executing 
it,  and  the  question  was  in  reality  left  open  for  future  aspirants. 

§  10.  In  the  heat  of  this  contest,  Clodius  had  been  elected 
^dile,  and  for  the  nonce  escaped  the  impeachment  which  was 
menacing.  The  armed  conflicts  between  him  and  Milo  con- 
tinued ;  and  the  Consular  election  for  the  year  55  b.c.  threatened 


666  CIVIL   WARS:    SECOND   PERIOD.  Book  VII. 

to  become  the  opportunity  of  serious  bloodshed.  The  Consuls 
of  the  current  year  [51  b.c.)  were  decidedly  in  the  interest  of  the 
Senate,  and  supported,  with  all  their  influence,  L.  Domitius 
Ahenobarbus,  brother-in-law  of  Cato,  a  determined  antagonist 
of  the  Triumviral  Cabal.  This  man  threatened  that  his  first  act 
should  be  to  recall  Caesar  from  his  Province.  Pompey  also  and 
Crassns  met  with  little  favour  from  him.  It  was  to  concert 
measures  for  thwarting  the  reviving  energy  of  the  Senate,  that 
the  ominous  meeting  of  the  Triumvirs  at  Lucca  was  held.  What 
passed  between  the  Three  is  only  known  from  the  results. 

§  II.  Pompey  and  Crassus  returned  to  Rome  pledged  (as  the 
result  showed)  to  prevent  the  election  of  Domitius.  To  this  end, 
they  came  forward  themselves  as  joint  Candidates  for  a  Second 
Consulship.  The  Senate,  however,  had  gathered  courage.  Milo 
held  Clodius  in  check,  and  the  Consuls  refused  to  hold  the 
Comitia.  The  Calends  of  January  came,  and  there  were  no  Con- 
suls to  assume  the  government.  But  young  Crassus  just  then 
arrived  in  the  neighbourhood  of  Rome  with  a  body  of  Gallic 
veterans  from  Caesar's  army.  Under  fear  of  violence,  the  Sena- 
torial Chiefs  allowed  Pompey  and  Crassus  to  assume  the  Consul- 
ship, as  Marius  and  Cinna  had  assumed  it,  without  any  regular 
form  of  Election.  They  immediately  held  Comitia  for  the  election 
of  the  other  Curule  Magistracies.  Cato  offered  himself  for  the 
Praetorship,  but  was  defeated  by  Vatinius,  a  mercenary  instru- 
ment of  Caesar's  policy. 

§  12.  Further  fruits  of  the  Conference  of  Lucca  soon  appeared. 
The  Tribune,  C.  Trebonius,  moved  in  the  Assembly  of  Tribes 
that  the  Consuls  should  receive  special  Provinces  for  the  space 
of  five  years, — Syria  being  allotted  to  Crassus,  Spain  to  Pompey ; 
and  Pompey  added  a  clause  to  this  Trebonian  Law,  by  which 
Caesar's  government  of  the  Gauls  was  extended  for  an  additional 
five  years,  to  date  from  the  expiration  of  the  first  term.*  Cato 
obstructed  the  Law  by  his  old  ruse  of  speaking  against  time,  but 
Trebonius  committed  him  to  prison ;  and  two  Tribunes  who 
threatened  to  interpose  their  veto  were  kept  away  from  the  As- 
sembly by  the  use  of  positive  force. 

§  13.  Pompey  endeavoured  to  outdo  even  Caesar  in  bidding  for 
the  favour  of  the  People  by  magnificent  spectacles.  In  his  name, 
his  Freedman  Demetrius  erected  the  first  Theatre  of  stone  which 
Rome  had  yet  seen,  and  exhibited  combats  of  wild  beasts  on  a 
scale  never  before  witnessed.  Then  for  the  first  time  an  elephant- 
fight  was  exhibited  in  the  Arena  of  the  Amphitheatre. 

§  14.  Cicero  after  his  return  from  exile  had  for  a  time  eagerly 

*  The  Vatinian  Law  gave  Caesar  command  from  the  beginning  of  58  to 
the  end  of  54  b.c;  the  Trebonian,  from  the  beginning  of  53  to  the  end  of  49. 


Chap.  LXVI.        CICERO    JOINS   THE  TRIUMVIRS.  QQl 

engaged  in  professional  pursuits.  To  pass  over  the  speeclies 
touching  his  own  affairs,  which  belong  to  the  year  57  b.c,  we 
find  him  defending  P.  Sestius,  M.  Caelius,  and  L.  Balbus ;  and  the 
speeches  which  he  delivered  as  their  advocate  are  full  of  inte- 
resting allusions  to  the  state  of  political  affairs.  In  the  Senate 
also  he  took  an  active  part  in  the  debates.  Before  the  conference 
of  Lucca,  the  Triumviral  Cabal  seemed  shaken,  and  the  Orator 
ventured  to  move  in  the  Senate  the  repeal  of  Caesar's  Agrarian 
Law.  But  after  the  Conference,  a  message  was  conveyed  to  him 
through  Crassus  which  convinced  him  of  the  danger  which  might 
again  overtake  him.  He  was,  moreoYer  becoming  disgusted  with 
the  Senatorial  Chiefs.  Lucullus,  after  spending  his  latter  days  in 
profuse  luxury,  was  sinking  into  a  state  of  senile  apathy.  Hor- 
tensius,  always  more  of  an  Advocate  than  a  Statesman,  was 
devoted  to  his  fish-ponds  and  his  plantations.  With  Cato  the 
gentler  nature  of  Cicero  never  acted  harmoniously.  The  persons 
who  were  now  rising  to  be  Chiefs  of  the  Senate,  such  as  Domi- 
tius  Ahenobarbus  and  Milo,  were  as  lawless  as  Clodius.  It  had 
been  best  for  Cicero  if  he  had  taken  the  advice  of  his  friend 
Atticus  and  retired  altogether  from  public  life.  He  would  not 
join  the  violent  members  of  the  Senatorial  party ;  he  dared  not 
oppose  the  Triumvirs;  yet  he  could  not  bear  to  abandon  the 
Senate-house  and  Forum,  and  at  length  he  reluctantly  resolved 
to  support  the  Triumviral  Cabal.  Soon  after  the  conference  of 
Lucca  a  change  took  place  in  his  politics.  He  spoke  in  favour 
of  the  prolongation  of  Caesar's  command,  and  pronounced  a 
laboured  panegyric  on  Crassus.  To  Caesar  he  had  been  recon- 
ciled by  his  brother  Quintus,  a  warm  admirer  of  the  great  Pro- 
consul ;  and  the  gallant  son  of  Crassus,  who  had  returned  flushed 
with  triumph  from  the  Gallic  wars,  was  a  devoted  follower  of 
Cicero.  No  doubt  the  Orator  was  disgusted  by  the  ferocity  of 
Milo;  and  perhaps  he  really  believed  that  at  present  the  best 
hope  of  regular  government  was  from  the  Triumvirs.  At  all 
events  his  Letters  written  at  this  time  show  that  he  laboured  to 
convince  his  friends  that  such  was  his  belief. 

§  15.  But  the  Cabal  was  hastening  to  dissolution.  In  the  year 
54  B.C.  Julia,  the  daughter  of  Caesar  and  wife  of  Pompey,  died  in 
childbed.  Though  Pompey  was  old  enough  to  be  her  father,  she 
had  been  to  him  a  loving  and  faithful  wife.  He  on  his  part  was 
so  devoted  to  his  young  and  beautiful  consort,  that  ancient 
authors  attribute  much  of  his  apathy  in  public  matters  to  the 
happiness  which  he  found  in  domestic  life.  This  faithful  attach- 
ment to  Julia  is  the  most  amiable  point  in  a  character  otherwise 
cold  and  unattractive.  So  much  was  Julia  beloved,  that  the 
People  voted  her  the  extraordinary  honor  of  a  public  funeral  in 


668  CIVIL  WARS:    SECOND   PERIOD.  Book  VIL 

the  Campus  Martius.  Her  death  set  Pompey  free  at  once  from 
ties  which  had  long  bound  him  to  CaBs^,  and  impelled  him  to 
drown  the  sense  of  his  loss  in  the  busy  whirl  of  public  life. 

§  16.  Meanwhile  Crassus  had  left  Rome  for  the  East,  and  de- 
stroyed another  link  in  the  chain  that  had  hitherto  maintained 
union  among  the  Triumvirs.  Early  in  the  year  after  his  Consul- 
ship  (54  B.C.)  he  assumed  the  government  of  Syria.  His  chief 
object  in  seeking  this  Province  was  by  the  conquest  of  the 
Parthians  to  balance  the  military  glory  of  Pompey  and  of  Caesar. 
But,  towards  the  close  of  the  year  53  b.c,  about  twelve  months 
after  the  death  of  Julia,  Rome  was  horror-struck  by  hearing  that 
the  wealthy  Proconsul  and  his  gallant  son  had  been  cut  off,  and 
that  the  greater  part  of  his  army  had  been  destroyed. 

§  17.  The  Parthians,  a  people  originally  found  in  the  moun- 
tainous district  to  the  south-west  of  the  Caspian  Sea,  had,  on.  the 
death  of  Alexander,  fallen  under  the  nominal  sway  of  Seleucus 
and  his  successors  on  the  Graeco-Syrian  throne.  As  that  dynasty 
fell  into  decay,  the  Parthians  continually  waxed  bolder ;  till  at 
the  time  of  the  great  Mithridatic  War  we  find  their  King  Phraates 
claiming  to  be  called  King  of  Kings,  and  exercising  despotic 
power  over  the  countries  adjacent  to  the  Euphrates  westward. 
Their  capital  was  the  Greek  city  of  Seleuceia  on  the  Tigris ; 
and  here  the  King  maintained  a  court,  in  which  the  barbaric 
splendour  of  the  East  was  strangely  mingled  wiih  the  refinements 
introduced  by  Grecian  settlers.  They  possessed  a  numerous 
cavalry,  clad  in  light  armour,  accustomed  to  scour  the  broad 
plains  near  the  Euphrates,  trained  to  disperse  like  a  clond  before 
regular  troops,  but  as  they  fled  to  fire  on  the  advancing  enemy. 
Orodes,  their  present  King,  threatened  with  an  attack  by  Gabi- 
nius,  the  predecessor  of  Crassus,  was  not  unprepared  for  war. 

In  the  first  year  of  his  Proconsulship,  Crassus  was  too  late  for 
serious  attack;  but  early  in  the  next  spring  (53  b.c.)  he  ad- 
vanced in  strength  from  the  Euphrates  at  the  head  of  a  well- 
appointed  army.  Artabazus,  the  present  King  of  Armenia,  who 
through  fear  of  the  Parthian  monarch  was  sincerely  attached 
to  Rome,  wished  the  Proconsul  to  take  his  country  as  a  basis 
of  operations,  and  to  descend  the  valle}^  of  the  Tigris,  so  as  to 
avoid  the  open  plains,  where  the  Parthian  horsemen,  seconded 
by  the  heat  of  summer,  would  act  against  him  at  terrible  advan- 
tage. C.  Cassius  Longinus,  the  most  experienced  officer  of  the 
Proconsul, — a  man  who  afterwards  became  famous  as  the  chief 
author  of  Caesar's  death, — took  the  same  view.  But  Crassus 
neglected  warning  and  advice.  What  was  foretold  happened. 
The  Parthians,  avoiding  a  general  battle,  drew  on  the  Romans 
iiito  the  heart  of  Mesopotamia,  till  the   Legionaries^  faint  with 


Chap.  LXVI.     DISSOLUTION  OF   THE   TRIUMVIRATE.  669 

heat  and  hunger,  could  advance  no  further.  As  they  began  to 
retreat,  they  were  enveloped  by  a  crowd  of  horsemen,  and  pur- 
sued by  a  great  army  commanded  by  Surenas,  a  principal  officer 
of  Orodes.  At  Charrse,  the  Haran  where  Abraham  once  dwelt, 
Crassus  halted  and  offered  battle.  His  offer  was  accepted,  and  he 
was  defeated.  Still  the  Proconsul  contrived  to  make  good  his 
retreat,  and  was  within  reach  of  the  mountains  that  skirt  the 
western  side  of  the  great  plain  of  Mesopotamia,  when  he  was 
induced  to  accept  a  conference  offered  by  the  treacherous  Sure- 
nas. At  this  conference  he  was  seized  and  slain,  as  the  Chiefs 
of  the  Ten  Thousand  had  been  dealt  with  three  centuries  before. 
His  head  was  sent  to  Orodes,  who  ordered  molten  gold  to  be 
poured  into  the  mouth.  Young  Publius,  the  friend  of  Caesar  and 
of  Cicero,  fell  in  the  struggle,  fighting  valiantly  for  his  father. 
Cassius  alone  of  the  chief  officers  did  the  duty  of  a  general,  and 
succeeded  in  drawing  off  his  division  in  safety  to  the  Roman 
frontiers.  For  two  years  Cassius  continued  to  defend  the  Pro- 
vince against  the  Parthian  assaults,  till  in  51  B.C.  a  decisive 
victory  checked  their  advances,  and  enabled  him  to  hand  over 
the  Province  in  a  peaceful  condition  to  Bibulus. 

§  18.  Meanwhile  Caesar  also  in  Gaul  was  involved  in  unex- 
pected difficulties.  In  his  three  first  campaigns  (58-56  b.c), 
as  has  been  said,  he  seemed  to  have  reduced  all  Gaul  to  silent 
submission.  In  the  two  next  years  he  was  engaged  in  expe- 
ditions calculated  rather  to  astonish  and  dazzle  men's  minds 
at  Rome  than  necessary  to  secure  his  conquests.  Fresh  swarms 
of  Germans  had  begun  to  cross  the  Rhine  near  Coblenz.  He 
defeated  them  near  that  place  with  slaughter  so  terrible,  that 
upwards  of  150,000  men  are  said  to  have  been  slain  by  the 
sword  or  to  have  perished  in  the  Rhine.  To  terrify  them  still 
further,  he  threw  a  bridge  over  the  broad  river  at  a  spot  pro- 
bably between  Coblenz  and  Andernach,  which  was  completed 
in  ten  days, — a  miracle  of  engineering  art.  He  then  advanced 
into  Germany,  burning  and  destroying,  but  broke  up  his  bridge 
as  he  returned.  Caesar's  account  of  the  victory  of  Coblenz  was 
not  received  like  the  triumphs  of  previous  years.  It  appeared 
that  the  German  chiefs  i>ad  come  into,  the  Roman  camp,  that 
Caesar  detained  them  on  the  ground  that  they  had  broken  an 
armistice,  and  while  they  were  captives  had  attacked  their  army. 
The  facts  as  narrated  by  himself  bear  an  appearance  of  ill  faith. 
Cato  rose  in  the  Senate,  and  proposed  that  Caesar  should  be 
delivered  up  to  the  Germans,  as  an  offering  in  expiation  of 
treachery.  But  such  a  proposition  came  with  an  ill  grace  even 
from  Cato's  mouth.  Romans  professed  not  to  keep  faith  with 
barbarians ;   and  if  Caesar  had  not  been  the  enemy  of  the  Sena- 


CIVIL  WARS:    SECOND   PERIOD.  Book  VIL 

torial  party,  probably  nothing  would  have  been  said  of  his 
treachery.  But  however  this  may  be,  it  is  clear  that  the 
Decree  would  have  been  an  empty  threat.  Who  could  have  been 
found  to  "bell  the  cat?"  Who  would  or  could  have  arrested 
Caesar  at  the  head  of  his  Legions  ? 

§  19.  It  was  in  the  autumn  of  the  same  year  (55  b.c.)  that  he 
passed  over  into  our  own  ibland,  taking  ship  probably  at  Witsand 
near  Calais,  and  landing  on  the  open  beach  near  Deal.  In  the 
next  year  he  repeated  the  invasion  of  Britain  with  a  much  larger 
force,  marched  up  the  Stour,  took  Canterbury,  crossed  the 
Thames  above  London,  probably  near  Walton,  defeated  Cassi- 
velaunus,  the  gallant  chief  of  the  Trinobantes,  and  took  his 
town, — which  stood  probably  on  the  site  of  tie  moderTi  St.' 
Albans.  Little  result  followed  from  these  expeditions  except  to 
spread  the  terror  of  the  Roman  name,  and  to  afford  matter  of 
wonderment  at  Rome.  Cicero's  curiosity  about  these  unknown 
lands  was  satisfied  by  letters  from  his  brother  Quintus,  and  from 
Trebatius,  a  learned  lawyer,  who  attended  Caesar  at  the  recom- 
mendation of  Cicero  himself.* 

§  20.  But  it  was  soon  discovered  how  hollow  was  the  pacifica- 
tion of  Gaul.  During  the  winter  of  54-53  B.C.,  Caesar  had  spread 
his  troops  in  winter-quarters  over  a  wide  area.  Ambiorix,  a 
crafty  chief  of  the  Eburones,  a  half-German  Tribe  on  the  Meuse, 
assaulted  the  camp  of  Cotta  and  Sabinus,  and  by  adroit  cunning 
contrived  to  cut  off  two  Legions,  He  then  attacked  Q.  Cicero. 
But  this  officer,  though  stationed  in  the  hostile  country  of  the 
Nervii  with  one  Legion  only,  gallantly  defended  his  camp  till  he 
was  relieved  by  Caesar  himself,  who  had  not  yet  left  Transalpine 
Gaul.  Alarmed  by  the  prospect  of  a  general  insurrection,  the 
Proconsul  asked  Pompey  to  lend  him  a  Legion,  and  his  request 
was  granted.  The  next  year's  campaign  crushed  Ambiorix,  and 
Caesar  returned  to  Italy  during  the  winter  of  53-52  b.c,  where  his 
presence  was  needed,  as  we  shall  presently  hear.  But  in  the  years 
52  and  51  b.c.  all  central  Gaul  rose  against  the  Romans,  under  the 
able  conduct  of  Vercingetorix,  chief  of  the  Arvernians.  The  com- 
bined Gauls  for  the  most  part  declined  open  conflicts,  and  threw 
themselves  into  towns  fortified  with  great  skill  and  defended 
with  great  obstinacy.  But,  notwithstanding  some  reverses,  the 
rapid  movements  and  steady  resolution  of  Caesar  triumphed. 
The  last  hope  of  the  Gauls  lay  in  the  strong  fortress  of  Avaricum 
(Bourges) ;  and  when  this  yielded,  resistance  was  at  an  end.  But 
for  the  two  next  years  the  Proconsul  was  obliged  to  winter 
beyond  the  Alps ;  and  it  was  not  till  the  beginning  of  the  year 
50  B.C.,  the  ninth  of  his  command,  that  he  had  achieved  tbi? 
*  Epist.  ad  Att.  iv.  16,  13 ;  11,  3;  ad  Quintum  Fratrem,  ii.  16,  4. 


Chap.  LXVI.    DISSOLUTION  OF  THE  TRIUMVIRATE.  671 

conquest  of  the  whole  country.  This  conquest  was  achieved  at  a 
fearful  loss  of  life.  Nearly  a  million  of  Gauls  and  Germans  are 
computed  to  have  been  sacrificed  in  those  eight  years  of  war. 
Caesar  was  humane  in  the  treatment  of  his  fellow-citizens,  but, 
like  a  true  Roman,  he  counted  the  lives  of  barbarians  as  naught. 

§  21.  While  therefore  Crassus  was  engaged,  never  to  return, 
in  the  East,  and  Caesar  was  occupied  with  serious  dangers  in 
Gaul,  Pompey  was  complete  master  of  Rome.  Contrary  to 
precedent,  he  sent  lieutenants  to  govern  Spain  in  his  stead, 
pleading  his  employment  as  Curator  of  the  Corn-market  as  a 
reason  for  remaining  at  home ;  though,  to  save  appearances,  he 
never  appeared  publicly  within  the  walls  of  Rome.  He  seems  to 
have  expected  that  in  the  present  condition  of  things  all  orders 
would  unite  in  proclaiming  him  Dictator.  In  54  b.c.  Consuls 
were  elected  in  the  interest  of  the  Senate,  probably  by  a  free  use 
of  money.  When  the  elections  for  53  b.c.  approached,  several 
Tribunes  of  the  popular  party  bound  themselves  together,  and 
prevented  all  elections  whatsoever ;  so  that  for  eight  months  the 
city  was  left  without  any  responsible  government.  At  length 
two  Consuls  were  chosen ;  but  when  they  proposed  to  hold  the 
Comitia  for  52  b.c,  the  new  Tribunes  refused  to  permit  any 
elections;  and  when  the  Calends  of  January  came  round,  the 
Republic  was  without  Consuls.  But  in  a  few  days  an  event 
happened  which  completely  altered  all  political  relations. 

§  22.  In  Caesar's  absence  Clodius  had  become  the  leader  of 
the  popular  party.  During  the  present  interregnum  he  was  a 
candidate  for  the  Praetorship,  while  his  enemy  Milo  sought 
to  be  Consul.  On  the  18th  of  January,  52  b.c,  Milo  was  tra- 
velling with  his  wife  and  family,  attended  by  an  armed  retinue, 
along  the  Appian  Road  to  Lanuvium,  where  he  held  a  municipal 
office.  Near  Bovillae  he  met  Clodius  riding,  with  a  small  num- 
ber of  attendants  also  armed.  A  quarrel  arose  among  the 
servants ;  Clodius  mingled  in  the  fray,  and  being  wounded  took 
refuge  in  a  tavern.  Milo,  determined  not  to  sufter  for  an  im- 
perfect act  of  violence,  surrounded  the  house,  drew  forth  his 
wounded  enemy,  and  left  him  dead  upon  the  road.  The  body 
was  carried  to  Rome  and  exposed  in  the  Forum.  A  dreadful 
riot  arose.  The  houses  of  Milo  and  other  Senatorial  chiefs  were 
assaulted,  but  they  were  strongly  built,  and  the  populace  was 
beaten  ofl^.  But  the  furniture  of  the  Senate-House  was  seized  to 
make  a  funeral  pile  to  the  deceased  demagogue,  and  the  Curia 
itself  was  burnt  to  the  ground.  Every  day  witnessed  a  fresh 
riot,  till  the  Senate  commissioned  Pompey  to  restore  order. 
This  was  done ;  and  it  was  supposed  that  he  would  have  been 
appointed    Dictator   at   once,   had   not    Caesar   been   at   Lucca. 


672  CIVIL  WARS:    SECOND   PERIOD.  Book  VII. 

watching  for  a  false  move  of  the  party  opposed  to  him.  To 
avoid  a  direct  collision,  Cato  and  Bibulus  recommended  that 
Pompey  should  be  named  as  sole  Consul.  Milo  was  soon  after 
brought  to  trial  for  the  death  of  Clodius,  and  Cicero  exerted 
himself  to  the  utmost  to  prepare  a  speech  in  justification 
of  the  slaughter  of  Clodius.  The  jury  were  willing  to  acquit 
Milo.  But  Pompey  was  anxious  to  get  rid  of  a  citizen  as  trouble- 
some on  the  one  side  as  Clodius  had  been  on  the  other ;  and  he 
placed  soldiers  at  every  avenue  of  the  Court  for  the  purpose,  as 
he  said,  of  preserving  order.  This  unwonted  sight,  and  the  fear 
of  popular  violence,  robbed  Cicero  of  his  eloquence  and  the  jury 
'of  their  courage.  Milo  was  condemned,  and  fled  to  Marseilles. 
Cicero  sent  him  there  a  copy  of  the  speech  which  he  intended  to 
have  spoken.  Milo,  who  knew  not  fear,  sarcastically  replied, 
that  "  he  was  glad  it  had  not  been  delivered  :  else  he  should  not 
then  have  been  eating  the  fine  mullets  of  Marseilles." 

§  23.  Pompey  had  now  reached  the  height  of  his  ambition. 
He  was  virtually  Dictator,  without  being  bound  to  any  party. 
But  from  this  time  he  seems  to  have  made  up  his  mind  to  break 
with  Caesar.  He  married  Cornelia,  daughter  of  Metellus  Scipio, 
a  leading  member  of  the  Aristocracy,  and  on  the  1st  of  Auguei 
associated  his  new  father-in-law  in  the  Consulship  with  himself 
He  repealed  some  of  the  democratic  measures  of  Clodius,  and 
made  rules  for  the  better  conduct  of  Elections,  and  the  assign- 
ment of  Provinces.  He  struck  indirectly  at  Cassar  by  several 
new  enactments.  He  procured  a  Decree  of  the  Senate  by  which 
his  own  government  of  Spain  was  prolonged  for  five  years, 
wh'ereas  Caesar's  command  in  Gaul  would  terminate  in  little 
more  than  two  years.  By  this  Law  Pompey  calculated  that  he 
should  be  able  to  keep  his  own  army  on  foot  after  the  Gallic 
conqueror  had  disbanded  his.  In  anticipation  of  Caesar's  seek- 
ing a  second  Consulship,  it  was  provided  that  no  one  should 
hold  a  Province  till  five  years  had  elapsed  from  the  end  of  his 
tenure  of  oflice.  By  this  Law  Pompey  calculated  that  his  rival 
would  be  left,  after  he  laid  down  the  Consulship,  without  am 
military  force.  It  is  strange  that  Pompey  should  not  ha\  < 
foreseen  that  a  man  so  resolute  and  so  ambitious  would  break 
through  the  cobwebs  of  law  by  the  strong  hand. 


Parthian  Coin. 


Coin  to  commemorate  the  taking  of  Egypt. 


CHAPTER     LXVII. 

SECOND    CIVIL    WAR  :    DEATH    OF    POMPEY.       (50 48  B.C.) 

§  1.  First  move  against  Caesar.  §  2.  Enemies  and  Friends  of  CaBsar  at  Rome ; 
Curio  :  Cselius  :  Antony.  §  3.  Proposals  and  counter-proposals  in  50  b.c, 
§  4.  Caesar  outlawed :  Antony  and  Q.  Cassius,  Tribunes,  fly  to  his  camp. 
§  5.  Both  parties  ill  prepared  for  immediate  war:  Pompey's  confidence. 
§  6.  Caesar's  advance  to  Corfinium.  §  7.  Pompey  leaves  Italy:  Caesar  at 
Rome.  §  8.  Caesar  conquers  Pompeians  in  Spain.  §  9.  Surrender  of 
Marseilles :  return  of  Caesar  to  Rome.  ^  10.  First  Dictatorship,  for  eleven 
days.  §11.  Illy  ria  won  by  Pompeians :  failure  of  Curio  in  Africa.  §12. 
Return  of  Cicero  from  Cilioia:  he  remains  in  Italy,  but  at  length  joins 
Pompey.  §  13.  Position  of  Pompey  in  the  East.  §  14.  In  the  autumn 
of  49  B.C.  Caesar  lands  in  Epirus :  Pompey  hastens  to  Dyrrhachium.  §  15. 
Next  spring,  Caesar  is  joined  by  Antony.  §  16,  He  draws  lines  round 
Pompey's  position :  Pompey  breaks  the  blockade  and  defeats  Caesar.  §  17. 
Retreat  of  Caesar,  who  succeeds  in  joining  Calvinus  in  Thessaly.  §  18. 
Pompey  joins  Metellus  Scipio  at  Larissa :  both  armies  at  Pharsalia.  §  19. 
Battle  of  Pharsalia :  flight  of  Pompey.  §  20.  Pursuit.  §  21.  Pompey 
seeks  refuge  at  Lesbos  :  his  plans.  §  22.  He  goes  to  Egypt :  murder  of 
Pompey.     §  23.  His  character. 

§  1.  The  Senatorial  Chiefs  had  resolved  to  break  with  Caesar, 
'riie  attack  was  dfffilirCi'ced  in  September,  51  b.c.  He  had  at 
that  time  succeeded  in  putting  down  the  formidable  insurrection 
organised  by  Vercingetorix,  and  the  fact  of  his  success  was  not 
yet  known  at  Rome.  Little  more  than  two  years  of  his  command 
were  yet  to  run  before  he  became  a  private  citizen.  He  had, 
however,  already  intimated  his  intention  of  offering  himself  again 
for  the  Consulship,  in  order  that  he  might  be  secured  from  the 
prosecution  with  which  he  was  threatened  on  laying  down  his 
proconsular  command ;  and  it  was  intended  to  ask  permission  of 
the  Senate  that  he  might  become  a  Candidate  without  returning 
to  Rome.     For,  if  he   continued  to  be  Proconsul,  he  could  not 

29 


074  CIVIL   WARS:    SECOND   PERIOD.  Book  VIL 

legally -enter  the  gates;  and  if  he  ceased  to  be  Proconsul,  he 
would  be  exposed  to  personal  danger.  But  a  Decree  was  made, 
by  which  the  Consuls  of  the  next  year  were  ordered  at  once  to 
bring  before  the  Senate  the  question  of  re-distributing  the  Pro- 
vincial Governments ;  and  a  clause  was  added  providing,  that  the 
Senate  would  take  care  of  Caesar's  veterans.  The  purpose  of 
this  Decree  was  manifest.  It  was  intended  to  supersede  Caisai-, 
though  the  Law  gave  him  two  years  more  of  command,  and  to 
sap  the  fidelity  of  his  soldiers  by  the  promise  of  lands  in  Italy. 

But  the  movement  was  premature,  and  was  allowed  to  drop. 
Still  a  move  had  been  made,  and  men's  minds  were  familiarised 
with  the  notion  of  stripping  Caesar  of  his  command. 

§  2.  Caesar  felt  that  the  crisis  was  at  hand.  Of  the  new 
Consuls  (for  the  year  50  B.C.),  C.  Marcellus  was  his  declared 
enemy;  but  L.  JEmilius  Paullus  had  been  secretly  won  by  a 
share  of  the  conqueror's  gold.  Among  the  Tribunes  of  the  year 
was  a  young  man  named  M.  Scribonius  Curio,  son  of  one  of 
Sylla's  most  determined  partisans.  His  talents  were  ready,  his 
eloquence  great,  his  audacity  incomparable.  He  had  entered 
upon  political  life  at  an  early  age,  and  was  a  leader  among  those 
young  nobles,  whom  Cicero  ten  years  before  had  designated  as 
"  the  blood-thirsty  youth."  Since  that  time  he  had  attached 
himself  to  Cicero ;  and  the  Orator  believed  that  he  had  reclaimed 
the  profligate  young  man.  But  Caesar,  or  his  Gallic  gold,  had 
made  a  convert  of  Curio.  The  Nobles,  ignorant  of  this  secret, 
promoted  his  election  to  the  Tribunate,  and  thus  unwarily  com- 
mitted power  to  a  bold  and  uncompromising  foe. 

M.  Caelius  Rufus,  another  profligate  youth  of  great  ability, 
whom  Cicero  flattered  himself  he  had  won,  was  also  secretly  on 
Caesar's  side.  During  the  whole  of  the  Orator's  absence  in  Cilicia, 
this  unprincipled  young  man  kept  up  a  brisk  correspondence 
with  him,  as  if  he  was  a  firm  adherent  of  the  Senatorial  party. 
But  on  the  first  outbreak  of  the  quarrel  he  joined  the  enemy. 

A  third  person,  hereafter  destined  to  play  a  conspicuous  part, 
now  appeared  at  Rome  as  the  avowed  partisan  of  Caesar.  This 
was  young  M.  Antonius,  better  known  as  Mark  Antony,  son  of 
M.  Antonius  Creticus,  and  therefore  grandson  of  the  great 
Orator.  His  uncle,  C.  Antonius,  had  been  Consul  with  Cicero. 
His  mother  was  Julia,  a  distant  relation  of  the  great  Caesar. 
Antony  had  served  under  Gabinius  in  the  East,  and  for  the  last 
two  years  had  been  with  Caesar  in  Gaul.  He  now  came  to  Rome 
to  sue  for  the  Augurate,  vacant  by  the  death  of  the  Orator  Hor- 
tensius;  and,  assisted  by  Caesar's  influence,  and  his  own  con- 
nexions, he  was  elected.  He  was  thirty-three  years  of  age, 
ready  and  unscrupulous  as  Curio,  and  he  off"ered  himself  to  be 


Chap.  LXVII.  SECOND   CIVIL   WAR.  6*75 

elected  as  successor  to  that  young  adventurer  in  the  College  of 
Tribunes.  Thus,  for  the  year  50  b.c.  Caesar's  interests  were 
watched  by  Curio,  and  in  the  year  49  b.c.  Antony  succeeded  to 
the  task. 

§  3.  No  direct  attack  was  made  during  the  present  year. 
At  Pompey's  suggestion,  however,  it  was  represented  that  a 
Parthian  war  was  imminent,  and  both  the  rivals  were  desired 
to  furnish  one  Legion  for  service  in  the  East.  Caesar  at  once 
complied;  Pompey  evaded  the  demand  by  asking  Caesar  to 
return  the  Legion  which  had  been  lent  by  himself  after  the 
destruction  of  the  two  Legions  by  Ambiorix.  This  request  also 
Caesar  obeyed,  so  that  in  fact  both  Legions  were  withdrawn 
from  his  army.  Their  employment  in  the  East  proved  to  be 
a  mere  pretext.  They  were  both  stationed  at  Capua,  within  call 
of  Pompey. 

Curio  now  proposed  that  both  Pompey  and  Caesar  should 
disband  their  armies ;  "  this  was  but  fair,"  he  said,  "  for  both ; 
nor  could  the  will  of  the  Senate  and  People  be  considered  free 
while  Pompey  was  at  hand  with  a  military  force  to  control 
their  deliberations."  But  the  Senate  turned  a  deaf  ear  to  the 
proposal,  and  the  year  closed  without  any  approach  to  a  peaceful 
settlement. 

§  4.  The  Consuls  for  the  ensuing  year  (49  b.c.)  were  L.  Len- 
tulus  Crus,  and  another  C.  Marcellus,  cousin-german  of  his 
predecessor, — both  in  the  interest  of  Pompey.  Scarcely  had  they 
entered  upon  office,  when  the  crisis  arrived. 

On  the  Calends  of  January,  letters  from  Caesar  were  laid  before 
the  Senate  by  Curio,  in  which  the  Proconsul  expressed  his 
readiness  "to  accept  the  proposal  that  Pompey  and  himself 
should  both  resign  their  military  power :  as  soon  as  he  was 
assured  that  all  soldiers  were  removed  from  the  neighbourhood 
of  Rome,  he  would  enter  the  gates  as  a  private  person,  and  offer 
himself  Candidate  for  the  Consulship."  Warm  debates  followed, 
in  which  Metellus  Scipio,*  Pompey's  father-in-law,  and  Cato 
urged  that  Caesar  should  be  declared  a  public  enemy  unless  he 
laid  down  his  command  by  a  certain  day.  But  even  this  did  not 
satisfy  the  majority.  Not  only  was  Caesar  outlawed  :  but  on  the 
6th  of  January  a  Decree  was  framed,  investing  the  Consuls  with 
dictatorial  power,  in  the  same  form  that  had  been  used  against 
C.  Gracchus,  against  Saturninus,  against  Catiline.  On  the  follow- 
ing night,  Mark  Antony  fled  from  the  City,  together  with  another 
Tribune,  Q.  Cassius  Longinus,  brother  of  the  more  famous  C. 
Cassius. 

*  He  was  a  Scipio  by  birth,  being  great-grandson  of  Scipio  Nasica  (nick- 
named Serapio),  the  slayer  of  Ti.  Gracchus,  and  was  adopted  by  Metellus  Pius. 


(J76  CIVIL  WARS:    SECOND   PERIOD.  Book  VII. 

§  5.  The  die  was  cast.  Caesar  had  no  longer  any  choice.  He 
must  either  offer  an  armed  resistance  or  save  himself  by  flight. 
Neither  party  was  well  prepared  for  immediate  war.  Caesar  had 
but  one  Legion  in  Italy  ;  for  the  hesitation  of  his  enemies  made 
him  doubt  whether  they  would  ever  defy  him  to  mortal  conflict. 
Pompey  knew  the  weakness  of  his  rival's  forces.  He  also  knew 
that  Labienus,  the  best  of  Caesar's  officers,  was  ready  to  desert  his 
leader,  and  he  believed  that  such  an  example  woiild  be  followed 
by  many  others.  He  calculated  that  Caesar  would  not  dare  to 
move,  or  would  fall  a  victim  to  his  own  rashness.  For  himself 
he  had  one  Legion  close  to  Rome,  Caesar's  two  Legions  at  Capua ; 
and  Sylla's  veterans  were,  it  was  supposed,  ready  to  take  arms 
for  the  Senate  at  a  moment's  notice.  "  I  have  but  to  stamp  my 
foot,"  said  the  great  commander,  "  and  armed  men  will  start  from 
the  soil  of  Italy." 

§  6.  But  Caesar's  prompt  audacity  remedied  his  own  want  of 
preparation,  and  disconcerted  the  calculations  of  his  opponents. 
He  was  stationed,  with  his  single  Legion,  at  Ravenna,  when  he 
was  surprised  by  letters  announcing  the  Decree  of  the  6th  of 
January.  His  resolution  was  at  once  taken.  He  reviewed  his 
Legion,  and  ascertained  their  readiness  to  follow  whithersoever  he 
led.  At  night-fall  he  left  Ravenna  secretly,  crossed  the  Rubicon, 
which  divided  his  Province  from  Italy,  and  at  day-break  entered 
Ariminum."^  Here  he  met  the  Tribunes  Antony  and  Q.  Cassius, 
on  their  way  from  Rome.  His  legion  arrived  soon  after,  and 
orders  were  sent  off  to  the  nearest  troops  in  Transalpine  Gaul,  to 
follow  his  steps  with  all  speed.  But  he  waited  not  for  them. 
With  his  single  Legion  he  appeared  before  Licenum,  Fanum, 
Ancona,  Iguvium,  Auximum,  and  Asculum.  All  these  towns 
surrendered  without  a  blow,  and  by  the  beginning  of  February 
Caesar  was  master  of  all  Umbria  and  Picenum.  By  the  middle  of 
that  month  he  had  been  reinforced  by  two  additional  Legions 
from  Gaul,  and  was  strong  enough  to  invest  Corfinium,  a  fortress 
in  the  Pelignian  Apennines,  which  was  vigorously  defended  by 
Domitius  Ahenobarbus  and  a  number  of  Senators.  At  the  ciose 
of  a  week,  however,  news  came  that  Pompey  and  the  Consuls  and 
moved  southward ;  and  Domitius  surrendered  at  discretion. 
CaBsar  allowed  him  and  his  Senatorial  friends  to  go  their  way 
without  even  exacting  a  promise  that  they  would  take  no  further 
part  in  the  war.  On  entering  the  town  he  ordered  that  his  men 
should  aibstain,  not  only   from   personal  violence,  but  even  from 

*  This  is  CfEsar's  simple  narrative.  The  dramatic  scene,  in  which  he  is 
represented  as  pausing  on  the  banks  of  the  Rubicon,  and  anxiously  weighing 
the  probable  consequences  of  one  irremediable  step  is  due  to  rhetorical  wri- 
ters of  later  times. 


Chaf.  LXVIL  second   CIVIL   WAR.  6V7 

petty  pillage.  Reports  had  been  spread  that  the  Proconsul's 
troops  were  not  Romans  but  Gauls,  ferocious  barbarians,  whose 
hands  would  be  against  every  Italian  as  their  natural  enemy. 
The  public  humanity  which  Caesar  showed,  reconciled  to  his 
cause  many  who  had  hitherto  stood  aloof.  The  soldiers  of 
Domitius  took  service  under  the  conqueror. 

§  1.  After  the  fall  of  Corfinium,  Caesar  hastened  southwards  in 
jjirsuit  of  Pompey.  But  when  he  arrived  at  Brundusium,  on  the 
Sth  of  March  he  found  that  the  Consuls  had  sailed  for  Dyrrha- 
chium,  though  Pompey  was  still  in  the  Italian  port.  The  town 
was  too  strong  to  be  taken  by  assault;  and  nine  days  after 
Caesar  appeared  before  its  walls,  Pompey  embarked  at  leisure 
and  carried  his  last  soldier  out  of  Italy.  Disappointed  of  his 
prey,  Caesar  returned  upon  his  steps,  and  reached  Rome  upon  the 
1st  of  April.  The  People,  at  the  motion  of  M.  Antony,  gave 
Caesar  full  power  to  take  what  money  he  desired  from  the 
Treasury,  without  sparing  even  the  sacred  hoard,  which  had 
never  been  touched,  except  in  the  necessities  of  the  Hannibalic 
War.  Notwithstanding  this  vote,  the  Tribune  L.  Metellus,  a 
son  of  Metellus  Creticus,  refused  to  produce  the  keys  of  the 
Treasury,  and  when  Caesar  ordered  the  doors  to  be  broken  open, 
endeavoured  to  bar  his  passage  into  the  sacred  chamber.  "  Stand 
aside,  young  man,"  said  Caesar,  "  it  is  easier  for  me  to  do  than  to 
say." 

He  was  now  master  of  Italy  as  well  as  Gaul.  To  pursue  Pom- 
pey to  Epirus  was  impossible,  because  Senatorial  officers  swept 
the  sea  with  a  large  fleet,  and  Caesar  had  few  ships  at  his  dis- 
posal. Moreover,  in  Spain,  which  had  been  subject  to  Pompey 
for  the  last  five  years,  there  was  a  veteran  army  ready  to  enter 
Italy.  The  remainder  of  the  season,  therefore,  he  resolved  to 
occupy  in  the  reduction  of  that  army. 

§  8.  On  his  way  to  Spain,  he  found  that  Marseilles,  the  retreat 
of  Milo,  had  declared  for  Pompey.  Leaving  Dec.  Brutus  with 
twelve  ships,  and  C.  Trebonius  with  a  body  of  troops,  to  besiege 
the  town  both  by  sea  and  land,  he  continued  his  march,  and 
crossed  the  Pyrenees  early  in  the  summer.  Hither  Spain  was 
held  by  C.  Afranius,  an  officer  of  Pompev,  whom  he  had  raised  to 
the  Consulship,  and  M.  Petreius,  who  had  destroyed  the  army  of 
Catiline.  Further  Spain  was  entrusted  to  the  care  of  M.  Teren- 
tins  Varro. 

Nea^  Ilerda  (Lerida),  on  the  rivfer  Sicoris,  an  affluent  of  the 
Ebro,  Caesar  was  encountered  by  the  Pompeian  leaders.  He 
gives  us  a  very  full  account  of  the  movements  which  followed, 
from  which  it  seems  that  he  was  at  first  out-generalled  by 
Petreius.     Yet  his  dexterity  in  swaying  the  wills  of  men  soon 


678  CIVIL   WARS:    SECOND  PERIOD.  Book  VJl 

gave  him  the  superiority.  Avoiding  a  battle  always,  he  encou- 
raged communications  between  his  own  men  and  the  soldiers  of 
the  enemy ;  and  at  length  the  Pompeian  leaders,  finding  them- 
selves unable  to  control  their  own  troops,  were  obliged  to  sur- 
render their  command.  Two-thirds  of  their  force  took  service 
with  the  politic  conqueror. 

Varro,  in  Further  Spain,  by  dexterous  intrigue,  contrived  to 
evade  immediate  submission.  But  after  a  vain  attempt  to  col- 
lect a  force,  he  surrendered  to  the  conqueror  at  Corduba  (Cor- 
dova), and  was  allowed  to  go  where  he  pleased.  Before  autumn 
closed,  all  Spain  was  at  the  feet  of  Caesar,  and  was  committed  to 
the  government  of  Q.  Cassius,  the  Tribune  who  had  supported 
his  cause  at  Rome.  Thus  secured  from  danger  in  the  West,  he 
hastened  into  Italy.  ^ 

§  9.  As  he  passed  through  Southern  Gaul,  he  found  that 
Marseilles  still  held  out  against  Dec.  Brutus  and  Trebonius. 
The  defence  had  been  most  gallant.  The  blockade  by  sea  had 
been  interrupted  by  a  detachment  from  Pompey's  fleet ;  and  the 
great  works  raised  by  the  besiegers  on  land  had  been  met  by 
counter-works  of  equal  magnitude  on  the  part  of  the  besieged. 
But  on  the  arrival  of  Caesar,  the  Massilians  surrendered  them- 
selves with  a  good  grace,  and  were  treated  with  the  utmost 
clemency. 

§  10.  During  his  absence  in  Spain,  M.  ^milius  Lepidus,  whom 
he  had  left  as  Prefect  of  the  City  to  govern  Italy,  had  named  him 
Dictator.  He  assumed  the  great  dignity  thus  conferred  upon 
liim,  but  held  it  only  eleven  days.  In  that  period  he  presided  at 
the  Comitia,  and  was  elected  Con^l,  together  with  P.  Servilius 
Isauricus,  one  of  his  old  competitors^  for  the  Chief  Pontificate. 
He  also  passed  several  Laws.  One  of  those  restored  all  exiles  to 
the  city,  except  Milo,  thus  undoing  one  of  the  last  remnants  of 
Sylla's  Dictatorship.  A  second  provided  for  the  payment  of 
debts,  so  as  to  lighten  the  burthens  of  the  debtois  without 
satisfying  the  democratic  cry  for  an  abolition  of  all  contracts. 
A  third  conferred  the  franchise  on  the  citizens  of  Transpadaiie 
Gaul,  who  had  since  the  Social  War  enjoyed  the  Latin  right 
only. 

§  11.  Of  the  doings  of  his  lieutenants  in  other  quarters  during 
this  memorable  year,  Ca3sar  did  not  receive  accounts  at  all  com- 
mensurate with  his  own  marvellous-  success.  In  Illyria,  P.  Cor- 
nelius Dolabella,  son-in-law  of  Cicero,  who  had  joined  the  con- 
queror, had  been  disgracefully  beaten,  and  Caius,  brother  of  Mark 
Antony,  taken  prisoner,  so  that  all  the  eastern  coast  of  the  Adriatic 
was  now  in  the  hands  of  the  Pompeians. 

Curio  had  been  sent  to  occupy  Sicily,  where  Cato  commanded 


Chap.  LXVIl  SECOND    CIVIL   WAR.  6l\ 

in  the  name  of  the  Senate.     The  philosopher,  having  no  adequate\ 
force,  declined  the  contest,  and  joined  Pompey  in  Epirus.     Curio  ^ 
then  passed  over  to  Africa,  where  the  Pompeian  general  Varus 
held  command,  and  was  at  first  successful.     But  presently  Juba,  • 
king  of  Mauritania,  appeared  in  the  field  as  an  Ally  of  the  Sena- 
torial party ;    and  Curio,  obliged  to  retreat  before  the  combined 
forces  of  the  enemy,  took  refuge  in  the  famous  camp  of  Scipio. 
From  this  position  he  was  drawn  out  by  a  feigned  retreat ;  and 
being  surprised  by  an  overpowering  force,  he  was  defeated  and 
slain.     Africa,  therefore,  as  well  as  all  the  Eastern  World  remained 
in  the  hands  of  the    Pompeians,  while  Italy,   Gaul,   and  Spain 
owned  the  authority  of  Caesar. 

§  12.  Cicero  had  returned  from  Cilicia,  while  the  debates,  which 
issued  in  the  Decree  of  the  6th  of  January,  were  still  unfinished. 
He  claimed  a  Triumph  for  some  military  successes  over  the 
mountaineers  who  infested  that  Province,  and  therefore  would 
not  enter  the  walls  of  the  City  to  be  present  at  these  mo- 
mentous debates.  The  question  of  his  Triumph  was  soon  for- 
gotten in  the  rapid  course  of  events  which  followed,  and  he 
retired  to  his  Formian  Villa,  still  attended  by  his  Lictors  with 
their  faces  wreathed  in  laurel.  Here  he  had  interviews  with 
the  Pompeian  leaders  on  their  retreat  through  Campania.  At 
the  same  time  many  of  his  personal  friends,  as  Curio,  Cselius, 
Dolabella,  Balbus,  Trebatius,  had  joined  Caesar,  and  urged  him  to 
make  common  cause  with  their  generous  leader.  On  his  return 
from  Brundusium  Caesar  himself  visited  him.  But  the  Orator 
could  not  be  prevailed  upon  to  forsake  the  cause  of  the  Senate ; 
and  after  long  hesitation,  he  took  ship  and  joined  Pompey  in  the 
East. 

§  13.  Pompey  was  bitterly  censured  by  his  party  for  quitting 
Italy  without  a  blow.  But  when  he  was  surprised  by  Caesar's 
rapid  advance,  the  only  troops  besides  those  under  Domitius  at 
Corfinium  were  the  two  Legions  lately  sent  from  Gaul  by  Caesar ; 
and  these  (it  may  well  be  supposed)  he  dared  not  trust  to  do 
battle  against  their  old  commander. 

It  is  probable,  therefore,  that  he  was  really  compelled  to  quit 
Italy.  But  his  fleet  was  now  so  large  that  it  would  have  been 
easy  for  him  to  regain  Italian  soil;  and,  since  he  made  no 
attempt  to  cross  the  sea,  we  may  assume  that  he  purposely 
chose  Epirus  as  the  ground  for  battle.  He  had  all  the  East 
behind  him,  long  used  to  reverence  his  name ;  and  out  of  Italy 
he  was  less  likely  to  be  thwarted  by  the  Senatorial  Chiefs,  who 
hated  him  while  they  used  him.  Such  especially  was  Domitius 
Ahenobarbus,  who  loudly  complained  that  he  had  been  deserted 
at  Corfinium. 


680  CIVIL  WARS;    SECOND  PERIOD  Booi  Vti 

Pompey's  head-quarters  were  fixed  at  Thessalonica,  the  chief 
city  of  Macedonia.  Here  the  Senators  who  had  fled  from  Italj 
assembled,  and  his  chief  officers  assumed  titles  of  authority.  He 
had  employed  the  time  well.  The  Provinces  and  Kings  of  the 
East  filled  his  military  chest  with  treasure ;  he  had  collected  seven 
Roman  Legions,  with  a  number  of  auxiliaries  from  every  sur- 
rounding monarchy,  and  a  powerful  force  of  cavalry ;  large  maga 
zines  of  provisions  and  military  stores  were  formed :  above  all, 
a  ileet,  increasing  every  day  in  numbers,  was  supplied  by  the 
maritime  states  of  Illyria,  Greece,  Asia  Minor,  Phoenicia,  and 
Egypt.  Bibulus,  the  old  adversary  of  Caesar,  took  the  command 
as  Admiral-in-Chief,  supported  by  able  lieutenants.  With  this 
naval  force  actively  employed,  it  was  hoped  that  it  would  be  im- . 
possible  for  Csesar  to  land  in  Epirus. 

§  14.  Cagsar  arrived  in  Brundusium  at  the  end  of  October, 
49  B.C.*  Twelve  Legions  had  been  assembled  there.  So  much 
had  their  numbers  been  thinned  by  war,  fatigue,  and  the  fevers 
of  Apulia,  that  each  Legion  averaged  less  than  3000  men.  His 
transports  were  so  few,  that  he  was  not  able  to  ship  more  than 
seven  of  these  imperfect  Legions,  with  600  horse.  All  the  har- 
bours were  occupied  by  the  enemy.  But  the  ancients  were 
seldom  able  to  maintain  a  blockade  by  cruising;  and  Csesar, 
leaving  Brundusium  on  the  5th  November,  landed  his  first  corps 
on  the  open  coast  of  Epirus,  a  little  south  of  the  Acroceraunian 
headland.  He  sent  his  empty  ships  back  directly,  and  marched 
northward  to  Oricum  and  Apollonia,  where  he  claimed  admission 
in  virtue  of  his  consular  office.  The  claim  was  admitted,  and 
these  towns  fell  into  his  hands.  Pompey  immediately  marched 
from  Thessalonica,  and  succeeded  in  reachmg  Dyrrhachium  in 
time  to  save  that  important  place.  He  then  pushed  his  lines 
forward  to  the  mouth  of  the  Apsus,  and  the  two  hostile  armies 
lay  inactive  during  the  remainder  of  the  winter,  with  this  stream 
between  their  camps, — Csesar  occupying  the  left  or  southern 
bank,  Pompey  the  right  or  northern  side. 

§  15.  As  the  winter  passed  away,  Csesar  was  rendered  ex- 
tremely anxious  by  the  non-appearance  of  his  second  corps, 
which  Antony  was  charged  to  bring  across.  News  soon  reached 
him  that  Bibulus,  stung  to  the  quick  by  the  successful  landing 
of  the  first  corps,  had  put  to  sea  from  Corcyra  with  all  his  fleet, 
had  destroyed  thirty  of  the  returning  transports,  and  had  ever 
since  kept  so  strict  a  watch  on  the  coast  of  Italy,  that  Antony 

*  This  is  the  true  datfi,  according  to  our  reckoniDg,  By  the  Roman 
Calendar,  it  was  December  But,  for  the  military  operations  which  follow, 
it  is  so  important  to  note  the  ti  ue  seasons,  that  we  shall,  from  this  point,  gire 
the  dates  as  if  the  Roman  Calendar  had  already  been  corrected 


Chap.  LXVIi  SECOND   CIVIL  WAR  681 

did  not  dare  to  leave  Brundusium,  So  stubborn  was  the  will  of 
Bibulus,  that  he  fell  a  victim  to  his  own  exertions,  and  died  at 
sea.  But  L.  Scribonius  Libo  continued  the  tactics  of  Bibulus, 
and  Caesar's  impatience  arose  to  the  height.  He  had  lost  more 
than  two  months,  and  complained  that  Antony  had  neglected 
several  opportunities  of  crossing  the  Ionian  Sea.  At  length  he 
engaged  a  small  boat  to  take  him  across  to  Italy  in  person.  The 
8ca  ran  high,  and  the  rowers  refused  to  proceed,  till  the  General 
revealed  himself  to  them  in  the  famous  words:  "You  carry 
Caesar  and  his  fortunes."  All  night  they  toiled,  but  when  day 
broke  they  had  made  no  way,  and  the  General  reluctantly  con- 
sented to  put  back  into  the  Apsus.  But  soon  after,  he  succeeded 
in  sending  over  a  positive  message  to  Antony  to  cross  over  at 
all  risks ;  and  if  Antony  disobeyed,  the  messenger  carried  a  com- 
mission to  his  chief  officers,  by  which  they  were  ordered  to 
supersede  their  commander,  and  discharge  the  duty  which  he 
neglected  to  perform.  Stung  by  this  practical  rebuke,  Antony 
resolved  to  attempt  the  passage  at  all  risks.  As  he  neared  the 
coast  of  Epirus,  the  wind  shifted  to  the  south-cast,  and,  being 
unable  to  make  the  port  of  Oricum,  he  was  obliged  to  run 
'.lorthward  past  Pompey's  camp,  in  full  view  of  the  enemy. 
They  gave  chase ;  but  he  succeeded  in  landing  all  his  men  near 
the  headland  of  Nymphaeum,  more  than  fifty  miles  north  of  the 
Apsus.  His  position  was  critical,  for  Pompey's  army  lay  between 
him  and  Caesar.  But  Caesar  had  already  made  a  rapid  march 
round  the  enemy's  position,  and  succeeded  in  joining  Antony 
before  Pompey  moved  northwards.  The  latter,  finding  himself 
too  late,  took  a  new  position  some  miles  to  the  north  of  Dyrrha- 
chium,  and  here  formed  a  strongly-entrenched  camp  resting 
upon  the  sea.  These  entrenchments  ran  in  an  irregular  halt- 
circle  of  nearly  fifteen  miles  in  length,  the  chord  of  which  was 
the  coast-line  of  Epirus. 

§  16.  The  spring  of  48  b.c.  was 'now  beginning.  It  was  pro- 
bably in  March  that  Caesar  effected  his  union  with  Antony. 
Even  after  this  junction,  he  was  inferior  in  numbers  to  Pompey ; 
and  it  is  not  without  wonder  that  we  read  his  own  account  of 
the  audacious  attempt  with  which  he  began  the  campaign.  His 
plan  was  to  draw  lines  round  Pompey's  vast  entrenchments,  so 
r.s  to  cut  him  off  from  Dyrrhachium  and  from  the  surrounding 
country.  As  Pompey's  entrenchments  measured  nearly  fifteen 
miles,  Caesar's  lines  must  have  measured  considerably  more. 
And  as  his  army  was  inferior  in  numbers,  it  might  have  been 
expected  that  Pompey  would  not  submit  to  be  shut  in.  But  the 
latter  general  could  not  interrupt  the  works  without  hazarding 
a  battle,  and  his  troops  were  not  yet  a  match  for  Caesar's  vet©- 

29* 


682  CIVIL   WARS:    SECOND   PERIOD.  Book  VIL 

rans.  The  command  of  the  sea  insured  him  supplies  and  enabled 
him  to  shift  his  army ;  and  he  therefore  allowed  Caesar  to  carry 
on  his  lines  with  little  interruption. 

Daring  the  winter  Caesar's  men  had  suffered  terribly  for  want 
of  vegetable  food.  But  as  spring  advanced,  and  the  crops  began 
to  ripen,  brighter  days  seemed  at  hand.  Pompey's  men,  mean- 
while, though  supplied  from  the  sea,  began  to  suffer  for  want  of 
fresh  water,  and  their  animals  for  want  of  green  fodder.  He 
therefore  determined  to  assume  the  offensive.  At  each  extremity 
of  Caesar's  lines,  where  they  abutted  upon  the  sea,  a  second  line 
of  entrenchmints  had  been  marked  out  reaching  some  way 
inland,  so  that  for  some  distance  from  the  sea  the  lines  might  be 
protected  from  an  attack  in  rear,  as  well  as  in  front.  But  this 
part  of  the  work  was  as  yet  unfinished  ;  and,  in  particular,  no 
attempt  had  been  made  to  carry  any  defence  along  the  sea  so  as 
to  connect  the  two  lines.  Pompey  was  instructed  of  this  defect 
by  some  Gallic  deserters ;  and  he  succeeded  in  landing  some 
troops  at  the  southern  extremity  of  the  works,  so  as  to  make  a 
lodgement  between  Caesar's  two  lines.  A  series  of  combats  fol- 
lowed. But  the  Pompeians  maintained  their  ground,  and  Caesar 
perceived  that  his  labour  was  thrown  away.  Pompey  hal 
reestablished  his  land  communication  with  Dyrrhachium  ;  and 
circumvallation  being  now  impossible,  Caesar  determined  to  shift 
the  scene  of  action. 

§  17.  During  the  spring  he  had  detached  Cn.  Domitius  Cal- 
vinus  with  two  Legions  into  Macedonia,  to  intercept  the  march 
of  Metellus  Scipio,  who  was  expected  every  day  to  bring  rein- 
forcements to  Pompey  from  Syria.  Scipio  had  been  delayed  by 
the  necessity  of  securing  his  Province  against  the  Parthians; 
and  had  spent  much  time  in  levying  contributions  on  his  line  of 
march.  When  he  arrived  in  Macedonia  he  found  his  passage 
barred  by  Calvinus  at  Pella.  But,  about  the  time  of  Caesar's 
defeat  at  Dyrrhachium,  Calvinus  had  been  obliged,  by  want  of 
provisions,  to  fall  back  towards  Epirus,  while  Caesar  himself 
marched  by  ApoUonia  up  the  valley  of  the  Aotis.  Pompey  im- 
mediately detached  a  strong  force  to  separate  Calvinus  from  his 
chief.  But  Calvinus,  informed  of  Caesar's  retreat,  moved  with 
great  rapidity  to  the  southward,  and  effected  a  union  with  his 
general  in  the  north-western  corner  of  Thessaly.  The  Caesarian 
army,  thus  united,  advanced  to  Gomphi,  which  was  taken  and 
given  up  to  plunder.  Meanwhile,  Scipio  had  occupied  Larissa; 
but,  with  this  exception,  all  other  Thessalian  cities  opened 
their  gates  to  Caesar ;  and  the  harvest  being  now  ripe,  his  army 
revelled  in  the  abundant  supplies  of  the  rich  plain  of  Thessaly. 

§  18.  Soon  after,   Pompey   entered  Thessaly  from  the   north 


Chap.  LXTIl  PHARSALIA.  683 

and  joined  Scipio  at  Larissa.  The  Pompeian  leaders,  elated  by 
success,  were  quarrelling  among  themselves  for  the  prize,  which 
they  regarded  as  already  won.  Lentulus  Spinther,  Domitius 
Ahenobarbus,  and  Metellus  Scipio,  all  claimed  Caesar's  Pontifi- 
cate. Domitius  proposed  that  all  who  had  remained  in  Italy  or 
had  not  taken  an  active  part  in  the  contest  should  be  brought 
to  trial  as  traitors  to  the  cause, — Cicero  being  the  person  chiefly 
aimed  at.  Pompey  himself  was  not  spared.  Domitius  nick- 
named him  Agamemnon  King  of  men,  and  openly  rejected  his 
authority.  The  advice  of  the  great  general  to  avoid  a  decisive 
battle  was  contemptuously  set  at  naught  by  all  but  Cato,  who 
from  first  to  last  advocated  any  measure  which  gave  a  hope  of 
avoiding  bloodshed.  Even  Favonius,  a  blunt  and  simple-minded 
man  who  usually  echoed  Cato's  sentiments,  loudly  complained 
that  Pompey's  reluctance  to  fight  would  prevent  his  friends  from 
eating  their  figs  that  summer  at  Tusculum. 

From  Larissa  Pompey  moved  southward,  and  occupied  a 
strong  position  on  an  eminence  near  the  city  of  Pharsalus, 
overlooking  the  plain  which  skirts  the  left  bank  of  the  river 
Eiiipeus.  Caesar  followed  and  encamped  upon  the  plain,  within 
iour  miles  of  the  enemy's  position.  Here  the  hostile  armies 
lay  watching  each  other  for  some  time,  till  Caesar  made  a  move- 
ment which  threatened  to  intercept  Pompey's  communications 
with  Larissa.  The  latter  now  at  length  yielded  to  the  impa- 
tience of  the  Senatorial  Chiefs.  He  resolved  to  descend  from 
his  position  and  give  battle  upon  the  plain  of  Pharsalus  or 
Pharsalia. 

§  19.  The  morning  of  the  6th  of  June*  saw  both  armies  drawn 
out  in  order  of  battle.  The  forces  of  Pompey  consisted  of  about 
44,000  men,  and  were  (if  Caesar's  account  is  accurate)  twice  as 
numerous  as  the  army  opposed  to  them.  But  Caesar's  were  all 
well-trained  troops;  the  greater  part  of  Pompey's  were  levies 
recently  collected  in  Macedonia  and  Asia,  far  inferior  to  the 
soldiers  of  Gaul  and  Italy.  Pompey's  army  faced  the  north. 
His  right  wing,  resting  on  the  river,  was  commanded  by  Scipio, 
the  centre  by  Lentulus  Spinther,  the  left  by  Domitius.  His 
cavalry,  far  superior  to  Caesar's,  covered  the  left  flank.  Caesar 
drew  up  his  forces  in  three  lines,  of  which  the  rearmost  was  to 
act  in  reserve.  His  left  was  upon  the  river ;  and  his  small  force 
of  cavalry  was  placed  upon  his  right,  opposite  to  Pompey's  left 
wing.  To  compensate  for  his  inferiority  in  this  arm,  he  picked 
out  six  veteran  cohorts,  who  were  to  skirmish  between  the  files 
of   the   horse.     Domitius   Calvinus   commanded   in   the   centre. 

*  By  the  Roman  Calendar,  it  was  the  9th  of  August. 


684  CIVIL  WARS :    SECOJ^D  1>ERI0D.  Book  VIL 

Antony  on  the  left,  Caesar  himself  upon  the  right,  with  the 
Tenth  Legion  in  reserve. 

The  attack  began  by  Caesar's  whole  line,  which  advanced  run- 
ning. Pompey  ordered  his  men  to  wait  the  charge  without 
moving,  in  hopes  that  the  enemy  would  lose  breath  before  they 
closed.  But  Caesar's  old  soldiers,  observing  that  the  Pompeians 
kept  their  ground,  halted  to  form  line  and  recover  breath,  before 
they  closed  with  the  enemy.     A  desperate  conflict  followed. 

While  the  Legions  were  engaged  along  the  whole  line,  Pom- 
pey's  cavalry  attacked  the  weak  squadrons  of  Caesar's  horse  and 
drove  them  back,  upon  which  the  veterans  sallied  out  of  the 
ranks  and  drove  their  formidable  pila  straight  at  the  unarmed 
faces  of  the  enemy.*  Caesar's  squadrons  rallied ;  and  after  a 
brave  struggle  Pompey's  cavalry  was  completely  broken  and  fled 
in  disorder. 

Upon  this  Caesar  brought  up  his  reserve ;  and  the  infantry  of 
Pompey,  assailed  by  fresh  troops  in  front,  and  attacked  in  flank 
by  the  cavalry  and  veterans,  gave  way  everywhere.  A  general 
order  was  now  issued  by  Caesar  to  spare  the  Romans,  and  to 
throw  all  their  strength  upon  the  foreigners.  Pompey  himself 
rode  oft'  the  field  to  his  tent,  leaving  orders  for  the  troops  to 
retreat  behind  their  entrenchments. 

But  this  was  not  permitted.  His  Legionaries  dispersed  in  all 
directions.  The  Eastern  Allies,  after  a  terrible  slaughter,  fled ; 
and  Pompey  had  only  time  to  mount  his  horse  and  gallop  oft' 
through  the  Decuman  or  Rearward  gate  of  his  camp,  as  the  sol- 
diers of  Caesar  forced  their  way  in  by  the  Praetorian  or  Front 
gate.  The  booty  taken  was  immense.  The  hardy  veterans  of 
Gaul  gazed  with  surprise  on  the  tent  of  Lentulus,  adorned  with 
festoons  of  Bacchic  ivy,  and  on  the  splendid  services  of  plate 
which  were  set  out  everywhere  for  a  banquet  to  celebrate  the 
expected  victory. 

§  20.  Before  Caesar  allowed  his  tired  soldiers  to  enjoy  the 
fruits  of  the  victory  of  Pharsalia,  he  required  them  to  complete 
the  conquest.  The  pursuit  was  continued  during  the  remainder 
of  the  day,  and  on  the  morrow.  But  the  task  was  easy.  The 
clemency  of  the  conqueror  induced  all  to  submit.  When  Caesar 
entered  tlie  camp  and  saw  the  dead  bodies  of  many  Romans 
lying  about,  he  exclaimed,  "  They  would  have  it  so  :  to  have  laid 

*  Plutarch's  story  is  that  the  order  was  given  because  Pompey's  cavaliy 
consisted  chiefly  of  young  Romans,  who  were  afraid  of  having  their  beauty 
spoilt.  Caesar,  however,  mentions  that  Pompey's  cavalry  was  excellent,  and 
does  not  notice  that  he  gave  any  order  at  all  about  striking  at  the  face.  The 
foot  soldiers  would  naturally  strike  at  the  most  defenceless  part,  and  the  story 
of  the  "  spoilt  beauty"  would  be  readily  added  by  some  scornful  Caesarian. 


Chap.  LXVII.  POMPEY'S   FLIGHT.  685 

down  our  arms  would  have  sealed  our  doom."  Most  of  those 
who  perished  were  foreigners  or  freedmcn.  The  only  distin- 
guished person  who  fell  was  Domitius  Ahenobarbus.  Among 
those  who  submitted,  was  M.  Junius  Brutus,  a  young  man  of 
whom  we  shall  hear  more. 

§  21.  Pompey  fled  through  the  gorge  of  Tempe  to  the  mouth 
of  the  Peneiis,  where  he  embarked  en  bord  a  merchant-vessel 
in  company  with  Lentulus  Spinther,  I^entuhis  Crus,  and  others. 
He  dismissed  all  his  slaves.  Honest  Favonius  proved  his  fidelity 
to  the  general  by  undertaking  for  him  such  menial  offices  as 
usually  were  left  to  slaves.  The  master  of  the  ship  knew  the 
adventurers,  and  off'ered  to  take  them  whithersoever  they  would. 
Pompey  first  directed  his  course  to  Lesbos,  where  his  wife  Cor- 
nelia and  his  younger  son  Sextus  had  been  sent  for  safety,  and 
having  taken  them,  on  board  he  sailed  round  to  Cilicia,  where  he 
collected  a  few  ships  and  a  small  company  of  soldiers.  With 
these  he  crossed  over  to  Cyprus,  where  he  stayed  a  short  time, 
deliberating  on  the  best  means  of  safety.  He  still  had  a  powerful 
fleet  at  sea,  under  the  command  of  his  elder  son  Cnaeus,  assisted 
by  C.  Cassius.  Africa  was  still  his  own,  and  King  Juba  anxious 
t )  do  him  service.  But  after  considering  several  plans,  he  deter- 
mined to  seek  an  asylum  in  Egypt. 

§  22.  Ptolemy  Auletes,  who  had  been  restored  by  Gabinius, 
Pompey's  friend,  had  left  his  kingdom  to  the  divided  sway  of  his 
son  Ptolemy  Dionysius  and  his  daughter  Cleopatra,  under  the 
guardianship  of  the  Senate ;  and  the  Senate  had  delegated  this 
trust  to  Pompey.  Hence  his  reason  for  choosing  Egypt  as  his 
place  of  retreat.  But  Cleopatra,  who  was  older  than  her  brother, 
had  been  driven  from  Alexandria  by  the  people ;  and  three  Greek 
adventurers, — Pothinus  a  eunuch,  Theodotus  a  rhetorician,  and 
Achillas  an  officer  of  the  army, — governed  the  kingdom  in  the 
name  of  young  Ptolemy.  When  Pompey  appeared  off"  Alex- 
andria with  a  few  ships  and  a  force  of  about  2000  men,  these 
ministers  were  engaged  in  repelling  Cleopatra.  A  message  from 
Pompey,  to  signify  his  intention  of  landing,  threw  them  into 
^reat  alarm.  In  the  Egyptian  army  were  a  number  of  men  who 
had  formerly  served  under  Pompey  in  the  East,  and  it  was  feared 
that  they  would  betray  Egypt  to  their  old  general.  All  was  left 
to  the  conduct  of  Achillas,  a  bold  man  troubled  by  no  scruples. 
A  small  boat  was  sent  to  receive  the  fugitive,  under  the  false 
pretence  that  the  water  was  too  shallow  to  allow  a  larger  vessel 
to  reach  the  shore.  In  the  boat  were  Achillas  himself,  a  Roman 
officer  named  Salvius,  and  another  named  Septimius,  who  had 
served  as  Tribune  under  Pompey  in  the  war  against  the  Pirates. 
The    great  general   recognised  his  old  officer,  and  entered  the 


686  CIVIL   WARS:    SECOND    PERIOD.  Book  VII 

boat  alone.  His  wife  and  friends  anxiously  watched  it  as  it 
slowly  made  its  way  back  to  store,  and  were  somewhat  com- 
forted by  seeing  a  number  of  persons  collected  on  the  beach  as 
if  to  receive  Pompey  with  honour.  At  length  the  boat  stopped, 
and  the  general  took  the  hand  of  the  person  next  him  to  assist 
him  in  rising.  At  this  moment  Septimius  struck  him  from 
behind.  Pompey  knew  his  fate,  and  fell  without  a  struggle. 
His  head  was  then  cut  off  and  taken  away,  his  body  left  upon 
the  beach.  When  the  crowd  dispersed,  a  freedman  of  Pompey, 
assisted  by  an  old  soldier  of  the  great  commander,  had  the  piety 
to  break  up  a  fishing-boat  and  form  a  rude  funeral  pile.  By 
these  humble  obsequies  was  the  sometime  master  of  the  world 
honoured. 

§  23.  So  died  Pompey.  He  had  lived  nearly  sixty  years,  and 
had  enjoyed  more  of  the  world's  honours  than  almost  any  Roman 
before  him.  In  youth  he  was  cold,  calculating,  and  hard- 
hearted, covetous  of  military  fame,  and  not  slow  to  appropriate 
what  belonged  to  others.  His  talents  for  war  were  great.  In 
the  struggle  with  Caesar  it  is  plain  that,  so  far  as  military  tactics 
went,  Pompey  was  superior  to  his  great  rival ;  and  had  he  not 
been  hampered  by  impatient  colleagues,  the  result  might  have 
been  different.  In  politics  he  was  grasping  and  selfish,  irresolute 
and  improvident.  He  imagined  that  his  achievements  gave  him 
a  title  to  be  acknowledged  as  the  chief  of  Rome ;  and  when 
neither.  Senate  or  People  seemed  willing  to  acquiesce  in  the 
claim,  he  formed  a  coalition  with  politicians  whose  principles  he 
disliked,  and  made  himself  responsible  for  the  acts  of  Clodius. 
Lastly,  when  he  found  that  in  this  coalition  he  was  unable  to 
maintain  his  superiority  over  Caesar,  he  joined  the  Oligarchy 
who  hated  him,  and  lost  even  the  glory  which  as  a  soldier  he 
had  deserved.  In  private  life  he  was  free  from  those  licentious 
habits  in  which  most  persons  of  that  day  indulged  without 
scruple  or  reproach ;  and  his  tragical  death  excited  a  commise- 
ration for  him  which  by  his  life  he  hardly  deserved. 


M.  Junius  Brutus. 

CHAPTER    LXVIII. 

ABSOLUTE    RULE    OF    C^SAR.       (48 44  B.C.) 

§  1.  Caesar  follows  Pompey  to  Egypt :  lands  there  :  Cleopatra :  Alexandrian 
War:  triumph  of  Caesar.  §  2.  Pompeians  rally  at  Corcyra :  cross  over 
to  Africa:  Scipio  placed  in  command:  Cato  at  Utica.  §  3.  State  of 
Western  Provinces.  §  4.  Caesar  Dictator  for  second  time :  at  length  leaves 
Alexandria.  §  5.  Conquers  Pharnaces,  settles  Asia,  and  returns  to  Rome. 
§  6.  He  relieves  debtors,  and  quells  mutiny  of  soldiers  at  Capua.  §  7. 
Crosses  over  to  Africa :  victory  at  Thapsus  :  death  of  the  Pompeian 
leaders :  end  of  Cato.  §  8.  Settlement  of  Africa  :  Sallust.  §  9.  Four 
Triumphs  of  Caesar:  amnesty:  donatives.  §  10.  Fresh  war  in  Spain: 
"defeats  Pompeians  at  Munda :  death  of  young  Cn. Pompey, escape  of  Sextus. 
§  11.  Short  space  of  time  spent  at  Rome  in  Legislation.  §  12.  He  relieves 
Treasury  by  revising  Corn-list.  §  13.  Liberal  Extension  of  Roman 
Franchise.  §  14.  Imperial  projects.  §  15.  Enlarges  and  fills  up  the 
Senate:  pasquinades.  §16.  Military  colonies.  §1*7.  Encouragement  of 
marriage.  §  18.  Endeavour  to  limit  Slave  labour.  §  19.  Public  build- 
ings. §  20.  Reform  of  Calendar,  §  21.  Necessary  seclusion.  §  22. 
Public  honours  :  desire  to  be  proclaimed  King.  §  23.  Growing  discontent 
among  various  classes.  §  24.  Conspiracy  :  Brutus.  §  25.  Assassination 
of  Caesar.     §  26.  Estimate  of  his  character. 

§  1.  On  the  third  day  after  the  battle  of  Pharsalia,  Caesar  pur- 
sued Pompey  by  forced  marches.  He  reached  Amphipolis  just 
after  the  fugitive  had  touched  there.  On  the  Hellespont,  he  fell 
in  with  a  squadron  of  Pompey's  fleet  under  the  command  of  C. 


688  CIVIL   WARS:    SECOND   PERIOD.  Book  VIL 

Cassius,  who  surrendered  to  Caesar,  and  was  received  by  the 
conqueror  with  the  same  favour  which  he  had  shown  to  Brutus 
and  the  rest  of  his  opponents.  Caesar  crossed  the  Hellespont  in 
boats;  in  Asia  Minor  he  heard  that  Pompey  had  taken  ship 
from  Cyprus,  and  immediately  concluded  that  Egypt  must  be 
his  destination.  Without  a  moment's  hesitation,  he  sailed  for 
this  country,  though  he  was  unable  to  carry  with  him  more  than 
4000  men,  and  though  he  incurred  imminent  risk  of  being  inter- 
cepted by  the  Pompeian  fleet.  As  soon  as  his  arrival  off*  Alex 
andria  was  known,  Theodotus  came  off",  bearing  Pompey's  head 
and  ring.  The  conqueror  accepted  the  ring,  but  turned  with 
tears  in  his  eyes  from  the  ghastly  spectacle  of  the  head,  and 
ordered  it  to  be  burnt  with  due  honours.  Over  the  place  of 
the  funeral-pyre  he  raised  a  shrine  to  Nemesis,  the  goddess 
assigned  by  the  religion  of  the  Greeks  to  be  the  punisher  of 
excessive  prosperity.  He  then  landed  and  entered  Alexandria 
with  his  Consular  emblems  displayed,  followed  by  his  small 
army.  Presently  after,  Cleopatra  introduced  herself  in  disguise 
into  the  palace  where  Cassar  had  fixed  his  residence.  The  con- 
queror, notorious  for  indulgence  in  sensual  pleasures,  yielded 
readily  to  the  blandishments  of  the  princess.  But  Pothinus 
and  Achillas  had  no  wish  to  lose  their  importance  by  agreeing 
to  a  compromise  between  the  young  King  their  master  and  his 
sister;  and  the  people  of 'Alexandria  were  alarmed  at  Caesar's 
assumption  of  authority.  A  great  crowd,  supported  by  Achilla^ 
and  the  army,  assaulted  Caesar's  palace,  and  he  escaped  with  diffi- 
culty to  Pharos,  the  quarter  of  the  city  next  the  sea.  In  vain  he 
endeavoured  to  ruin  the  cause  of  Achillas  by  seizing  the  person 
of  young  Ptolemy.  Arsinoe,  another  daughter  of  the  blood-royal, 
was  set  up  by  the  army,  and  Caesar  was  blockaded  in  Pharos. 
Constant  encounters  took  place  by  land  and  water  ;  and  in  one  of 
these  he  was  in  so  much  danger,  that  he  was  obliged  to  swim 
for  his  life  from  a  sinking  ship,  with  his  coat  of  mail  between  his 
teeth,  holding  his  note-book  above  water  in  his  left  hand. 

He  was  shut  up  in  Pharos  about  August,  and  the  blockade 
continued  till  the  winter  was  far  spent.  But  at  the  beginning 
of  the  new  year  he  was  relieved  by  the  arrival  of  considerable 
forces.  Achillas  was  obliged  to  raise  the  siege,  and  a  battle  in 
the  open  field  resulted  in  a  signal  triumph  to  Caesar.  Vast 
numbers  of  the  fugitives  were  drowned  in  attempting  to  cross 
the  Nile  ;  among  them  the  young  King  himself.  Caesar  installed 
Cleopatra  as  a  sovereign  of  Egypt,  and  reserved  Arsinoe  to  grace 
his  triumph. 

§  2.  During  these  months,  the  Pompeian  chiefs  recovered 
from  their  first  consternation.     Cnaeus,   eldest  son  of  Pompey, 


Chap.  LXVIIL        RALLY   OF   THE   POMPElAlfS.  660 

joined  Cato  at  Corcyra,  where  also  were  assembled  Cicero,  Labi- 
enus,  Afranius,  and  others.  The  chief  command  was  offered  to 
Cicero,  as  the  oldest  Consular ;  but  the  Orator  declined  a  post 
for  which  he  had  neither  aptitude  nor  inclination ;  and  the  com- 
mand was  given  to  Scipio,  who  arrived  at  the  moment.  A  con 
siderable  fleet  was  assembled  at  Corcyra.  Scipio  and  the  rest 
embarked,  with  the  troops  that  they  had  rallied,  and  sailed  for 
Africa,  in  the  hope  of  learning  news  of  their  chief.  Here,  as 
they  were  steering  eastward  along  the  coast,  they  fell  in  with 
Cornelia  and  young  Sextus,  full  of  the  tragic  scene  which  they 
had  just  witnessed  on  the  beach  of  Alexandria.  The  disheartened 
leaders  returned  to  Cyrene,  which  refused  to  admit  any  one 
within  its  walls  except  Cato  and  such  men  as  he  would  be  answer- 
able for.  The  fleet,  therefore,  with  Scipio,  Labienus,  and  the 
greater  part  of  the  troops,  pursued  its  course  across  the  great 
gulf  of  the  Syrtes  to  the  Province  of  Africa,  where  the  Pompeian 
cause  was  upheld  by  Varus  and  Juba.  Cato  also  joined  them 
after  an  arduous  march  across  the  desert,  and  by  the  beginning 
of  next  year  all  the  Pompeian  leaders  were  assembled.  Dis- 
sensions arose  between  Varus  and  Scipio  for  the  command ;  to 
compromise  the  matter  it  was  offered  to  Cato.  The  disinterested 
philosopher  declined  it,  and  persuaded  all  to  acquiesce  in  the 
appointment  of  Scipio.  It  was  then  proposed  to  destroy  the 
city  of  Utica,  as  being  favourable  to  Caesar.  But  Cato  ottered  to 
assume  the  government  of  the  town,  and  be  responsible  for  its 
fidelity,  thus  finally  separating  himself  from  the  active  warfare, 
which  from  the  first  he  had  deprecated  and  disavowed. 

§  3.  In  other  parts  of  the  empire  afliiirs  were  unfavourable  to 
Csesar's  cause.  Pharnaces,  son  of  Mithridates,  was  daily  gather- 
ing strength  in  Pontus.  In  Further  Spain,  the  oppressive  rule 
of  Q.  Cassius  had  excited  a  mutiny  in  the  army.  In  Illyricum, 
Gabinius,  who  had  deserted  Pompey  on  occasion  of  the  flight 
from  Italy,  had  been  ignominiously  worsted  by  the  Pompeian 
leader,  M.  Octavius,  and  had  died  at  Salona.  In  Italy,  Caelius  and 
Milo,  even  before  the  battle  of  Pharsalia,  had  endeavoured  to 
eff'ect  a  new  Revolution  by  promising  an  abolition  of  all  debts ; 
and  though  they  had  failed,  the  project  was  now  renewed  by 
the  profligate  Dolabella.  Two  Legions  at  Capua,  one  of  which 
was  the  favoured  Tenth,  had  risen  in  mutiny  against  their 
officers,  declaring  that  they  had  been  kept  under  their  standards 
long  enough,  and  demanding  their  promised  reward. 

§  4.  We  know  not  when  the  news  of  these  threatening  events 
reached  Caesar's  ears  at  Alexandria.  Early  in  the  year  47  b.c. 
he  had  been  proclaimed  Dictator  for  the  second  time,  and  had 
named  Mark  Antony  Master  of  the  Horse.      This  officer  was 


690  CIVIL  WARS:    SECOND  PERIOD.  Book  V 11 

entrusted  with  the  government  of  Italy.  But  the  presence  of 
the  Dictator  himself  seemed  to  be  imperiously  demanded.  Still 
he  lingered  in  Egypt,  detained  (as  his  enemies  say)  by  the 
blandishments  of  Cleopatra,  or  (as  his  admirers  contend)  by  the 
necessity  of  confirming  Roman  influence  in  that  country.  It 
was  not  for  the  space  of  four  months  after  his  victory  on  the 
Nile  that  he  left  Egypt,  having  remained  there  altogether  for  not 
less  than  three-quarters  of  a  year. 

§  5.  But  when  once  he  had  shaken  off  this  real  or  apparent 
lethargy,  all  his  startling  rapidity  of  action  returned.  He  left 
Egypt  at  the  end  of  May  (47  b.c),  and  marched  northward 
through  Syria  to  crush  Pharnaces.  On  his  way  he  received  the 
congratulations  of  the  Jews,  who  hated  the  memory  of  Pompey, 
and  in  a  few  days  appeared  in  Pontus.  Pharnaces  gave  him 
battle  near  Zela,  where  his  father  Mithridates  had  defeated 
Triarius,  and  the  victory  gained  by  Caesar  was  announced  at 
Rome  in  the  famous  despatch,  "Veni,  vidi,  vici."  Caesar  now 
devoted  a  short  time  to  the  task  of  settling  the  affairs  of  Asia. 
This  province  had  been  attached  to  the  Senatorial  cause  by  the 
mild  rule  of  LucuUus  and  Pompey.  Lately,  however,  the  exac- 
tions of  Metellus  Scipio  had  caused  discontent;  and  Caesar 
found  it  easy  to  win  popularity  by  remitting  a  portion  of  the 
monies  due  to  the  Imperial  Treasury. 

Two  months  after  Caesar  left  Alexandria,  all  parts  of  the  East 
were  again  restored  to  tranquil  submission ;  and  early  in  July 
Rome  beheld  him  enter  her  gates  for  the  third  time  since  he  had 
crossed  the  Rubicon. 

§  6.  Assuming  his  Dictatorial  authority,  he  applied  himself 
with  his  usual  industry  and  rapidity  to  settle  the  most  pressing 
difficulties.  The  disturbances  raised  by  the  promises  of  Dola- 
bella  had  been  quelled  by  Antony ;  and  the  Dictator  attempted 
to  relieve  distress  by  paying  a  year's  house-rent  for  all  poor 
citizens  out  of  the  public  purse. 

The  mutiny  of  the  soldiers  at  Capua  was  more  formidable. 
But  Caesar,  as  was  his  wont,  overcame  the  danger  by  facing  it 
boldly.  He  ordered  the  two  Legions  to  meet  him  in  the 
Campus  Martins  unarmed.  They  had  demanded  their  dis- 
charge, thinking  that  thus  they  would  extort  a  large  donation, 
for  they  considered  themselves  indispensable  to  the  Dictator. 
He  ascended  the  Tribunal,  and  they  expected  a  speech.  "You 
demand  your  discharge,"  he  said,  "I  discharge  you."  A  dead 
silence  followed  these  unexpected  words.  Caesar  resumed  :  "  The 
rewards  which  I  have  promised  you  shall  have,  when  I  return  to 
celebrate  my  Triumph  with  my  other  troops."  Shame  .now 
filled  their  hearts,   mingled  with  vexation  at  the  thought  that 


Chap.  LXVIIL  AFRICAN  WAR.  691 

they  who  had  borne  all  the  heat  and  burden  of  the  day  would  be 
excluded  from  the  Triumph.  They  passionately  besought  him 
to  recall  his  words,  but  he  answered  not.  At  length,  at  the 
earnest  entreaty  of  his  friends,  he  again  rose  to  speak.  "  Qui- 
rites," — he  began,  as  if  they  were  no  longer  soldiers,  but  merely 
private  citizens.  A  burst  of -repentant  sorrow  broke  from  the 
ranks  of  the  veterans ;  but  Caesar  turned  away  as  if  he  were 
about  to  leave  the  Tribunal.  The  cries  rose  still  louder  :  they 
besought  him  to  punish  them  in  any  way,  but  not  to  dismiss 
them  from  his  service.  After  long  delay,  he  said  that  "  he  would 
not  punish  any  one  for  demanding  his  due  ;  but  that  he  could 
not  conceal  his  vexation  that  the  Tenth  Legion  could  not  bide 
his  time.  That  Legion  at  least  he  must  dismiss."  Loud  ap- 
plause followed  from  the  rest ;  the  men  of  the  Tenth  hung  their 
heads  in  shame,  begging  him  to  decimate  them,  and  restore  the 
survivors  to  his  favour ;  and  at  length,  Caesar,  deeming  them 
sufficiently  humbled,  accepted  their  repentance.  The  whole 
scene  is  a  striking  illustration  of  the  cool  and  dauntless  reso- 
lution of  the  man. 

§  7.  Having  completed  all  pressing  business,  he  again  left 
Rome  to  meet  the  Pompeians  in  Africa.  His  troops  assembled 
at  Lilybaeum,  and  about  the  middle  of  October  (47  b.c.)  he  reached 
the  opposite  coast.  But  he  was  too  weak  to  take  the  field,  and 
lay  encamped  waiting  for  reinforcements  till  the  winter  was  far 
spent.  Then  he  advanced  against  the  enemy,  and  on  the  4th  of 
February  (46  b.c.)  encamped  near  Thapsus,  where  was  fought 
the  battle  which  decided  the  fate  of  the  campaign.  After  a 
desperate  conflict,  the  Senatorial  army  was  forced  to  give  way ; 
and  Caesar,  who  always  pressed  an  advantage  to  the  utmost, 
followed  them  to  their  camp.  The  leaders  fled  in  all  directions, 
Varus  and  Labienus  escaped  into  Spain.  Scipio  put  to  .sea,  but 
being  overtaken  by  the  enemy's  ships  sought  death  by  his  own 
hands.  Such  also  was  the  fate  of  Afranius.  Juba  fled  with  old 
Petreius ;  and  these  two  rude  soldiers,  after  a  last  banquet, 
heated  with  wine,  agreed  to  end  their  life  by  single  combat. 
The  Roman  veteran  was  slain  by  the  African  prince,  and  Juba 
sought  death  at  the  hand  of  a  faithful  Slave. 

Meanwhile,  Cato  at  Utica  had  received  news  of  the  ruin  of  his 
party  by  the  battle  of  Thapsus.  He  calmly  resolved  on  self^ 
slaughter,  and  after  a  conversation  with  his  friends  upon  the 
subject,  retired  to  rest.  For  a  moment  he  forgot  his  philosophic 
calm,  when  he  saw  that  his  too  careful  friends  had  removed  his 
sword.  Wrathfully  reproving  them,  he  ordered  it  to  be  brought 
back  and  hung  at  his  bed's  head.  There  he  lay  down,  and 
turned  over  the  pages  of  Plato's  Phaedo  till  he  fell  asleep.     In 


692  CIVIL  WARS :    SECOND   PERIOD.  Book  VII 

the  night  he  awoke,  and  taking  his  sword  from  the  sheath 
thrust  it  into  his  body.  His  watchful  friends  heard  him  utter 
an  involuntary  groan,  and,  entering  the  room,  found  him 
writhing  in  agony.  They  procured  surgical  aid,  and  the  wound 
was  carefully  dressed.  Cato  lay  down  again  apparently  insen- 
sible; but,  as  soon  as  he  was  alone,  he  quietly  removed  the 
dressings,  and  tore  open  the  wound,  so  that  his  bowels  broke 
out,  and  after  no  long  time  he  breathed  his  last.  The  Romans, 
one  and  all,  even  Cicero,  admired  his  conduct.  It  is  true  that 
the  Stoics,  whose  doctrines  Cato  professed,  recommended  the 
endurance  of  all  evils  as  indifferent  to  a  philosopher.  But  Cato 
was  still  more  of  a  Roman  than  a  Stoic :  life  had  become  intole- 
rable to  him ;  and  while  Christian  judgment  must  condemn  his 
impatience,  it  must  be  confessed  that  from  his  point  of  view  the 
act  was  at  least  excusable. 

§  8.  After  this  miserable  end  of  the  most  upright  among  the 
Senatorial  Chiefs,  Caesar  busied  himself  in  regulating  the  coun- 
tries he  had  conquered.  Juba's  kingdom  of  Numidia  he  formed 
into  a  new  Province,  and  gave  it  into  the  care  of  the  historian 
Sallust,  who  with  others  had  been  expelled  from  the  Senate  in 
the  year  50  b.c,  professedly  because  of  his  profligate  manners, 
but  really  because  of  his  devoted  attachment  to  Caesar's  cause. 
His  subsequent  life  justified  both  the  real  and  the  alleged  cause. 
He  proved  an  oppressive  ruler,  and  his  luxurious  habits  were 
conspicuous  even  in  that  age.  His  terse  and  epigrammatic 
sentences  embalmed  in  two  immortal  works  the  merits  of 
Marius  and  of  Caesar,  and  the  vices  and  errors  of  their  Sena- 
torial antagonists. 

§  9.  Caesar  returned  to  Rome  for  the  fourth  time  since  the 
Civil  War  broke  out,  about  the  end  of  May,  46  b.c.  At  length 
he  had*  found  time  to  celebrate  the  Triumphs  which  he  had 
earned  since  his  first  Consulship,  and  to  devote  his  attention  to 
those  internal  reforms,  which  long  years  of  faction  and  anarchy 
had  made  necessary. 

His  Triumphs  were  four  in  number,  over  Gaul,  Egypt,  Pon- 
tus,  and  Numidia ; — for  no  mention  was  made  of  the  Civil  War. 
A  Roman  could  not  triumph  over  fellow-citizens;  therefore  the 
victories  of  Ilerda  and  Pharsalia  were  not  celebrated  by  public 
honours ;  nor  would  Thapsus  have  been  mentioned,  had  not 
Juba  been  among  the  foes.  These  Triumphs  were  made 
attractive  by  splendid  gladiatorial  shows  and  combats  of  wild 
beasts.  But  what  gave  them  more  real  splendour'  was  the 
announcement  of  a  general  amnesty  for  all  the  opponents  of  thb 
Dictator.  The  memory  of  the  Marian  Massacre  and  of  tho 
Syllau  Proscription  was  still  present  to  many  minds.     Domitius 


Chap.  LXVIIL  C  JlSAR  AT   ROME.  603 

Ahenobarbus  and  the  Senatorial  leaders  had  vowed  vengeance 
against  all  who  took  part  with  Caesar,  or  even  who  remained 
neutral.  Men  could  not  rid  themselves  of  the  belief  that  when 
all  fear  of  the  enemy  had  ceased  the  conqueror  would  glut  his 
vengeance  by  a  hecatomb.  The  certainty  that  no  more  blood 
would  flow  was  so  much  the  more  grateful. 

After  Caesar's  Triumphs  all  his  soldiers  were  gratified  by  a  mag- 
nificent donation,  and  every  poor  citizen  received  a  present  both 
of  grain  and  money.  The  veterans  also  at  length  received  their 
rewards  in  lands,  which  were  either  public  property  or  were 
duly  purchased  with  public  money.  But  no  Julian  Colonies 
were  planted  on  lands  wrested  by  force  from  citizens.  Here 
also  the  example  of  Sylla,  who  confiscated  private  property  to 
reward  his  troops,  was  carefully  avoided. 

§  10.  After  his  Triumph  every  kind  of  honour  was  bestowed 
upon  Caesar.  He  was  named  Dictator  for  the  third  time,  and 
for  the  space  of  ten  years.  He  was  also  invested  with  Censorial 
authority  for  three  years;  and  in  virtue  of  these  combined 
offices  he  became  absolute  master  of  the  Empire.  For  several 
months  he  remained  at  Rome  busily  occupied  with  measures 
intended  to  remedy  the  evil  effects  of  the  long  continued  civil 
discords  and  to  secure  order  for  the  future.  But  in  the  middle 
of  his  work  he  was  compelled  to  quit  Rome  by  the  call  of 
another  war.  It  will  be  well  to  dispose  of  this  before  we  give 
a  brief  summary  of  his  great  legislative  measures. 

Spain  was  the  Province  that  required  his  presence.  There 
the  two  sons  of  Pompey,  with  Labienus  and  Varus,  had  rallied 
the  scanty  relics  of  the  African  army.  The  Province  was 
already  in  a  state  of  revolt  against  Caesar.  Q.  Cassius, — whom 
Caesar  had  left  as  Governor, — had  been  expelled  by  his  own 
Legions.  Bocchus,  King  of  Mauritania,  lent  aid,  and  the  mal- 
contents in  Spain  were  able  to  present  a  formidable  front. 
Caesar  arrived  in  Spain  late  in  September,  (46  b.c),  after  a 
journey  of  extraordinary  rapidity,  and  found  that  young  Cn. 
Pompey  had  concentrated  his  forces  near  Corduba  (Cordova). 
But  the  Dictator  fell  sick,  and  it  was  not  till  the  first  month  of 
the  next  year  that  he  was  able  to  take  the  field.  The  enemy 
cautiously  declined  a  battle,  but  were  obliged  to  retreat  towards 
the  coast  of  the  Mediterranean.  Caesar  found  them  in  a  strong 
position  near  Munda,  a  small  town  about  25  miles  west  of 
Malaga;  and  he  determined  on  attacking  notwithstanding  the 
difficulties  of  the  ground.  Success  was  for  some  time  doubtful. 
So  desperate  was  the  conflict,  that  Caesar  is  reported  to  have 
said  : — "  On  other  occasions  I  have  fought  for  victory,  here  I 
fought  for   life."     At  length   the  enemy  gave  way.     More  than 


(394  CIVIL  WARS :    SECOND   PERIOD.  Book  VII 

30,000  men  fell,  among  them  Varus  and  Labienus.  Cn.  Pompey 
fled  to  the  coast.  Here  as  he  was  getting  on  board  a  small  boat 
he  entangled  his  foot  in  a  rope;  and  a  friend  endeavouring  to 
cut  away  the  rope  struck  the  foot  instead.  The  unfortunate 
young  man  landed  again,  hoping  to  lie  hid  till  his  wound  was 
healed.  Finding  his  lurking-place  discovered  he  limped  wearily 
up  a  mountain  path,  but  was  soon  overtaken  and  slain.  Sext. 
Pompey  escaped  into  Northern  Si^in,  whence  he  re-appeared  at 
a  later  time  to  vex  the  peace  oi'tne  Roman  world.  So  important 
did  Caesar  consider  it  to  quench  the  last  sparks  of  disaffection 
in  a  Province  which  for  several  years  had  been  under  Pompey's 
government  that  he  did  not  return  to  Rome  till  late  in  Septem- 
ber (45  B.C.),  having  been  absent  from  the  capital  nearly  a  year. 
On  this  occasion  he  was  less  scrupulous  than  before,  for  he  cele- 
brated a  Fifth  Triumph  in  honour  of  his  successes  in  Spain, 
though  these  were  as  much  won  over  Roman  Citizens  as  his  former 
victories  in  that  same  country,  or  his  crowning  glory  of  Pharsalia. 

§  11.  From  his  last  Triumph  to  his  death  was  somewhat  more 
than  five  months  (October  45  b.c. — March  44  b.c):  from  his 
Quadruple  Triumph  to  the  Spanish  Campaign  was  little  more 
than  four  months  (June — September  46  b.c).  Into  these  two 
brief  periods  were  compressed  most  of  the  Laws  which  bear  his 
name,  and  of  which  we  will  now  give  a  brief  account.  The 
evils  which  he  endeavoured  to  remedy  were  of  old  standing. 
His  long  residence  at  Rome,  and  busy  engagement  in  all  politi- 
cal matters  from  early  youth  to  the  close  of  his  Consulship, 
made  him  familiar  with  every  sore  place,  and  with  all  the  pro- 
posed remedies.  His  own  clear  judgment,  his  habits  of  rapid 
decision,  and  the  unlimited  power  which  he  held,  made  it  easier 
for  him  to  legislate  than  for  others  to  advise. 

§  12.  The  long  wars,  and  the  liberality  with  which  he  had 
rewarded  his  Soldiers  and  the  People  at  his  Triumphs,  had 
reduced  the  Treasury  to  a  low  ebb.  He  began  by  revising  the 
Register  of  Citizens,  principally  for  the  purpose  of  abridging  the 
list  of  those  who  were  receiving  monthly  donations  of  grain  from 
the  Treasury.  Numbers  of  foreigners  had  been  irregularly 
placed  on  the  list,  and  he  was  able  to  reduce  the  list  of  State- 
paupers  resident  in  or  near  Rome  from  320,000  to  less  than  half 
that  number.*  The  Treasury  felt  an  immediate  and  a  perma- 
nent relief. 

§  13.  But  though,  for  this  purpose,   Caesar  made  severe  dis- 
tinctions between  Roman  citizens  and  the  foreign  subjects  of  the 
Republic,  no   ruler   ever  showed  himself  so  much  alive  to  the 
claims  of  all  classes  of  her  subjects.     Other  popi^^-^r  leaders  had 
*  See  Chapt.  liu.  §  8  (2). 


Chap.  LXVIII  CESAR'S   REFORMS.  695 

advocated  the  cause  of  the  Italians,  and  all  free  people  of  the 
Peninsula  had  in  the  last  thirty  years  been  made  Romans :  but 
no  one  had  as  yet  shown  interest  in  the  claims  of  the  Provincial 
subjects  of  Rome,  except  Sertorius,  and  his  object  was  rather  a 
transference  of  power  from  Italians  to  Spaniards,  than  an  incor- 
poration of  Spain  with  Italy.  Caesar  was  the  first  acknowledged 
ruler  of  the  Roman  State  who  extended  his  view  beyond  tho 
politics  of  the  City  and  took  a  really  Imperial  survey  of  the  vast 
dominions  subject  to  her  sway.  Towards  those  who  were  at 
war  with  Rome  he  was  as  relentless  as  the  sternest  Roman  of 
them  all ;  but  no  one  so  well  as  he  knew  how  "  to  spare  the  sub- 
missive :"  hardly  any  one  except  himself  felt  pleasure  in  sparing. 
All  the  Cities  of  Transpadane  Gaul,  already  Latin,  were  raised 
to  the  Roman  Franchise.  The  same  high  privilege  was  bestowed 
on  many  Communities  of  Transalpine  Gaul  and  Spain.  The 
Gallic  Legion  which  he  had  raised,  called  Alauda  from  the  lark 
which  was  the  emblem  on  their  arms,  was  rewarded  for  its 
services  by  the  same  gift.  All  scientific  men,  of  whatever  origin, 
were  to  be  allowed  to  claim  the  Roman  Franchise.  After  his 
death  a  plan  was  found  among  his  papers  for  raising  the  Sicilian 
Communities  to  the  rank  of  Latin  Citizens. 

§  14.  The  Imperial  character  of  the  great  Dictator's  govern- 
ment is  strongly  shown  by  his  unfulfilled  projects.  Among 
these  was  the  draining  of  the  Pontine  marshes,  the  opening  of 
Lakes  Lucrinus  and  Avernus  to  form  a  harbour,  a  complete  sur- 
vey and  map  of  the  whole  Empire, — plans  afterwards  executed 
by  Agrippa,  the  minister  of  Augustus.  Another  and  more 
memorable  design  was  that  of  a  Code  of  Laws  embodying  and 
organising  the  scattered  judgments  and  precedents  which  at  that 
time  regulated  the  Courts.  It  was  several  centuries  before  this 
great  work  was  accomplished,  by  which  Roman  Law  became  the 
Law  of  civilised  Europe. 

§  15.  The  liberal  tendency  of  the  Dictator's  mind  was  shown 
by  the  manner  in  which  he  supplied  the  great  gaps  which  the 
Civil  War  had  made  in  the  benches  of  the  Senate.  Of  late  years 
the  number  of  that  Assembly  had  been  increased  from  its  ori- 
ginal 300.  Cicero  on  one  occasion  mentions  415  Members  taking 
part  in  the  votes,  and  many  of  course  were  absent.  But  Caesar 
raised  it  to  900,  thus  probably  doubling  the  largest  number 
that  had  ever  been  counted  in  its  ranks.  Many  of  the  new 
Senators  were  fortunate  soldiers  who  had  sewed  him  well.  In 
raising  such  men  to  Senatorial  rank  he  followed  the  example 
of  Sylla.  Many  also  were  enfranchised  Citizens  of  the  towns  of 
Cisalpine  Gaul.  The  old  Citizens  were  indignant  at  this  invasion 
of  barbarians.     "  The.  Gauls,"  said  one  wit,  "  had  exchanged  th« 


69(5  CIVIL   WARS:   SECOND   PERIOD.  Book  VII 

trews  fQr^^i*reto^^aTid_  had  followed  the  conqueror's  triumphal 
car  yjtothe  Senate?^  ^"ft  were  a  good  deed,"  said  another, 
"""*o  one  would  show  the  new  Senators  the  way  to  the  House." 

The  curule  offices,  however,  were  still  conferred  on  men  of 
Italian  birth.  The  first  foreigner  who  reached  the  Consulship 
was  Balbus,  a  Spaniard  of  Gades,  the  friend  of  Caesar  and  of 
Cicero ;  but  this  was  four  years  after  the  Dictator's  death. 

§  16.  To  revive  a  military  population  in  Italy  was  not  so  much 
6he  object  of  Caesar,  as  that  of  former  leaders  of  the  People.  His 
veterans  received  few  assignments  of  land  in  Italy.  The  princi- 
pal settlements  by  which  he  enriched  them  were  in  the  Pro- 
vinces. Corinth  and  Carthage  were  made  Military  Colonies,  and 
regained  somewhat  of  their  ancient  splendour  and  renown. 

§  17.  He  endeavoured  to  restore  the  wasted  population  of 
Italy  by  more  peaceful  methods.  The  marriage-tie,  which  had 
become  exceedingly  lax  in  these  profligate  times,  was  encouraged 
by  somewhat  singular  means.  A  married  matron  was  allowed 
to  use  more  ornaments  and  more  costly  carriages  than  the 
sumptuary  Laws  of  Rome  permitted  to  women  generally.  A 
married  man  who  had  three  children  born  in  lawful  wedlock  at 
Rome,  or  four  born  in  Italy,  or  five  born  in  the  Provinces,  en- 
joyed freedom  from  certain  duties  and  charges. 

§  18.  The  great  abuse  of  Slave-labour  was  difficult  to  correct. 
It  was  attempted  to  apply  remedies  familiar  to  despotic  govern- 
ments. An  Ordinance  was  issued  that  no  Citizens  between 
twenty  and  ^orty  years  of  age  should  be  absent  from  Italy  for 
more  than  tnree  years.  An  ancient  enactment  was  revived  that 
on  all  estates  at  least  one-third  of  the  labourers  should  be  free 
men.     No  doubt  these  measures  were  of  little  eff'ect. 

§  19.  Caesar's  great  designs  for  the  improvement  of  the  City 
was  shown  by  several  facts.  Under  his  patronage  the  first  pub- 
lic library  was  opened  at  Rome  by  his  friend  C.  Asinius  PoUio, 
famous  as  a  poet,  and  in  later  years  as  the  historian  of  the  Civil 
War.  For  the  transaction  of  public  business,  he  erected  the 
tnagnificent  building  called  the  Basilica  Julia,  of  which  we  v/ill 
say  a  few  words  in  a  later  page. 

§  20.  But  of  all  his  acts,  that  by  which  his  name  is  best  re- 
membered is  the  Reform  of  the  Calendar.  It  has  been  before 
stated  that  the  Roman  year  had  hitherto  consisted  of  355  days, 
with  a  month  of  30  days  intercalated  every  third  year,  so  that 
the  average  length  of  the  year  was  365  days.*  If  the  intercala- 
tions had  been  regularly  made,  the  Romans  would  have  lost 
nearly  one  day  in  every  four  years ;  since  the  real  length  of  the 
solar  year  is  about  365|  days.  But  the  business  was  so  care- 
*  Chapt.  i.  §  17. 


Chap.  LXVIII.  CESAR'S   REFORMS.  69^ 

lessly  executed,  that  the  difference  between  the  civil  year  and 
the  solar  year  sometimes  amounted  to  several  months. 

Caesar  called  in  the  aid  of  Greek  astronomers,  to  rectify  the 
present  error,  and  prevent  error  for  the  future.  It  was  deter- 
mined to  make  the  1st  of  January  of  the  Roman  year  709  u.c. 
coincide  with  the  1st  of  January  of  the  Solar  year  which  we  call 
45  B.C.  But  it  was  calculated  that  this  1st  of  January  of  the 
year  709  u.c.  would  be  67  days  in  advance  of  the  true  time; 
or,  in  other  words,  would  concur  not  with  the  1st  of  January 
45  B.C.,  but  with  the  22nd  of  October  46  b.c.  And  therefore 
two  intercalary  months,  making  together  67  days,  were  inserted 
between  the  last  day  of  November  and  the  1st  of  December  of 
the  year  708.  An  intercalary  month  of  23  days  had  already  been 
added  to  February  of  that  year,  according  to  the  old  method. 
Therefore,  on  the  whole,  the  Roman  year  708  consisted  in  all  of 
the  prodigious  number  of  445  days.*  It  was  scofRngly  called 
"The  Year  of  Confusion."  More  justly  should  it  be  named,  as 
Macrobius  observes,  "  The  last  Year  of  Confusion." 

Thus  the  past  error  was  corrected,  and  the  first  of  January, 
709  u.c.  became  the  same  with  the  1st  of  January  45  b.c. 

To  prevent  future  errors,  the  year  was  extended  from  355  to 
365  days,  each  month  being  lengthened,  except  February,  ac- 
cording to  the  rule  which  we  still  observe.  But  as  the  solar  year 
consists  of  about  365|  days,  it  is  manifest  that  it  was  necessary 
to  add  one  day  in  every  four  years,  and  this  was  done  at  the  end 
of  February,  as  at  present  in  our  Leap  Year. 

Such  was  the  famous  Julian  Calendar,  which,  with  a  slight 
alteration,  continues  to  date  every  transaction  and  every  letter 
of  the  present  day.f 

§  21.  The  constant  occupation  required  for  these  measures  of 
reform,  all  executed  in  the  space  of  nine  or  ten  months,  neces- 
sarily absorbed  the  chief  part  of  the  Dictator's  day,  and  pre- 
vented the  free  access  which  great  men  at  Rome  usually  accorded 

*  /.  e.  355  +  23  +  67  =  445. 

f  The  addition  of  one  day  in  every  four  years  would  be  correct,  if  the  solar 
year  consisted  exactly  of  365i  days,  or  365  days  6  hours.  In  fact,  it  consists 
of  365  days,  5  hours,  47  minutes,  51|  seconds,  so  that  the  Julian  year  is 
longer  than  the  true  solar  year  by  about  1 1  minutes.  Caesar's  astronomers 
knew  this  error,  but  neglected  it.  Accordingly  in  the  year  1582  a.d.  the 
beginning  of  the  Julian  year  was  about  13  days  behind  the  true  time.  Pope 
Gregory  XIIL  shortened  that  year  by  10  days,  still  leaving  the  year  3  days 
behind  the  true  time ;  and  to  prevent  error  for  the  future,  ordered  the  addi- 
tional day  of  February  to  be  omitted  three  times  in  400  years.  Protestant 
England  refused  to  adopt  this  reform  till  the  year  1752  a.d.,  when  11  days 
"were  dropped  between  the  2nd  and  14th  of  September,  which  gave  rise  to  the 
Tulgar  cry, — "  Give  us  back  our  11  days."  Russia  still  keeps  the  Old  Style, 
and  her  reckoning  is  now  12  days  behind  that  of  the  rest  of  Europe. 

30 


698  CIVIL  WARS:    SECOND   PERIOD.  Book  VII 

to  suitors  and  visitors.  Caesar  lamented  this.  The  true  reason 
for  his  seclusion  was  not  understood,  and  the  fact  diminished  his 
popularity.  Yet  his  affability  was  the  same  as  ever,  and  a  letter 
of  Cicero,  in  which  he  describes  a  visit  he  received  from  the  con- 
queror in  his  villa  at  Puteoli,  leaves  a  pleasing  impression  of  both 
host  and  guest.*  Cicero  indeed  had  fully  bowed  to  circum- 
stances ;  and  into  his  speeches  for  the  Pompeians,  M.  Marcellus 
and  Q.  Ligarius,  he  introduced  compliments  to  Caesar  too  fulsome 
to  be  genuine.  It  was  in  his  enforced  retirement  from  public 
life  which  followed  Pharsalia,  that  he  composed  some  of  those 
pleasing  Dialogues  which  we  still  read.f  Both  to  him  and  to  every 
other  Senatorial  Chief  Caesar  not  only  showed  pardon,  but  favour. 
§  22.  Yet  the  remnant  of  the  Nobles  loved  him  not.  And 
with  the  People  at  large  he  suffered  still  more,  from  a  belief  that 
he  wished  to  be  made  King.  On  his  return  from  Spain,  he  had 
been  named  Dictator  and  Imperator  for  life.  His  head  had  for 
some  time  been  placed  on  the  money  of  the  Republic,  a  regal 
honour  conceded  ^o  none  before  him.  Quintilis,  the  filth  month 
of  the  Calendar,  received  from  him  the  name  which  it  still  bears. 
The  Senate  took  an  oath  to  guard  the  safety  of  his  person.  He 
was  honoured  with  sacrifices,  and  honours  hitherto  reserved  for 
the  Gods.  But  Caesar  was  not  satisfied.  He  was  often  heard 
to  quote  the  sentiment  of  Euripides,  that,  "  if  any  violation  of 
law  is  excusable,  it  is  excusable  for  the  sake  of  gaining  sove- 
reign power  "J;  It  was  no  doubt  to  ascertain  the  popular  sen- 
timents that  various  propositions  were  made  towards  an 
assumption  of  the  title  of  King.  His  statues  in  the  Forum 
were  found  crowned  with  a  diadem ;  but  two  of  the  Tribunes 
tore  it  off,  and  the  mob  applauded.  On  the  26th  of  January, 
at  the  Great  Latin  Festival  on  the  Alban  Mount,  voices  in  the 
crowd  saluted  him  as  King;  but  mutterings  of  discontent 
reached  his  ear,  and  he  promptly  said :  "I  am  no  King,  but 
Caesar."  The  final  attempt  was  made  at  the  Lupercalia  on  the 
15th  of  February.  Antony,  in  the  character  of  one  of  the 
Priests  of  Pan,  approached  the  Dictator  as  he  sat  presiding  in 
his  golden  chair,  and  offered  him  an  embroidered  band,  like  the 
"diadem"  of  Oriental  Sovereigns.  The  applause  which  followed 
was  partial,  and  the  Dictator  put  the  offered  gift  aside.  Then 
a  burst  of  genuine  cheering  greeted  him,  which  waxed  louder 
still  when  he  rejected  it  a  second  time.  Old  traditional  feeling 
was  too  strong   at   Rome   even   for   Caesar's   daring   temper   to 


*  Epist.  ad  Att.  xiii.  52. 

f  The  Brutus,  Orator  ad  M.  Brutum,  Partitiones  Oratoriat,  Academica, 
Be  Finibus  honorum  et  malorum.  \  Cicero  de  Off.  iii.  21. 


Chap.  LXVIII.        JEALOUSY  AGAINST  C^SAR.  699 

brave  it.  The  People  would  submit  to  the  despotic  rule  of  a 
Dictator,  but  would  not  have  a  King. 

Disappointed  no  doubt  he  was,  and  he  determined  to  reign 
abroad,  if  he  could  not  be  King  at  Rome.  A  large  camp  had 
been  formed  at  ApoUonia  in  Illyricum;  in  it  was  present  a  young 
man,  the  declared  heir  of  the  Dictator.  This  was  C.  Octavius, 
son  of  his  niece  Atia,  and  therefore  his  grand  nephew.  He  was 
born,  as  we  have  noted,  in  the  memorable  year  of  Catiline's 
conspiracy,  and  was  now  in  his  nineteenth  year.  From  the  time 
that  he  had  assumed  the  garb  of  manhood  his  health  had  been 
too  delicate  for  military  service.  Notwithstanding  this,  he  had 
ventured  to  demand  the  Mastership  of  the  Horse  from  his  uncle. 
But  he  was  quietly  refused,  and  sent  to  take  his  first  lessons  in 
the  art  of  war  at  Apollonia,  where  a  large  and  well-equipped 
army  had  been  assembled.  This  powerful  force  was  destined 
to  recover  the  Eagles  of  Crassus,  which  were  still  retained  as 
trophies  by  the  Parthians.  A  Sibylline  oracle  being  produced, 
saying,  "  that  none  but  a  King  could  conquer  Parthia,"  a  Decree 
was  moved  in  the  Senate,  by  which  Caesar  was  to  be  enabled  to 
assume  the  style  of  King,  not  at  Rome,  but  in  the  Provinces. 
But  events  prevented  this  Decree  from  being  carried  into  effect. 

§  23.  Meanwhile  other  causes  of  discontent  had  been  agitating 
various  classes  at  Rome.  Cleopatra  appeared  at  Rome  with  her 
boy  Caesarion,  whom  she  declared  to  be  her  son  by  Ca3sar.  It 
was  her  ambition  to  be  acknowledged  as  his  wife,  and  to  obtain 
the  Dictator's  inheritance  for  the  boy, — a  thing  hateful  even  to 
the  degenerate  Romans  of  that  day.  The  more  fiery  partisans 
of  Caesar  disapproved  of  his  clemency;  the  more  prodigal  sort 
were  angry  at  his  regulations  for  securing  the  Provincials  from 
oppression.  The  Populace  of  the  City  complained, — the  genuine 
Romans  at  seeing  favour  extended  to  Provincials,  those  of  foreign 
origin  because  they  had  been  excluded  from  the  corn-bounty. 
Caesar  no  doubt  was  eager  to  return  to  his  army,  and  escape 
from  the  increasing  difficulties  which  beset  his  civil  government. 
But  as  soon  as  he  joined  the  army,  he  would  assume  monarchical 
power,  in  virtue  of  the  late  Decree ;  and  this  consideration  urged 
the  discontented  to  a  plot  against  his  life. 

§  24.  The  difficulty  was  to  find  a  leader.  At  length  M.  Junius 
Brutus  accepted  the  post  of  danger.  This  young  man,  a  nephew 
of  Cato,  had  taken  his  uncle  as  an  example  for  his  public  life. 
But  he  was  fonder  of  speculation  than  of  action.  Ilis  habits 
were  reserved,  rather  those  of  a  student  than  a  statesman.  He 
had  reluctantly  joined  the  cause  of  Pompey,  for  he  could  ill  for- 
get that  it  was  by  Pompey  that  his  father  had  been  put  to  death 
in  cold  blood.     After  Pharsalia,  he  was  treated  by  Caesar  almost 


700  CIVIL  WARS :    SECOIfD   PERIOD.  Book  VIL 

like  a  son.  In  the  present  year  he  had  been  proclaimed  Praetor 
of  the  City,  with  the  promise  of  the  Consulship.  But  the  dis- 
contented remnants  of  the  Senatorial  party  assailed  him  with 
constant  reproaches.  The  name  of  Brutus,  dear  to  all  Roman 
patriots,  was  made  a  rebuke  to  him.  "  His  ancestor  expelled  the 
Tarquins;  could  he  sit  quietly  under  a  King's  rule?"  At  the 
foot  of  the  statue  of  that  ancestor,  or  on  his  own  praetorian  tri- 
bunal, notes  were  placed,  containing  phrases  such  as  these: — 
"  Thou  art  not  Brutus :  would  thou  wert."  "  Brutus,  thou 
sleepest."  "Awake,  Brutus."  Gradually  he  was  brought  to 
think  that  it  was  his  duty  as  a  patriot  to  put  an  end  to  Caesar's 
rule  even  by  taking  his  life.  The  most  notable  of  those  who 
arrayed  themselves  under  him  was  Cassius.  This  man's  mo- 
tive is  unknown.  He  had  never  taken  much  part  in  politics; 
he  had  made  submission  to  the  conqueror,  and  had  been  re- 
ceived with  marked  favour.  Some  personal  reason  probably 
actuated  his  unquiet  spirit.  More  than  sixty  persons  were 
in  the  secret,  most  of  them,  like  Brutus  and  Cassius,  under 
personal  obligations  to  the  Dictator.  P.  Servilius  Casca  was  by 
his  grace  Tribune  of  the  Plebs.  L.  Tillius  Cimber  was  promised 
the  government  of  Bithynia.  Dec.  Brutus,  one  of  his  old  Galli  • 
officers,  was  Praetor-elect,  and  was  to  be  gratified  with  the  rich 
Province  of  Cisalpine  Gaul.  C.  Trebonius,  another  trusted  officer, 
had  received  every  favour  which  the  Dictator  could  bestow ;  he 
had  just  laid  down  the  Consulship,  and  was  on  the  eve  of  de- 
parture for  the  government  of  Asia.  Q.  Ligarius  had  lately 
accepted  a  pardon  from  the  Dictator,  and  rose  from  a  sick  bed 
to  join  the  conspirators. 

§  25.  A  meeting  of  the  Senate  was  called  for  the  Ides  of  March, 
at  which  Caesar  was  to  be  present.  This  was  the  day  appointed 
for  the  murder.  The  secret  had  oozed  out.  Many  persons 
warned  Caesar  that  some  danger  was  impending.  A  Greek  sooth- 
sayer told  him  of  the  very  day.  On  the  morning  of  the  Ides 
his  wife  arose  so  disturbed  by  dreams,  that  she  persuaded  him 
to  relinquish  his  purpose  of  presiding  in  the  Senate,  and  he  sent 
Antony  in  his  stead. 

This  change  of  purpose  was  reported  after  the  House  was 
formed.  The  conspirators  were  in  despair.  Dec.  Brutus  at  once 
went  to  Caesar,  told  him  that  the  Fathers  were  only  waiting  to 
confer  upon  him  the  sovereign  power  which  he  desired,  and 
begged  him  not  to  listen  to  auguries  and  dreams.  Caesar  was 
persuaded  to  change  his  purpose,  and  was  carried  forth  in  his 
litter.  On  his  way,  a  slave  who  had  discovered  the  conspiracy 
tried  to  attract  his  notice,  but  was  unable  to  reach  him  for  the 
crowd.     A  Greek  Philosopher,  named  Artemidorus,  succeded  in 


Chap.  LXVIII.        ASSASSINATION^  OF   CAESAR.  101 

putting  a  roll  of  paper  into  liis  hand,  containing  full  information 
of  the  conspiracy ;  but  Caesar,  supposing  it  to  be  a  petition,  laid 
it  by  his  side  for  a  more  convenient  season.  Meanwhile  the 
conspirators  had  reason  to  think  that  their  plot  had  been  dis- 
covered. A  friend  came  up  to  Casca  and  said,  "Ah,  Casca, 
Brutus  has  told  me  your  secret !"  The  conspirator  started, 
but  was  relieved  by  the  next  sentence :  "  Where  will  you  find 
money  for  the  expenses  of  the  vEdileship  ?"  More  serious  alarm 
was  felt  when  Popillius  Laenas  remarked  to  Brutus  and  Cassius, 
"You  have  my  good  wishes;  but  what  you  do,  do  quickly," — 
especially  when  the  same  Senator  stepped  up  to  Caesar  on  his 
entering  the  House,  and  began  whispering  in  his  ear.  So  terri- 
fied was  Cassius,  that  he  thought  of  stabbing  himself  instead  of 
Ctesar,  till  Brutus  quietly  observed  that  tlie  gestures  of  Popillius 
indicated  that  he  was  asking  a  favour,  not  revealing  a  fatal  secret. 
Caesar  took  his  seat  without  further  delay. 

As  was  agreed,  Cimber  presented  a  petition,  praying  for  his 
brother's  recall  from  banishment ;  and  all  the  conspirators  pressed 
round  the  Dictator,  urging  his  favourable  answer.  Displeased  at 
their  importunity,  Caesar  attempted  to  rise.  At  that  moment, 
Cimber  seized  the  lappet  of  his  robe,  and  pulled  him  down ;  and 
immediately  Casca  struck  him  from  the  side,  but  inflicted  only  a 
slight  wound.  Then  all  drew  their  daggers  and  assailed  him. 
Cajsar  for  a  time  defended  himself  with  the  gown  folded  over  his 
left  arm,  and  the  sharp-pointed  stile  which  he  held  in  his  right 
hand  for  writing  on  the  wax  of  his  tablets.  But  when  he  saw 
Brutus  among  the  assassins,  he  exclaimed,  "  You  too,  Brutus !" 
and  covering  his  face  with  his  gown  oft'ered  no  further  resist- 
ance. In  their  eagerness,  some  blows  intended  for  their  victim 
fell  upon  themselves.  But  enough  reached  Caesar  to  do  the 
bloody  work.  Pierced  by  three~and-twenty  wounds,  he  fell  at 
the  base  of  Pompey's  statue,  which'  had  been  removed  after 
Pharsalia  by  Antony,  but  had  been  restored  by  the  magnanimity 
of  Caesar. 

§  26.  IThus  died  "  the  foremost  man  of  all  the  world,"  a  man 
who  failed  in  nothing  that  he  attempted.  He  might,  Cicero 
thought,  have  been  a  great  orator ;  his  Commentaries  remain  to 
prove  that  he  was  a  great  wTiter.  As  a  general  he  had  few 
superiors,  as  a  statesman  and  politician  no  equal.  That  which 
stamps  him  as  a  man  of  true  greatness,  is  the  entire  absence  of 
vanity  and  self-conceit  from  his  character.  He  paid,  indeed, 
great  attention  to  his  personal  appearance,  even  when  his  hard  life 
and  unremitting  activity  had  brought  on  fits  of  an  epileptic  nature, 
and  left  him  with  that  meacrre  visao-e  which  is  made  familiar  to 
us  froni  his  coins.     Even  then  he  w^3  seduloug  in  arranging  his 


702 


CIVIL   WARS:    SECOND   PERIOD. 


Book  VII 


robes,  and  was  pleased  to  have  the  privilege  of  wearing  a  laurel 
crown  to  hide  the  scantiness  of  his  hair.  But  these  were  foibles 
too  trifling  to  be  taken  as  symptoms  of  real  vanity.  His  mo- 
rality in  domestic  life  was  not  better  or  worse  than  commonly 
prevailed  in  those  licentious  days.  He  indulged  in  profligate 
amours  freely  and  without  scruple.  But  public  opinion  re- 
proached him  not  for  this.  He  seldom,  if  ever,  allowed  pleasure 
to  interfere  with  business,  and  here  his  character  forms  a  notable 
contrast  to  that  of  Sylla.  But  Sylla  loved  pleasure  more  than 
power  ;  Caesar  valued  power  above  all  other  things.  As  a  gene- 
ral, Caesar  was  probably  no  less  inferior  to  Pompey  than  Sylla  to 
Marius.  Yet  his  successes  in  war,  achieved  by  a  man  who,  in 
his  forty-ninth  year,  had  hardly  seen  a  camp,  add  to  our  con- 
viction of  his  real  genius.  Those  successes  were  due  not  so 
much  to  scientific  manoeuvres,  as  to  rapid  audacity  of  movement 
and  mastery  over  the  wills  of  men.  That  he  caused  the  death 
or  captivity  of  more  than  a  million  of  Gauls,  to  provide  treasure 
and  form  an  army  for  his  political  purposes,  is  shocking  to  us ; 
but  it  was  not  so  to  Roman  moralists.  His  political  career  was 
troubled  by  no  scruples ;  to  gain  his  end  he  was  careless  of  the 
means.  But  before  we  judge  him  severely,  we  must  remember 
the  manner  in  which  the  Marian  party  had  been  trampled  under 
foot  by  Sylla  and  the  Senate.  If,  however,  the  mode  in  which 
he  rose  to  power  was  questionable,  the  mode  in  which  he  exer- 
cised it  was  admirable.  The  indulgence  with  which  Caesar  spared 
the  lives  of  his  opponents,  and  received  them  into  favour,  was 
peculiarly  his  own.  There  seemed  no  escape  from  anarchy  except 
by  submission  to  the  strong  domination  of  one  capable  man. 
The  efl'ect  of  Caesar's  fall  was  to  cause  a  renewal  of  bloodshed  for 
another  half  generation ;  and  then  his  work  was  finished  by  a  far 
less  generous  ruler.  Those  who  slew  Caesar  were  guilty  of  a 
great  crime,  and  a  still  greater  blunder. 


Coins  struck  upon  the  death  of  CjEsa»- 


Coins  of  the  Triumvirs. 


CHAPTER    LXIX. 


FROM    THE    DEATH    OF    C^SAR    TO    THE    BATTLE    OF    PHILIPPI. 
(44—42   B.C.) 

§  1.  Terror  of  Senate  and  People :  Conspirators  retire  to  Capitol.  §  2.  Antony 
takes  possession  of  Caesar's  money  and  papers.  §  3.  Brutus  addresses 
People  in  Forum :  Conspirators  again  retire  to  Capitol.  §  4,  Negociation 
with  Antony :  confirmation  of  Caesar's  Acts.  §  5.  Caesar's  WUl :  Fimeral 
in  Forum :  Riot.  §  6.  Temporising  policy  of  Antony :  he  abolishes  Dic- 
tatorship :  quits  Rome.  §  7.  Octuvius  lands  in  Italy  and  declares  himself 
Caesar's  heir :  quarrel  with  Antony.  §  8.  Antony  master  of  Rome :  the 
Liberators  quit  Italy :  Cicero  returns  to  Rome.  §  9.  Antony's  use  of 
Caesar's  papers.  §  10.  Tlie  first  Philippic :  Antony's  reply  :  Cicero  writes 
the  Second  Philippic.  §  11.  Pansa  and  Hirtius,  Consuls-elect,  declare  for 
Octavius :  Antony  attacks  Dee.  Brutus  at  Mutina :  Cicero  publishes  his 
Second  Philippic.  §  12.  Antony  intercepts  Pansa,  but  is  himself  inter- 
cepted by  Hirtius :  death  of  both  Consuls.  §  13.  Hopes  of  Senate : 
Antony  retreats  across  the  Alps  and  joins  Lepidus.  §  14  Octavius 
marches  to  Rome  and  is  elected  Consul  with  Q.  Pedius.  §  15.  Pedian 
Law,  condemning  Caesar's  murderers :  death  of  Dec.  Brutus.  §  16.  For- 
mation of  Triumvirate.  §  17.  Proscription.  §  18.  Death  of  Cicero. 
§  19.  His  character.  §  20.  Sext.  Pompey  saves  many  of  Proscribed: 
Octavius  attempts  to  expel  him  from  Sicily.  §  21.  Brutus  in  Macedonia, 
Cassius  in  Syria :  death  of  Trebonius  and  of  Dolabella.  §  22.  Doings  of 
Brutus  and  Cassius  in  Asia  Minor :  vision  of  Brutus.  §  23.  Position 
of  hostile  armies  at  Philippi.  §  24.  First  Battle  of  Philippi :  death  of 
Cassius.  §  25.  Second  Battle  of  Philippi:  death  of  Brutus.  §  26. 
Character  of  Brutus. 

§  1.  While  the  Conspirators  were  at  their  bloody  work,  the  mass 
of  the   Senators  rushed  in  confused  terror  to  the  doors ;    and 


704  CIVIL   WARS:    SECOND   PERIOD.  Book  VIL 

when  Brutus  turned  to  address  his  peers  in  defence  of  the  deed, 
the  Hall  was  well  nigh  empty.  Cicero,  who  had  been  present, 
answered  not,  though  he  was  called  by  name ;  Antony  had 
hurried  away  to  exchange  his  consular  robes  for  the  garb  of  a 
slave.  Disappointed  of  obtaining  the  sanction  of  the  Senate, 
the  Conspirators  sallied  out  into  the  Forum  to  win  the  ear  of 
the  People.  But  here  too  they  were  disappointed.  Not  knowing 
what  massacre  might  be  in  store,  every  man  had  fled  to  his 
o.vn  house;  and  in  vain  the  Conspirators  paraded  the  Forum, 
holding  up  their  blood-stained  weapons  and  proclaiming  them- 
selves the  Liberators  of  Rome.  Disappointment  was  not  their 
only  feeling :  they  were  not  without  fear.  They  knew  that 
Lepidus,  being  on  the  eve  of  departure  for  his  Province  of 
Narbonese  Gaul,  had  a  Legion  encamped  on  the  Island  of  the 
Tiber :  and  if  he  were  to  unite  with  Antony  against  them,  Caesar 
would  quickly  be  avenged.  In  all  haste,  therefore,  they  retired 
to  the  Capitol.  Meanwhile,  three  of  Caesar's  slaves  placed  their 
master's  body  upon  a  stretcher,  and  carried  it  to  his  house  on 
the  south  side  of  the  Forum  with  one  arm  dangling  from  the 
unsupported  corner.  In  this  condition  the  widowed  Calpurnia 
received  the  lifeless  clay  of  him  who  had  lately  been  Sovereign 
of  the  world. 

§  2.  Lepidus  moved  his  troops  to  the  Campus  Martius.  But 
Antony  had  no  thoughts  of  using  force ;  for  in  that  case  pro- 
bably Lepidus  would  have  become  master  of  Rome.  During  the 
night  he  took  possession  of  the  treasure  which  Caesar  had  col- 
lected to  defray  the  expenses  of  his  Parthian  campaign,  and  per- 
suaded Calpurnia  to  put  into  his  hands  all  the  Dictator's  papers. 
Possessed  of  these  securities,  he  barricaded  his  house  on  the 
Carinae,  and  determined  to  watch  the  course  of  events. 

§  3.  In  the  evening  Cicero,  with  other  Senators,  visited  the 
self-styled  Liberators  in  the  Capitol.  They  had  not  communi- 
cated their  plot  to  the  Orator,  through  fear  (they  said)  of  his 
irresolute  counsels ;  but  now  that  the  deed  was  done,  he  extolled 
it  as  a  godlike  act.  Next  morning,  Dolabella,  Cicero's  son-in- 
law,  whom  Caesar  had  promised  should  be  his  successor  in  the 
Consulship,  assumed  the  Consular  fasces  and  joined  the  Libe- 
rators ;  while  Cinna,  son  of  the  old  Marian  leader,  and  therefore 
brother-in-law  to  Caesar,  threw  aside  his  Praetorian  robes,  de- 
[claring  he  would  no  longer  wear  the  tyrant's  livery.  Dec.  Brutus, 
a  good  soldier,  had  taken  a  band  of  gladiators  into  pay,  to  serve 
as  a  body-guard  of  the  Liberators.  Thus  strengthened,  they 
ventured  again  to  descend  into  the  Forum.  Brutus  mounted  the 
Tribune,  and  addressed  the  People  in  a  dispassionate  speech, 
which   produced   little    effect,       But   when   Cinna   assailed   the 


Chap.  LXIX.         ROME  AFTER  CAESAR'S  MURDER.  705 

memory  of  the  Dictator,  the  crowd  broke  out  into  menacing 
cries,  and  the  Liberators  again  retired  to  the  Capitol. 

g  4.  That  same  night  they  entered  into  negociations  with 
Antony,  and  the  result  appeared  next  morning,  the  second  after 
the  murder.  The  Senate,  summoned  to  meet,  obeyed  the  call  in 
large  numbers.  Antony  and  Dolabella  attended  in  their  Con- 
sular robes,  and  Cinna  resumed  his  Praetorian  garb.  It  was  soon 
apparent  that  a  reconciliation  had  been  effected:  for  Antony 
moved  that  a  general  amnesty  should  be  granted,  and  Cicero 
seconded  the  motion  in  an  animated  speech.  It  was  carried; 
and  Antony  next  moved,  that  all  the  Acts  of  the  Dictator  should 
be  recognised  as  law.  He  had  his  own  purposes  here ;  but  the 
Liberators  also  saw  in  the  motion  an  advantage  to  themselves ; 
for  they  were  actually  in  possession  of  some  of  the  chief  Magis- 
tracies, and  had  received  appointments  to  some  of  the  richest 
Provinces  of  the  Empire.  This  proposal,  therefore,  was  favour- 
ably received ;  but  it  was  adjourned  to  the  next  day,  together 
with  the  important  question  of  Caesar's  Funeral. 

On  the  next  day,  Caisar's  Acts  were  formally  confirmed,  and 
among  them  his  Will  was  declared  valid,  though  its  provisions 
were  yet  unknown.  After  this,  it  was  difficult  to  reject  the  pro- 
posal that  the  Dictator  should  have  a  public  burial.  Old  Senators 
remembered  the  riots  that  attended  the  funeral  of  Clodius,  and 
shook  their  heads.  Cassius  opposed  it.  But  Brutus,  with  im- 
prudent magnanimity,  decided  in  favour  of  allowing  it.  To  seal 
the  reconciliation,  Lepidus  entertained  Brutus  at  dinner,  and 
Cassius  was  feasted  by  Mark  Antony. 

§  5.  The  Will  was  immediately  made  public.  Cleopatra  was 
still  in  Rome,  and  entertained  hopes  that  the  boy  Caesarion  would 
be  declared  the  Dictator's  heir ;  for  though  he  had  been  married 
thrice,  there  were  no  one  of  his  lineage  surviving.  But  Caesar 
was  too  much  a  Roman,  and  knew  the  Romans  too  well,  to  be 
guilty  of  this  folly.  Young  C.  Octavius,  his  sister's  son,  was  de- 
clared his  heir.  Legacies  were  left  to  all  his  supposed  friends, 
among  whom  were  several  of  those  who  had  assassinated  him. 
His  noble  gardens  beyond  the  Tiber  were  devised  to  the  use  of 
the  Public,  and  every  Roman  Citizen  was  to  receive  a  donation  of 
300  sesterces  (between  2/.  and  Si.  sterling).  The  effect  of  this 
recital  was  electric.  Devotion  to  the  memory  of  the  Dictator 
and  hatred  for  his  murderers  at  once  filled  every  breast. 

Two  or  three  days  after  this  followed  the  Funeral.  The  body 
was  to  be  burnt  and  the  ashes  deposited  in  the  Campus  Martins 
near  the  tomb  of  his  daughter  Julia.  But  it  was  first  brought 
into  the  Forum  upon  a  bier  inlaid  with  ivory  and  covered  with 
rich  tapestries,  which   was  carried   by  men  high  in  rank  and 

30* 


706  CIVIL  WARS:    SECOND  PERIOD.  Book  VIL 

oflSce.  There  Antony,  as  Consul,  rose  to  pronounce  the  Funeral 
Oration.  He  ran  through  the  chief  acts  of  Caesar's  life,  recited 
his  Will,  and  then  spoke  of  the  death  which  had  rewarded  him. 
To  make  this  more  vividly  present  to  the  excitable  Italians,  he 
displayed  a  waxen  image  marked  with  the  three-and-twenty 
wounds,  and  produced  the  very  robe  which  he  had  worn  all  rent 
and  blood-stained.  Soul-stirring  dirges  added  to  the  solemn 
horror  of  the  scene.  But  to  us  the  memorable  speech  which 
Shakspere  puts  into  Antony's  mouth  will  give  the  liveliest  notion 
of  the  art  used  and  the  impression  produced.  That  impression 
was  instantaneous.  The  Senator  friends  of  the  Liberators  who 
had  attended  the  ceremony  looked  on  in  moody  silence.  Soon 
the  menacing  gestures  of  the  crowd  make  them  look  to  their 
safety.  They  fled ;  and  the  multitude  insisted  on  burning  the 
body,  as  they  had  burnt  the  body  of  Clodius,  in  the  sacred  pre- 
cincts of  the  Forum.  Some  of  the  veterans  who  attended  the 
funeral,  set  fire  to  the  bier ;  benches  and  firewood  heaped  round 
it  soon  made  a  sufficient  pile. 

From  the  blazing  pyre  the  crowd  rushed,  eager  for  vengeance, 
to  the  houses  of  the  Conspirators.  But  all  had  fled  betimes. 
One  poor  wretch  fell  a  victim  to  the  fury  of  the  mob, — Helvius 
Cinna,  a  poet  who  had  devoted  his  art  to  the  service  of  the  Dic- 
tator. He  was  mistaken  for  L.  Cornelius  Cinna  the  Praetor,  and 
torn  to  pieces  before  the  mistake  could  be  explained.* 

§  6.  Antony  was  now  the  real  Master  of  Rome.  The  treasure 
which  he  had  seized  gave  him  the  means  of  purchasing  goodwill, 
and  of  securing  the  attachment  of  the  veterans  stationed  in 
various  parts  of  Italy.  He  did  not,  however,  proceed  in  the 
course  which,  from  the  tone  of  his  Funeral  harangue,  might  have 
been  expected.  He  renewed  friendly  intercourse  with  Brutus 
and  Cassius,  who  were  encouraged  to  visit  Rome  once  at  least, 
if  not  oftener,  after  that  day ;  and  Dec.  Brutus,  with  his  gladi- 
ators, was  suflfered  to  remain  in  the  City.  Antony  went  still 
further.  He  gratified  the  Senate  by  passing  a  Law  to  abolish 
the  Dictatorship  for  ever.  He  then  left  Rome  to  win  the  favour 
of  the  Italian  Communities,  and  try  the  temper  of  the  veterans. 

§  7.  Meanwhile  another  actor  appeared  upon  the  scene.  This 
was  young  Octavius.  He  had  been  but  six  months  in  the  camp 
at  Apollonia;  but  in  that  short  time  he  had  formed  a  close 
friendship  with  M.  Vipsanius  Agrippa,  a  young  man  of  his  own 
age,  who  possessed  great  abilities  for  active  life,  but  could  not 
boast  of  any  distinguished  ancestry.     As  soon  as  the  news  of 

*  This  story  is  however  rendered  somewhat  doubtful  by  the  manner  in 
which  Cinna  is  mentioned  in  Virgil's  ninth  FHogue,  which  was  certainly 
written  in  or  after  the  year  40  b.c. 


Ohap.  LXIX  OCTAVIUS   RETURNS  TO   ROME,  707 

his  uncle's  assassination  reached  the  camp,  his  friend  Agrippa 
recommended  him  to  appeal  to  the  troops,  and  march  upon 
Rome.  But  the  youth,  with  a  wariness  above  his  years,  re- 
sisted these  bold  counsels.  Landing  near  Brundusium  almost 
alone,  he  there  first  heard  that  Caesar's  Will  had  been  published, 
and  that  he  was  declared  Caesar's  heir.  He  at  once  accepted  the 
dangerous  honour.  As  he  travelled  slowly  towards  the  City, 
he  stayed  some  days  at  Puteoli  with  his  mother  Atia,  who  was 
now  married  to  L.  Philippus.  Both  mother  and  stepfather  at- 
tempted to  dissuade  him  from  the  perilous  business  of  claiming 
his  inheritance.  At  the  same  place  he  had  an  interview  with 
Cicero,  who  had  quitted  Rome  in  despair  after  the  Funeral,  and 
left  the  Orator  under  the  impression  that  he  might  be  won  to 
what  was  deemed  the  patriotic  party.  He  arrived  at  Rome  about 
the  beginning  of  May,  and  demanded  from  Antony,  who  had 
now  returned  from  his  Italian  tour,  an  account  of.  the  moneys  of 
which  the  Consul  had  taken  possession,  in  order  that  he  might 
discharge  the  obligations  laid  upon  him  by  his  uncle's  Will. 
But  Antony  had  already  spent  great  part  of  the  money  in  brib- 
ing Dolabella  and  other  influential  persons ;  nor  was  he  willing 
to  give  up  any  portion  of  his  spoil.  Octavius  therefore  sold 
what  remained  of  his  uncle's  property,  raised  money  on  his  own 
credit,  and  paid  all  legacies  with  great  exactness.  This  act 
eariied  him  much  popularity.  Antony  began  to  fear  this  boy  of 
eighteen,  whom  he  had  hitherto  despised,  and  the  Senate  learned 
to  look  on  him  as  a  person  to  be  conciliated. 

With  this  feeling  they  decreed  that  the  month  Quintilis 
should  continue  to  be  styled  July,  as  had  been  determined  in 
the  Dictator's  lifetime  :  and  a  day  was  set  apart  for  celebrating 
his  memory  with  divine  honours. 

§  8.  Still  Antony  remained  in  possession  of  all  actual  power. 
The  Senate  voted,  on  his  demand,  that  the  Provinces  of  Mace- 
donia and  Syria,  though  granted  to  Brutus  and  Cassius  by  the 
act  of  Caesar,  should  be  given  to  C.  Antonius  and  Dolabella,  and 
that  the  coveted  Province  of  Cisalpine  Gaul  should  be  transferred 
from  Dec.  Brutus  to  Antony  himself.  The  news  of  these  arbi- 
trary acts  convinced  the  Liberators  that  they  had  nothing  to 
hope  at  Rome.  Dec.  Brutus  immediately  left  the  City  and  took 
possession  of  his  Province  by  force.  But  M.  Brutus  and  Cassius 
still  dallied.  Their  vacillating  conduct  during  this  time  gives  us 
an  unfavourable  impression  of  their  fitness  for  any  enterprise 
of  mark.  Cicero,  not  himself  remarkable  for  political  firmness, 
in  this  crisis  displayed  a  vigour  worthy  of  his  earlier  days,  and 
was  scandalised  by  the  unworthy  bickerings  of  his  friends.*     At 

*  See  an  interesting  Letter,  in  which  he  describes  a  conference  held  by 
the  Conspirators  in  his  presence  at  Antium, — Add  Att.  xv.  11. 


708  CIVIL  WARS:    SECOND   PERIOD.  Book  VIL 

length  they  set  sail  from  Velia  for  Greece.  This  was  in  the 
month  of  September.  Cicero  also  had  at  one  moment  made  np 
his  mind  to  retire  from  public  life  and  end  his  days  at  Athens, 
in  learned  leisure.  In  the  course  of  this  summer  he  continued 
to  employ  himself  on  some  of  his  most  elaborate  treatises.  His 
works  on  the  Nature  of  the  Gods  and  on  Divination,  his  Offices, 
his  Dialogue  on  Old  Age,  and  several  other  Essays  belong  to  this 
eriod,  and  mark  the  restless  activity  of  his  mind.  But  though 
e  twice  set  sail  from  Italy,  he  was  driven  back  to  port  at  Velia, 
where  he  found  Brutus  and  Cassius.  Here  he  received  letters 
from  Au.  Hirtius,  and  other  friends  of  Csesar,  which  gave  him 
hopes  that,  in  the  name  of  Octavius,  they  might  successfully 
oppose  Antony,  and  restore  constitutional  government.  He 
determined  to  return,  and  announced  his  purpose  to  Brutus  and 
Cassius,  who  commended  him,  and  took  leave  of  him.  They 
went  their  way  to  the  East  to  raise  armies  against  Antony ;  he 
repaired  to  Rome  to  fight  the  battles  of  his  party  in  the  Senate 
House. 

§  9.  Meanwhile  Antony  had  been  running  riot.  In  possession 
of  Caesar's  papers,  with  no  one  to  check  him,  he  produced  ready 
warrant  for  every  measure  which  he  wished  to  carry,  and  pleaded 
the  vote  of  the  Senate  which  confirmed  all  the  Acts  of  Caesar. 
When  he  could  not  produce  a  genuine  paper,  he  interpolated  or 
forged  what  was  needful. 

§  10.  On  the  day  after  Cicero's  return  (September  1st)  there 
was  a  meeting  of  the  Senate.  But  the  Orator  did  not  attend, 
and  Antony  threatened  to  send  men  to  drag  him  from  his  house. 
Next  day  Cicero  was  in  his  place,  but  now  Antony  was  absent. 
Tlie  Orator  rose  and  addressed  the  Senate  in  what  is  called  his 
First  Philippic.  This  was  a  measured  attack  upon  the  govern- 
ment and  policy  of  Antony,  but  personalities  were  carefully 
eschewed ; — the  tone  of  the  whole  speech,  indeed,  is  such  as 
might  be  delivered  by  a  leader  of  opposition  in  Parliament  at 
the  present  day.  But  Antony,  enraged  at  his  boldness,  sum- 
moned a  meeting  for  the  19th  of  September,  which  Cicero  did 
not  think  it  prudent  to  attend.  He  then  attacked  the  absent 
Orator  in  the  strongest  language  of  personal  abuse  and  menace. 
Cicero  sate  down^  and  composed  his  famous  Second  Philippic, 
which  is  written  as  if  it  were  delivered  on  the  same  day,  in 
reply  to  Antouy's  invective.  At  present,  however,  he  contented 
himself  with  bending  a  copy  of  it  to  Atticus,  enjoining  secrecy. 

§  11.  Matters  quickly  drew  to  a  head  between  Antony  and 
Octavius.  The  latter  had  succeeded  in  securing  a  thousand  men 
of  his  uncle's  veterans  who  had  settled  in  Campania ;  and  by 
great  exertio^r,  in  the  different  towns  of  Italy  had  levied  a  con- 


Chap.  LXIX.  ANTONY   BEFORE  MtTTlNA.  TOP 

siderable  force.  Meantime  four  of  the  Epirote  Legions  had  just 
landed  at  Brundusium,  and  Antony  hastened  to  attach  them  to 
his  cause.  But  the  largess  which  he  offered  them  was  only  a 
hundred  denaries  a  man,  and  the  soldiers  laughed  in  his  face. 
Antony,  enraged  at  their  conduct,  seized  the  ringleaders,  and 
decimated  them.  But  this  severity  only  served  to  change  their 
open  insolence  into  sullen  anger,  and  emissaries  from  Octavius 
wore  ready  to  draw  them  over  to  the  side  of  their  young  master. 
They  had  so  far  obeyed  Antony  as  to  march  northwards  to 
Ariminum,  while  he  repaired  to  Rome.  But  as  he  entered 
the  Senate  House,  he  heard  that  two  of  the  four  Legions 
had  deserted  to  his  rival,  and  in  great  alarm  he  hastened  to 
the  camp  just  in  time  to  keep  the  remainder  of  the  troops 
under  his  standard,  by  distributing  to  every  man  five  hundred 
denaries. 

The  persons  to  hold  the  Consulship  for  the  next  year  had  been 
designated  by  Ca3sar.  They  were  both  old  officers  of  the  Gallic 
army,  C.  Vibius  Pansa,  and  Au.  Hirtius,  the  reputed  author  of 
the  Eighth  Book  of  the  History  of  the  Gallic  War.  Cicero  was 
ready  to  believe  that  they  had  become  patriots,  because,  dis- 
gusted with  the  arrogance  of  Antony,  they  had  declared  for  Oc- 
tavius and  the  Senate.  Antony  began  to  fear  that  all  parties 
might  combine  to  crush  him.  He  determined,  therefore,  no 
longer  to  remain  inactive ;  and  about  the  end  of  November, 
having  collected  all  his  troops  at  Ariminum,  he  marched  along 
the  JEmilian  road  to  drive  Dec.  Brutus  out  of  Cisalpine  Gaul. 
Decimus  was  obliged  to  throw  himself  into  Mutina  (Modena), 
and  Antony  blockaded  the  place.  As  soon  as  his  back  was 
turned,  Cicero  published  the  famous  Second  Philippic,  in  which 
he  lashed  the  Consul  with"  the  most  unsparing  hand,  going 
through  the  history  of  his  past  life,  exaggerating  the  debauch- 
eries, which  were  common  to  Antony  with  great  part  of  the  . 
Roman  youth,  and  painting  in  the  strongest  colours  the  profligate 
use  he  had  made  of  Caesar's  papers.  Its  effect  was  great,  and 
Cicero  followed  up  the  blow  by  the  following-  twelve  Philippics, 
which  were  speeches  dehvered  in  the  Senate  House  and  Forum, 
at  intervals  from  December  44  b.c.  to  April  in  the  next  year. 

§  12.  Cicero  was  anxious  to  break  with  Antony  at  once,  by 
declaring  him  a  public  enemy.  But  the  latter  was  still  re- 
garded by  many  Senators  as  the  head  of  the  Caesarian  party,  and 
it  was  resolved  to  treat  with  him.  But  the  demands  of  Antony 
were  so  extravagant,  that  negociations  were  at  once  broken  off', 
and  nothing  remained  but  to  try  the  fortune  of  arms.  The 
Consuls  proceeded  to  levy  troops;  but  so  exhausted  was  the 
Treasury,    that   now    for   the   first   time   since   the   triumph   of 


YIO  CIVIL  WARS:    SECOND   PERIOD.  Book  VIL 

JEmilius  Paullus,  it  was  found  necessary  to  levy  a  property-tax 
on  the  citizens  of  Rome. 

Octavius  and  the  Consuls  assembled-  their  forces  at  Alba.  On 
the  first  day  of  the  new  year  (43  b.c.)  Hirtius  marched  for  Mu- 
tina,  with  Octavius  under  his  command.  The  other  Consul, 
Pansa,  remained  at  Rome  to  raise  new  levies;  but  by  the  end 
of  March  he  also  marched  to  form  a  junction  with  Hirtius. 
Both  parties  pretended  to  be  acting  in  Caesar's  name. 

Antony  left  his  brother  Lucius  in  the  trenches  before  Mutina, 
and  took  the  field  against  Hirtius  and  Octavius.  For  three 
months  the  opponents  lay  watching  each  other.  But  when  An- 
tony learnt  that  Pansa  was  coming  up,  he  made  a  rapid  move- 
ment southward  with  two  of  his  veteran  Legions,  and  attacked 
him.  A  sharp  conflict  followed,  in  which  Pansa's  troops  were 
defeated,  and  the  Consul  himself  was  carried,  mortally  wounded, 
off"  the  field.  But  Hirtius  was  on  the  alert,  and  assaulted  An- 
tony's wearied  troops  on  their  way  back  to  their  camp,  with 
some  advantage.  This  was  on  the  15th  of  April,  and  on  the 
27th,  Hirtius  drew  Antony  from  his  entrenchments  before  Mu- 
tina. A  fierce  battle  followed,  which  ended  in  the  troops  of 
Antony  being  driven  back  into  their  lines.  Hirtius  followed 
close  upon  the  flying  enemy;  the  camp  was  carried  by  storm,  and 
a  complete  victory  would  have  been  won  had  not  Hirtius  himself 
fallen.  Upon  this  disaster  Octavius  drew  off"  the  troops.  The 
news  of  the  first  battle  had  been  reported  at  Rome  as  a  victory, 
and  gave  rise  to  extravagant  rejoicings.  The  second  battle  was 
really  a  victory,  but  all  rejoicing  was  damped  by  the  news  that 
one  Consul  was  dead  and  the  other  dying.  No  such  fatal  mis- 
chance had  happened  since  the  Second  Punic  War,  when  Mar- 
cellus  and  Crispinus  fell  in  one  day. 

§  13.  After  his  defeat  Antony  felt  it  impossible  to  maintain 
the  siege  of  Mutina.  With  Dec.  Brutus  in  the  town  behind 
him,  and  the  victorious  Legions  of  Octavius  before  him,  his 
position  was  critical.  He  therefore  prepared  to  retreat,  and 
eff'ected  this  purpose  like  a  good  soldier.  His  destination  was 
the  province  of  Narbonese  Gaul,  where  Lepidus  had  assumed  the 
government,  and  had  promised  him  support.  But  the  Senate 
also  had  hopes  in  the  same  quarter.  L.  Munatius  Plancus  com- 
manded in  Northern  Gaul,  and  C.  Asinins  Pollio  in  Southern 
Spain.  Sext.  Pompeius  had  made  good  his  ground  in  the  latter 
country,  and  had  almost  expelled  Pollio  from  Bsetica.  Plancus 
and  Pollio,  both  friends  and  favourites  of  Caesar,  had  as  yet 
declared  neither  for  Antony  nor  Octavius.  If  they  would  declare 
for  the  Senate,  Lepidus,  a  feeble  and  fickle  man,  might  desert 
Antony;    or,   if    Octa^^ius   would    join   with   Dec.   Brutus,   and 


Chap.  LXIX.  PEDIAN    LAW.  Yll 

pursue  him,  Antony  might  not  be  able  to  escape  from  Italy  at 
all.  But  these  political  combinations  failed.  Phancus  and  Pollio 
stood  aloof,  waiting  for  the  course  of  events.  Dec.  Brutus  was 
not  strong  enough  to  pursue  Antony  by  himself,  and  Octavius 
was  unwilling,  perhaps  unable,  to  unite  the  veterans  of  Caesar 
with  troops  commanded  by  one  of  Caesar's  murderers.  And  so 
it  happened,  that  Antony  effected  his  retreat  across  the  Alps, 
but  not  without  extreme  hardships,  whiclj  he  bore  in  common 
with  the  meanest  soldier.  It  was  at  such  times  that  his  good 
qualities  always  showed  themselves,  and  his  gallant  endurance 
of  misery  endeared  him  to  every  man  under  his  command.  On 
his  arrival  in  Narbonese  Gaul  he  met  Lepidus  at  Forum  Julii 
(Frejus),  and  here  the  two  commanders  agreed  on  a  plan  of 
operations. 

§  14.  The  conduct  of  Octavius  gave  rise  to  grave  suspicions. 
It  was  even  said  that  the  Consuls  had  been  killed  by  his  agents. 
Cicero,  who  had  hitherto  maintained  his  cause,  was  silent.  He 
had  delivered  his  fourteenth  and  last  Philippic  on  the  news  of 
tha  first  victory  gained  by  Hirtius.  But  now  he  talked  in  private 
of  "  removing"  the  boy  of  whom  he  had  hoped  to  make  a  tool. 
Octavius,  however,  had  taken  his  part,  and  was  not  to  be  re- 
moved. Secretly  he  entered  into  negociations  with  Antony. 
After  some  vain  eff'orts  on  the  part  of  the  Senate  to  thwart  him, 
he  appeared  in  the  Campus  Martins  with  his  Legions.  Cicero 
and  most  of  the  Senators  disappeared,  and  the  fickle  populace 
greeted  the  young  heir  of  Caesar  with  applause.  Though  he  was 
not  yet  twenty  he  demanded  the  Consulslilp,  having  been  pre- 
viously relieved  from  the  provisions  of  the  Lex  Annalis  by  a 
Decree  of  the  Senate,  and  he  was  elected  to  the  first  office  in  the 
State,  with  his  cousin  Q.  Pedius.* 

§  15.  A  Curiate  Law  passed,  by  which  Octavius  was  adopted 
into  the  Patrician  Gens  of  the  Julii,  and  was  put  into  legal  pos- 
session of  the  name  which  he  had  already  assumed, — C.  Julius 
Ciesar  Octavianus.     We  shall  henceforth  call  him  Octavian. 

The  change  in  his  policy  was  soon  indicated  by  a  Law,  in 
which  he  formally  separated  himself  from  the  Senate.  Pedius 
brought  it  forward.  By  its  provisions  all  Caesar's  murderers 
were  summoned  to  take  their  trial.  Of  course,  none  of  them 
appeared,  and  they  were  condemned  by  default.  By  the  end 
of  September  Octavian  was  again  in  Cisalpine  Gaul,  and  in  close 
negociation  with  Antony  and  Lepidus.  The  fruits  of  his  conduct 
soon    appeared.      Plancus  and   Pollio  declared   against  Caesar's 

*  Pedius  was  son  of  Caesar's  second  sister,  Julia  minor,  and  therefore  firsfe 
cousin  (once  removed)  to  Octavius. 


712  CITIL   WARS:    SECOND  PERIOD.  Book  VIL 

murderers.  Dec.  Brutus,  deserted  by  his  soldiery,  attempted  to 
escape  into  Macedonia  through  Illyricum ;  but  he  was  overtaken 
near  Aquileia,  and  slain  by  order  of  Antony. 

§  16.  Italy  and  Gaul  being  now  clear  of  the  Senatorial  party, 
Lepidus,  as  mediator,  arranged  a  meeting  between  Octavian  and 
Antony,  upon  an  island  in  a  small  river  near  Bononia  (Bologna). 
H3re  the  three  potentates  agreed  that  they  should  assume  a  joint 
and  coordinate  authority,  under  the  name  of  "Triumvirs  for 
settling  the  affairs  of  the  Commonwealth."  Antony  was  to  have 
the  two  Gauls,  except  the  Narbonese  district,  which,  with  Spain, 
was  assigned  to  Lepidus  ;  Octavian  received  Sicily,  Sardinia,  and 
Africa.  Italy  was  for  the  present  to  be  left  to  the  Consuls  of 
the  year,  and  for  the  ensuing  year  Lepidus,  with  Plancus,  re- 
ceived promise  of  this  high  office.  In  return,  Lepidus  gave  up 
his  military  force,  while  Octavian  and  Antony,  each  at  the  head  of 
ten  Legions,  prepared  to  conquer  the  eastern  part  of  the  Empire^ 
which  could  not  yet  be  divided  like  the  Western  Provinces,  be- 
cause it  was  in  possession  of  Brutus  and  Cassius. 

§1*7.  But  before  they  began  war,  the  Triumvirs  agreed  tG 
follow  the  example  set  by  Sylla, — to  extirpate  their  opponents  by 
a  Proscription,  and  to  raise  money  by  confiscation.  They  framed 
a  list  of  all  men's  names  whose  death  could  be  regarded  as  advan- 
tageous to  any  of  the  three,  and  on  this  list  each  in  turn  pricked 
a  name.  Antony  had  made  many  personal  enemies  by  his  pro- 
ceedings at  Rome,  and  was  at  no  loss  for  victims.  Octavian  had 
few  direct  enemies ;  but  -the  boy-despot  discerned  with  precocious 
sagacity  those  who  were  likely  to  impede  his  ambitious  projects, 
and  chose  his  victims  with  little  hesitation.  Lepidus  would  not 
be  left  behind  in  the  bloody  work.  The  author  of  the  Philippics 
was  one  of  Antony's  first  victims ;  Octavian  gave  him  up,  and 
took  as  an  equivalent  for  his  late  friend  the  life  of  L.  Ca3sar, 
uncle  of  Antony.  Lepidus  surrendered  his  brother  Paullus  for 
some  similar  favour.  So  the  work  went  on.  The  description 
already  given  of  Sylla's  Proscription  may  be  repeated  here  lite- 
rally, except  that  every  horror  was  increased,  and  the  number  of 
.victims  multiplied.  Not  fewer  than  three  hundred  Senators 
and  two  thousand  Knights  were  on  the  list.  Q.  Pedius,  an  honest 
and  upright  man,  died  in  his  Consulship,  overcome  by  vexation 
and  shame  at  being  implicated  in  these  transactions. 
>  §  18.  As  soon  as  their  secret  business  was  ended,  the  Tri- 
umvirs determined  to  enter  Rome  publicly.  Hitherto  they  had 
not  published  more  than  seventeen  names  of  the  Proscribed. 
They  made  their  entrance  severally  on  three  successive  days, 
each  attended  by  a  Legion.  A  Law  was  immediately  brought  in 
to  invest  them  formally  with  the  supreme  authority,  which  they 


Chap.  LXIX.  DEATH   OF   CICERO.  713 

had  assumed.     This  was  followed  by  the  promulgation  of  suc- 
cessive lists,  each  larger  than  its  predecessor. 

Among  the  victims,  far  the  most  conspicuous  was  Cicero. 
With  his  brother  Quintus,  the  old  Orator  had  retired  to  his 
Tusculan  villa  after  the  Battle  of  Mutina;  and  now  they  en- 
deavoured to  escape  in  the  hope  of  joining  Brutus  in  Macedonia : 
for  the  Orator's  only  son  was  serving  as  a  Tribune  in  tlie  Libe- 
rator's army.  After  many  changes  of  domicile,  they  reached 
Astura,  a  little  island  near  Antium,  where  they  found  themselves 
short  of  money,  and  Quintus  ventured  to  Rome  to  procure  the 
necessary  supply.  Here  he  was  recognised  and  seized,  together 
with  his  son.  Each  desired  to  die  first,  and  the  mournful  claim 
to  precedence  was  settled  by  the  soldiers  killing  both  at  the 
same  moment.  Meantime  Cicero  had  put  to  sea.  But  even-  in 
this  extremity  he  could  not  make  up  his  mind  to  leave  Italy, 
and  put  to  land  at  Circeii.  After  further  hesitation,  he  again 
embarked,  and  again  sought  the  Italian  shore  near  Formise  (Mola 
di  Gaeta).  For  the  night  he  stayed  at  his  villa  near  that  place ; 
and  next  morning  would  not  move,  exclaiming, — "  Let  me  die  in 
my  own  country, — that  country  which  I  have  so  often  saved." 
But  his  faithful  slaves  forced  him  into  a  litter,  and  carried  him 
again  towards  the  coast.  Scarcely  were  they  gone,  when  a  band' 
of  Antony's  blood-hounds  reached  his  villa,  and  were  put  upon 
the  track  of  their  victim  by  a  young  man  who  owed  everything 
to  the  Ciceros.  The  old  Orator  from  his  litter  saw  the  pursuers 
coming  up.  His  own  followers  were  strong  enough  to  have  made 
resistance ;  but  he  desired  them  to  set  the  litter  down.  Then, 
raising  himself  on  his  elbow,  he  calmly  waited  for  the  ruffians, 
and  offered  his  neck  to  the  sword.  He  was  soon  despatched. 
The  chief  of  the  band,  by  Antony's  express  orders,  hewed  off  the 
head  and  hands  and  carried  them  to  Rome.  Fulvia,  the  widow 
of  Clodius  and  now  the  wife  of  Antony,  drove  her  hair-pin 
through  the  tongue  which  had  denounced  the  iniquities  of  both 
her  husbands.  The  head  which  had  given  birth  to  the  second 
Philippic,  and  the  hands  which  had  written  it,  were  nailed  to  the 
Rostra,  the  home  of  their  eloquence.  The  sight  and  the  associa- 
tions raised  feelings  of  horror  and  pity  in  every  heart. 

§  19.  Cicero  died  in  his  sixty-fourth  year.  He  had  fallen  on 
evil  times ;  and,  being  eminently  a  man  of  peace,  was  constantly 
called  upon  to  mingle  in  counsels  of  civil  war.  From  his  first 
appearance  in  public  during  the  Dictatorship  of  Sylla  to  the 
great  triumph  of  his  Consulship,  he  rose  with  a  vigorous  and 
unflagging  energy,  which  gave  promise  of  a  man  fit  to  cope  with 
the  dangers  that  were  then  closing  round  the  Constitution.  But 
the  performance  was  not  equal  to  the  promise.      When  once 


714  CIVIL   WARS:    SECOND   PERIOD.  Book  VII. 

Cicero  had  joined  the  ranks  of  the  Senatorial  Nobility,  his  polit- 
ical conduct  is  marked  by  an  almost  peevish  vacillation.  His 
advances  were  coldly  rejected  by  Pompey.  He  could  not  make 
up  his  mind  to  break  entirely  with  Caesar.  His  new  Senatorial 
associates  never  heartily  welcomed  the  New  Man,  whose  labo- 
rious habits  contrasted  disadvantageously  with  their  own.  As 
tlie  first  Orator  of  the  day,  he  thought  he  had  a  claim  to  be 
considered  as  equal  to  the  first  Statesmen ;  and  the  rejection  of 
this  claim  even  by  his  own  party  threw  him  still  more  out  of 
harmony  with  that  party. 

If  we  turn  from  his  public  to  his  private  character,  our  com- 
mendations  need  less  reserve.  None  but  must  admire  the 
vigorous  industry  with  which  from  early  youth  he  prepared  for 
(lis  chosen  profession  of  an  Advocate,  full  of  the  generous  belief 
chat  every  branch  of  liberal  studies  must  be  serviceable  to  one 
who  is  expected  to  bring  out  of  his  treasure  things  new  and 
did.*  To  mould  his  multifarious  knowledge  he  possessed  a  readi- 
ness of  speech  which  sometimes  betrayed  him  into  verbosity. 
The  Advocate  with  an  eye  only  to  his  verdict  is  sometimes  for- 
!(otten  in  the  Orator  who  desires  to  display  his  own  powers. 
When  the  Forum  and  the  Senate-house  were  closed  to  him,  he 
poured  the  overflowing  abundance  of  his  acquirements  into  those 
dialogues  and  treatises  which  we  still  read  with  delight.  He 
wrote  rapidly  and  fluently  as  he  spoke,  rather  to  amuse  and 
employ  his  mind  in  times  of  enforced  idleness,  than  as  one  who 
feels  a  call  to  instruct  or  benefit  mankind.  His  disposition 
was  extremely  amiable.  He  felt  no  jealousy  for  rivals :  Hor- 
tensius  was  among  his  intimate  friends,  and  is  chiefly  known 
to  us  by  Cicero's  generous  praise.  No  man  had  more  friends. 
In  his  family  relations  he  shines  brightly  amid  the  darkness 
of  that  ao^e.  His  wife  Terentia  was  one  with  whom  he  had 
little  sympathy;  her  masculine  energy  was  oppressive  to  his 
less   resolute    character.      It    was    a    relief,    doubtless,   to    find 

n  excuse  for  divorcing  her  in  the  troubles  of  the  Civil  War. 

ut  divorces  were  matters  of  course  in  these  times.  Nor 
'lid  public  'opinion  ^-ondemn  him,  when  to  mend  his  broken 
fortunes  he  marrie(3  Publilia,  a  girl  of  large  property,  who  was 
his  ward.  To  his  aff'ection  for  his  brother  Quintus,  and  for  his 
children,  there  is  no  drawback.  On  the  whole,  his  character 
displays  much  weakness,  but  very  little  evil ;  while  the  perfect 
integrity  and  justice  of  his  life,  in  an  age  when  such  qualities 
were  rare,  if  they  do  not  compensate  for  his  defects  in  a  political 
point  of  view,  yet  entitle  him  to  the  regard  and  admiration  of 
all  good  men. 

See  the  fioe  passage  in  the  speech  pro  Archia  poeta,  6. 


OF 


UN]V 


tH<SlTY 


Chap.  LXIX.  BRUTUS   AND   CASSIU  S.X.C.! .    ^^        .1 

§  20.  Many  of  the  Proscribed  escaped  their  fate,  and  found 
refuge,  some  with  Brutus  in  the  East,  some  in  Africa,  more  still 
with  Sext.  Pompeius.  The  adventurer  took  advantage  of  the 
troubles  in  Italy  to  extend  his  power.  He  occupied  Sicily,  and 
his  fleets  swept  the  coasts  of  Italy  to  afford  assistance  to  the 
Proscribed.  Next  year,  while  Antony  was  intrusted  with  the 
task  of  levying  troops  against  Brutus  and  Cassius,  Octavian 
undertook  to  wrest  Sicily  from  the  hands  of  Sextus.  But  his 
fleet  was  encountered  and  beaten  off  by  the  skilful  captains  of 
the  enemy ;  and  Octavian  was  compelled  to  depart  for  the  East 
without  accomplishing  his  purpose. 

§  21.  Brutus  and  Cassius,  when  they  left  Italy  in  the  autumn 
of  44  B.C.,  at  once  repaired  to  the  Provinces  allotted  to  them, 
though  by  Antony's  influence  the  Senate  had  transferred  Mace- 
donia from  Brutus  to  his  own  brother  Caius,  and  Syria  from 
Cassias  to  Dolabella.  C.  Antonius  was  already  in  possession  of 
parts  of  Macedonia ;  but  Brutus  succeeded  in  dislodging  him. 
Meanwhile  Cassius,  already  well  known  in  Syria  for  his  successful 
conduct  of  the  Parthian  war,  had  established  himself  in  that 
Province,  before  he  heard  of  the  approach  of  Dolabella.  This 
worthless  man  left  Italy  about  the  same  time  as  Brutus  and 
Cassius,  and,  at  the  head  of  several  Legions,  marched  without 
opposition  through  Macedonia  into  Asia  Minor.  Here  C.  Tre- 
bonius  had  already  arrived.  But  he  was  unable  to  cope  with 
Dolabella ;  and  the  latter  surprised  him  and  took  him  prisoner 
at  Smyrna.  He  was  put  to  death  with  unseemly  contumely  in 
Dolabella's  presence.  This  was  in  February  43  b.c.  ;  and  thus 
two  of  Caesar'  s  murderers,  in  less  than  a  year's  time,  felt  the 
blow  of  retributive  justice.  When  the  news  of  this  piece  of 
butchery  reached  Rome,  Cicero,  believing  that  Octavian  was  a 
puppet  in  his  hands,  was  ruling  Rome  by  the  eloquence  of  his 
Philippics.  On  his  motion,  Dolabella  was  declared  a  public 
one  ny.*  Cassius  lost  no  time  in  marching  his  Legions  into 
Asia,  to  execute  the  behest  of  the  Senate,  though  he  had  been 
dispossessed  of  his  Province  by  the  Senate  itself.  Dolabella 
threw  himself  into  Laodicea,  where  he  sought  a  voluntary  death. 

§  22.  By  the  end  of  43  b.c,  therefore,  the  whole  of  the  East 
was  in  the  hands  of  Brutus  and  Cassius.  But  instead  of  making 
preparations  for  war  with  Antony,  the  two  Commanders  spent 
the  early  part  of  the  year  42  b.c.  in  plundering  the  miserable 
cities  of  Asia  Minor.  Brutus  demanded  men  and  money  of  the 
Lycians ;  and,  when  they  refused,  he  laid  siege  to  Xanthus,  their 
principal  city.     The  Xanthians  made  the  same  brave  resistance 

*  He  had  divorced  Tullia,  the  Orator's  daughter,  before  he  left  Italy. 


716  CIVIL  WARS:    SECOND   PERIOD.  Book  VII. 

which  they  had  offered  500  years  before  to  the  Persian  invaders.* 
They  burnt  their  city,  and  put  themselves  to  death  rather  than 
submit.  Brutus  wept  over  their  fate,  and  abstained  from 
further  exactions.  But  Cassius  showed  less  moderation  ;  from 
the  Rhodians  alone,  though  they  were  Allies  of  Rome,  he  de- 
manded all  their  precious  metals.  After  this  campaign  of 
plunder,  the  two  chiefs  met  at  Sardis,  and  renewed  the  alterca- 
tions which  Cicero  had  deplored  in  Italy.  It  is  probable  that 
war  might  have  broken  out  between  them,  had  not  the  prepara- 
tions of  the  Triumvirs  waked  them  from  their  dream  of  security. 
It  was  as  he  was  passing  over  into  Europe,  that  Brutus,  who 
continued  his  studious  habits  amid  all  disquietudes,  and  limited 
his  time  of  sleep  to  a  period  too  small  for  the  requirements  of 
health,  was  dispirited  by '  the  vision  which  Shakspere,  after 
Plutarch,  has  made  famous.  It  was  no  doubt  the  result  of  a 
diseased  frame,  though  it  was  universally  held  to  be  a  divine 
visitation.  As  he  sat  in  his  tent  in  the  dead  of  night,  he 
thought  a  huge  and  shadowy  form  stood  by  him ;  and  when  he 
calmly  asked,  "What  and  whence  art  thou?"  it  answered,  or 
seemed  to  answer,  "  I  am  thine  evil  genius,  Brutus :  we  shall 
meet  again  at  Philippi." 

§  23.  Meantime  Antony's  lieutenants  had  crossed  the  Ionian 
Sea,  and  penetrated  without  opposition  into  Thrace.  The 
Republican  leaders  found  them  at  Philippi.  The  army  of 
Brutus  and  Cassius  amounted  to  at  least  80,000  infantry,  sup- 
ported by  20,000  horse ;  but  they  were  ill  supplied  with  expe- 
rienced officers.  For  M.  Valerius  Messalla,  a  young  man  of 
twenty-eight,  held  the  chief  command  after  Brutus  and  Cassius ; 
and  Horace,  who  was  but  three-and-twenty,  the  son  of  a  Freed- 
man,  and  a  youth  of  feeble  constitution,  was  appointed  a  Legion- 
ary Tribune.f  The  forces  opposed  to  them  would  have  been  at 
once  overpowered,  had  not  Antony  himself  opportunely  arrived 
with  the  second  corps  of  the  Triumviral  army.  Octavian  was 
detained  by  illness  at  Dyrrhachium,  but  he  ordered  himself  to 
be  carried  on  a  litter  to  join  his  Legions.  The  army  of  the  Tri- 
umvirs was  now  superior  to  the  enemy ;  but  their  cavalry, 
counting  only  13,000,  was  considerably  weaker  than  the  force 
opposed  to  it.  The  Republicans  were  strongly  posted  upon  two 
tills,  with   entrenchments  between :   the  camp  of  Cassius  upon 

*  Herodotus  i.  176. 

f         "Quem  rodunt  omnes  libertino  patre  natum, 

Nunc  quia  Maecenas,  tibi  sum  convictor,  at  olim 
Quod  mihi  pareret  Legio  Romana  tribuno." — 1  Serm.  vi.  46. 
Every  one  knows  his  allusions  to  the  loss  r'  his  shield  at  Phjl'npi,  2  Carm 
vii  9.  rf^'" 


Chap.  LXIX.  BATTLES   OF    PHILIPPI.  VI 7 

the  left  next  the  sea,  that  of  Brutus  inland  on  the  right.  The 
Triumviral  army  lay  upon  the  open  plain  before  them,  in  a  posi- 
tion rendered  unhealthy  by  marshes ;  Antony,  on  the  right,  was 
opposed  to  Cassius ;  Octavian,  on  the  left,  fronted  Brutus.  But 
they  were  ill  supplied  with  provisions,  and  anxious  for  a  deci- 
sive battle.  The  Republicans,  however,  kept  to  their  entrench- 
ments, and  the  other  party  began  to  suffer  severely  from  famine. 

§  24.  Determined  to  bring  on  an  action,  Antony  began  works 
for  the  purpose  of  cutting  off  Cassius  from  the  sea.  Cassius  had 
always  opposed  a  general  action,  but  Brutus  insisted  on  putting 
an  end  to  the  suspense,  and  his  colleague  yielded.  The  day  of 
the  attack  was  probably  in  October.  Brutus  attacked  Octavian's 
army,  while  Cassius  assaulted  the  working  parties  of  Antony. 
Cassius'  assault  was  beaten  back  with  loss,  but  he  succeeded  in 
regaining  his  camp  in  safety.  Meanwhile,  Messalla,  who  com- 
manded the  right  wing  of  Brutus'  army,  had  defeated  the  host 
of  Octavian,  who  was  still  too  ill  to  appear  on  the  field,  and  the 
Republican  soldiers  penetrated  into  the  Triumvir's  camp.  Pre- 
sently, his  litter  was  brought  in  stained  with  blood,  and  the 
corpse  of  a  young  man  found  near  it  was  supposed  to  bo  Octa- 
vian. But  Brutus,  not  receiving  any  tidings  of  the  movements 
of  Cassius,  became  so  anxious  for  his  fate  that  he  sent  off"  a 
party  of  horse  to  make  inquiries,  and  neglected  to  support  the 
successful  assaults  of  Messalla. 

Cassius,  on  his  part,  discouraged  at  his  ill  success,  was  unable 
to  ascertain  the  progress  of  Brutus.  When  he  saw  the  party  of 
horse,  he  hastily  concluded  that  they  belonged  to  the  enemy, 
and  retired  into  his  tent  with  his  Freedman  Pindarus.  What 
passod  there  we  know  not  for  certain.  Cassius  was  found  dead, 
with  the  head  severed  from  the  body.  Pindarus  was  never  seen 
again.  It  was  generally  believed  that  Pindarus  slew  his  master 
in  obedience  to  orders ;  but  many  thought  that  he  had  dealt  a 
felon  blow.  The  intelligence  of  Cassius'  death  was  a  heavy  blow 
to  Brutus.  He  forgot  his  own  success,  and  pronounced  the 
elegy  of  Cassius  in  the  well-known  words  :  "  There  lies  the  last 
of  the  Romans."  The  praise  was  ill-deserved.  Except  in  his 
conduct  of  the  war  against  the  Parthians,  Cassius  had  never 
played  a  worthy  part. 

§  25.  After  the  first  battle  of  Philippi,  it  would  have  still  been 
politic  in  Brutus  to  abstain  from  battle.  The  Triumviral  armies 
were  in  great  distress,  and  every  day  increased  their  losses. 
Reinforcements  coming  to  their  aid  by  sea  were  intercepted, — a 
proof  of  the  neglect  of  the  Republican  leaders  in  not  sooner 
bringing  their  fleet  into  action.  Nor  did  Brutus  ever  hear  of 
this  "success.     He  was  ill  fitted  for  the  life  of  the  camp,  and  after 


718  CIVIL  WARS:    SECOND   PERIOD.  Book  VII. 

the  deatli  of  Cassius  he  only  kept  his  men  together  by  largesses 
and  promises  of  plunder.  Twenty  days  after  the  first  battle  he 
led  them  out  again.  Both  armies  faced  one  another.  There 
was  little  manoeuvring.  The  second  battle  was  decided  by  num- 
bers and  force,  not  by  skill ;  and  it  was  decided  in  favour  of  the 
Triumvirs.  '  Brutus  retired  with  four  Legions  to  a  strong  posi- 
tion in  the  rear,  while  the  rest  of  his  broken  army  sought  refuge 
in  the  camp.  Octavian  remained  to  watch  them,  while  Antony 
pursued  the  Republican  Chief.  Next  day,  Brutus  endeavoured 
to  rouse  his  men  to  another  effort ;  but  they  sullenly  refused  to 
fight;  and  Brutus  withdrew  with  a  few  friends  into  a  neighbour- 
ing wood.  Here  he  took  them  aside  one  by  one,  and  prayed 
each  to  do  him  the  last  service  that  a  Roman  could  render  to 
his  friend.  All  refused  with  horror;  till  at  nightfall  a  trusty 
Greek  Freedman,  named  Strato,  held  the  sword,  and  his  master 
threw  himself  upon  it.  Most  of  his  friends  followed  the  sad 
example.  The  body  of  Brutus  was  sent  by  Antony  to  his 
mother.  His  wife  Portia,  the  daughter  of  Cato,  refused  all  com- 
fort ;  and  being  too  closely  watched  to  be  able  to  slay  herself  by 
ordinary  means,  she  suffocated  herself  by  thrusting  burning 
charcoal  into  her  mouth.  Messalla,  with  a  number  of  other  fugi- 
tives, sought  safety  in  the  island  of  Thasos,  and  soon  after  made 
submission  to  Antony. 

§  26.  The  name  of  Brutus  has,  by  Plutarch's  beautiful  narra- 
tive, sublimed  by  Shakspere,  become  a  bye-word  for  self-devoted 
patriotism.  This  exalted  opinion  is  now  generally  confessed  lo 
be  unjust.  Brutus  was  not  ^patriot,  unless  devotion  to  the 
party  of  the  Senate  be  patriotism.  Towards  the  Provincials  he 
was  a  true  Roman,  harsh  and  oppressive.  He  was  free  from  the 
sensuality  and  profligacy  of  his  age,  but  for  public  life  he  was 
unfit.  His  habits  were  those  of  a  student.  His  application  was 
great,  his  memory  remarkable.  But  he  possessed  little  power  of 
turning  his  acquirements  to  account ;  and  to  the  last  he  was 
rather  a  learned  man  than  a  man  improved  by  learning.  In 
comparison  with  Cassius,  he  was  humane  and  generous ;  but  in 
all  respects  his  character  is  contrasted  for  the  worse  with  that 
of  the  great  man,  from  whom  he  accepted  favours,  and  ther. 
became  his  murderer. 


fine  Coin  of  Antony,  executed  at  Antioch, 


Antony  and  Cleopatra. 


CHAPTER    LXX 


FROM    THE    BATTLE    OF    PHILIPPI    TO    THE    FINAL    ESTABLISHMENT 
OF    IMPERIAL    MONARCHY.       (41 30  B.C.) 

g  1.  End  of  the  Republic:  Second  division  of  the  Roman  "World  by  the 
Triumvirs.  §  2.  Cleopatra  meets  Antony  at  Tarsus :  he  attends  her  tc 
Alexandria.  §  3.  Difficulties  of  Octavian :  confiscation  of  lands  to  reward 
the  veterans:  Virgil.  §  4.  Fulvia  wife  of  Antony  takes  advantage  of 
these  commotions :  Perusine  War.  §  5.  Syria  and  Asia  Minor  overrun  by 
the  Parthians.  §  6.  Antony  with  Sext.  Pompeius  invades  Italy  inter 
vention  of  the  soldiery  •  Peace  of  Brundusium :  Third  division  of  the 
Roman  World.  §  7.  Sext.  Pompeius  acknowledged  by  the  Triumvirs. 
§  8.  P.  Ventidius  Bassus .  his  victories  over  the  Parthians.  §  9.  Sext 
Pompeius  harasses  Italy :  Octavius  in  vain  attacks  him  •  two  years'  prepa- 
rations by  Agrippa  to  crush  him.  §  10  Misfortunes  of  Octavian  by  sea  : 
defeat  of  Sextus  by  Agrippa:  Sextus  seeks  refuge  at  Lesbos.  §  11.  Lepi- 
dus  ceases  to  be  Triumvir.  §  12.  Octavian  and  Antony  meet  at  Taren- 
tum:  renewal  of  their  power  for  Five  Years.  §  13.  Antony  surrenders 
himself  to  Cleopatra.  §14.  Conduct  of  Octavian.  §15.  Antony's  Will 
published:  indignation  at  Rome.  §16.  Declaration  of  War.  §17.  Oc- 
tavian passes  over  to  Epirus:  Position  of  Antony's  forces.  §  18.  Battle 
of  Actium.  §  19.  Octavian  returns  to  Italy.  §  20.  Antony  and  Cleopa, 
tra  quarrel.  §  21.  Octavian  in  Egypt :  deaths  of  Antony  and  Cleopatra. 
§  22.  Triumphs  and  Imperial  Power  of  Octavian. 

§  1.  The  Battle  of  Philippi  was  in  reality  the  closing  scene  of 
the  Republican  drama.  But  the  rivalship  of  the  Triumvirs  pro- 
longed for  several  years  the  divided  state  of  the  Roman  World  ; 
and  it  was  not  till  after  the  crowning  victory  of  Actium  that  the 
Imperial  Government  was  established  in  its  unity.     Wo  shall. 


720  CIVIL   WARS:    SECOND   PERIOD.  Boc..  VIL 

therefore,  here  add  a  rapid  narrative  of  the  events  which  led  to 
that  consummation. 

The  hopeless  state  of  the  Republican  or  rather  the  Senatorial 
party,  was  such,  that  almost  all  hastened  to  make  submission  to 
the  conquerors:  those  whose  sturdy  spirit  still  disdained  sub- 
mission resorted  to  Sext.  Pompeius  in  Sicily.  Octavian,  still 
suffering  from  ill  health,  was  anxious  to  return  to  Italy ;  but 
before  he  parted  from  Antony,  they  agreed  to  a  Second  Distri 
bution  of  the  Provinces  of  the  Empire.  Antony  was  to  have 
the  Eastern  world;  Octavian  the  Western  Provinces.  To  Le- 
pidus,  who  was  not  consulted  in  this  second  division,  Africa  alone 
was  left.     Sext.  Pompeius  remained  in  possession  of  Sicily. 

§  2.  Antony  at  once  proceeded  to  make  a  tour  through 
Western  Asia,  in  order  to  exact  money  from  its  unfortunate 
People.  About  midsummer  (41  b.c.)  he  arrived  at  Tarsus, 
and  here  he  received  a  visit  which  determined  the  future 
course  of  his  life  and  influenced  Roman  History  for  the  next 
ten  years. 

Antony  had  visited  Alexandria  fourteen  years  before,  and  had 
been  smitten  by  the  charms  of  Cleopatra,  then  a  girl  of  fifteen. 
She  became  Caesar's  paramour,  and  from  the  time  of  the  Dic- 
tator's death  Antony  had  never  seen  her.  She  now  came  to 
meet  him  in  Cilicia.  The  galley  v/hich  carried  her  up  the 
Cydnus  was  of  more  than  Oriental  gorgeousness :  the  sails  of 
purple ;  oars  of  silver,  moving  to  the  sound  of  music ;  the  raised 
poop  burnished  with  gold.  There  she  lay  upon  a  splendid  couch, 
shaded  by  a  spangled  canopy ;  her  attire  was  that  of  Venus ; 
around  her  flitted  attendant  Cupids  and  Graces.  At  the  news 
of  her  approach  to  Tarsus,  the  Triumvir  found  his  tribunal 
deserted  by  the  people.  She  invited  him  to  her  ship,  and  he 
complied.  From  that  moment  he  was  her  slave.  He  accom- 
panied her  to  Alexandria,  exchanged  the  Roman  garb  for  the 
Graeco-Egyptian  costume  of  the  court,  and  lent  his  power  to  the 
Queen  to  execute  all  her  caprices. 

§  3.  Meanwhile,  Octavian  was  not  without  his  difiiculties.  He 
v/^as  so  ill  at  Brundusium  that  his  death  was  reported  at  Rome. 
The  veterans,  eager  for  their  promised  rewards,  were  on  the  eve 
of  mutiny.  In  a  short  time  Octavian  was  suflSciently  recovered 
to  show  himself.  But  he  could  find  no  other  means  of  satisfying 
the  greedy  soldiery  than  by  a  confiscation,  of  lands  more  sweeping 
than  that  which  followed  the  Proscription  of  Sylla.  The  towns 
of  Cisalpine  Gaul  were  accused  of  favouring  Dec.  Brutus,  and 
saw  nearly  all  their  lands  handed  over  to  new  possessors.  The 
young  poet,  Virgil,  lost  his  little  patrimony,  but  was  reinstated 
at  the  instance  of  PoUio  and  Ms9cenas,  and  showed  his  gratitude 


Chap.  LXX.  REVERSES   OP  ANTONY.  Y21 

in  his  first  Eclogue.  Other  parts  of  Italy  also  suffered, — Apulia, 
^r  example,  as  we  learn  from  Horace's  friend  Ofellus,  who  be- 
came the  tenant  of  the  estate  which  had  formerly  been  his  own.* 

§  4.  But  these  violent  measures  deferred  rather  than  obviated 
the  difficulty.  The  expulsion  of  so  many  persons  threw  thou- 
sands loose  upon  society,  ripe  for  any  crime.  Many  of  the  vete- 
rans were  ready  to  join  any  new  leader  who  promised  them  booty. 
Such  a  leader  was  at  hand.  ' 

Fulvia,  wife  of  Antony,  was  a  woman  of  fierce  passions  anci 
ambitious  spirit.  She  had  not  been  invited  to  follow  her  hus- 
band to  the  East.  She  saw  that  in  his  absence  Imperial  power 
would  fall  into  the  hands  of  Octavian.  Lucius,  brother  of  Mark 
Antony,  was  Consul  for  the  year,  and  at  her  instigation  he  raised 
his  standard  at  Praeneste.  But  L.  Antonius  knew  not  how  to 
use  his  strength  ;  and  young  Agrippa,  to  whom  Octavian  en- 
trusted the  command,  obliged  Antonius  and  Fulvia  to  retire 
northwards  and  shut  themselves  up  in  Perusia.  Their  store  of 
provisions  was  so  small  that  it  sufficed  only  for  the  soldiery. 
Early  in  the  next  year  Perusia  surrendered,  on  condition  that 
the  lives  of  the  leaders  should  be  spared.  The  town  was  sacked ; 
the  conduct  of  L.  Antonius  alienated  all  Italy  from  his  brother. 

§  5.  While  his  wife,  his  brother,  and  his  friends  were  quitting 
Italy  in  confusion,  the  arms  of  Antony  suffered  a  still  heavier 
blow  in  the  Eastern  Provinces  which  were  under  his  special 
government.  After  the  battle  of  Philippi,  Q.  Labienus,  son  of 
Caesar's  old  lieutenant  Titus,  sought  refuge  at  the  court  of 
Orodes,  king  of  Parthia.  Encouraged  by  the  proft'ered  aid  of  a 
Roman  officer,  Pacorus  the  King's  son  led  a  formidable  army 
into  Syria.  Antony's  lieutenant  was  entirely  routed ;  and  while 
Pacorus  with  one  army  poured  into  Palestine  and  Phoenicia,  Q. 
Labienus  with  another  broke  into  Cilicia.  Here  he  found  no 
opposition ;  and,  overrunning  all  Asia  Minor  even  to  the  Ionian 
Sea,  he  assumed  the  name  of  Parthicus,  as  if  he  had  been  a 
Roman  conqueror  of  the  people  whom  he  served. 

§  6.  These  complicated  disasters  roused  Antony  from  his 
lethargy.  He  sailed  to  Tyre,  intending  to  take  the  field  against 
the  Parthians;  but  the  season  was  too  far  advanced,  and  he 
therefore  crossed  the  ^gean  to  Athens,  where  he  found  Fulvia 
and  his  brother,  accompanied  by  Pollio,  Plancus,  and  others,  all 
discontented  with  Octavian's  government.  Octavian  was  absent 
in  Ganl,  and  their  representation  of  the  state  of  Italy  encou- 
raged him  to  make  another  attempt.  Late  in  the  year  (41  b.c.) 
Antony  formed  a  league  with  Sext.  Pompeius^  and  while  that 
chief  blockaded  Thurii  and  Consentia,  Antony  assailed  BrurHu- 
*  Horat.  2  Serm.  ii.  133. 
31 


722  CIVIL  WARS :    SECOND    PERIOD.  Book  VII 

slum.  Agrippa  was  preparing  to  meet  this  new  combination ; 
and  a  fresh  Civil  War  was  imminent.  But  the  soldiery  was 
weary  of  war :  both  armies  compelled  their  leaders  to  make 
pacific  overtures,  and  the  new  year  was  ushered  in  by  a  general 
peace,  which  was  rendered  easier  by  the  death  of  Fulvia.  An- 
tony and  Octavian  renewed  their  professions  of  amity,  and 
entered  Rome  together  in  joint  Ovation  to  celebrate  the  resto- 
ration of  Peace.  They  now  made  a  third  division  of  the  Pro- 
vinces, by  which  Scodra  (Scutari)  in  Illyricum  was  fixed  as  the 
boundary  of  the  West  and  East.  Lepidus  was  still  left  in  pos- 
session of  Africa.  It  was  further  agreed  that  Octavian  was  to 
drive  Sext.  Pompeius,  lately  the  ally  of  Antony,  out  of  Sicily ; 
while  Antony  renewed  his  pledges  to  recover  the  standards  of 
Crassus  from  the  Parthians.  The  new  compact  was  sealed  by 
the  marriage  of  Antony  with  Octavia,  his  colleague's  sister,  a 
virtuous  and  beautiful  lady,  worthy  of  a  better  consort.  These 
auspicious  events  were  celebrated  by  the  lofty  verse  of  Virgil's 
Fourth  Eclogue,  styled  "  the  Pollio."* 

§  1.  Sext.  Pompeius  had  reason  to  complain.  By  the  Peace 
of  Brundusium  he  was  abandoned  by  his  late  friend  to  Octaviai:. 
He  was  not  a  man  to  brook  ungenerous  treatment.  Of  late 
years  his  possession  of  Sicily  had  given  him  command  of  the 
Roman  corn-market.  During  the  winter  which  followed  the 
Peace  of  Brundusium  (40-39  B.C.),  Sextus  blockaded  Italy  so 
closely  that  Rome  was  threatened  with  a  positive  dearth.  Riots 
arose ;  the  Triumvirs  were  pelted  with  stones  in  the  Forum  : 
and  they  deemed  it  prudent  to  temporise  by  inviting  Pompey  to 
enter  their  League.  He  met  them  at  Misenum,  and  the  two 
Chiefs  went  on  board  his  ship  to  settle  the  terms  of  alliance. 
It  is  said  that  one  of  his  chief  officers,  a  Greek  named  Menas  or 
Menodorus,  suggested  to  him  the  expediency  of  putting  to  sea 
with  the  great  prize,  and  then  making  his  own  terms.  Sextus 
rejected  the  advice  with  the  characteristic  words :  "  You  should 
have  done  it  without  asking  me."  It  was  agreed  that  Sicily, 
Sardinia,  and  Corsica  should  be  given  up  to  his  absolute  rule, 
and  that  Achaia  should  be  added  to  his  portion;  so  that  the 
Roman  world  was  now  partitioned  among  four, — Octavian,  An- 
tony, Lepidus,  and  Sext.  Pompeius.  On  their  return  the  Trium- 
virs were  received  with  vociferous  applause. 

*  C.  Asinius  Pollio  was  Consul  in  the  year  40  b.o.  It  was  he  who  had 
introduced  the  young  poet  to  Maecenas.  The  child  who  was  to  restore  the 
golden  age — "  Cara  Deum  soboles,  magni  Jovis  inciementum  " — must  have 
been  the  expected*  progeny  either  of  Antony  and  Octavia,  or  of  Octavian 
himself  who  about  the  same  time  celebrated  his  nuptials  with  Scribonia,  the 
sister-in-law  of  Sext.  Pompey. 


Chap.  LXX.  WAR   WITH   SEXT.    POMPEIUS.  723 

§  8.  Before  winter,  Antony  sailed  for  Athens  in  company  with 
Octavia,  who  for  the  time  seems  to  have  banished  Cleopatra 
from  his  thoughts.  But  he  disgusted  all  true  Romans  by 
assuming  the  attributes  of  Grecian  Gods,  and  indulging  in 
Grecian  orgies. 

He  found  the  state  of  things  in  the  East  greatly  changed  since 
his  departure.  He  had  commissioned  P.  Ventidius  Bassus,  an 
officer  who  had  followed  Fulvia  from  Italy,  to  hold  the  Parthians 
3n  check  till  his  return.  Ventidius  was  son  of  a  Picenian  Noble- 
man of  Asculum,  who  had  been  brought  to  Rome  as  a  captive 
in  the  Social  War.  In  his  youth  he  had  been  a  contractor  to 
supply  mules  for  the  use  of  the  Roman  Commissariat.  But  in 
the  Civil  Wars  which  followed,  men  of  military  talent  easily  rose 
to  command  ;  and  such  was  the  lot  of  Ventidius.  While  Antony 
was  absent  in  Italy,  he  drove  Q.  Labienus  into  the  defiles  of 
Taurus,  and  here  that  adventurer  was  defeated  and  slain.  The 
conqueror  then  marched  rapidly  into  Syria,  and  forced  Pacorus 
also  to  withdraw  to  the  Eastern  bank  of  the  Euphrates. 

In  the  following  year  (38  b.  c.)  he  repelled  a  fresh  invasion  of 
the  Parthians,  and  defeated  them  in  three  battles.  In  the  last 
of  these  engagements  Pacorus  himself  was  slain  on  the  fifteenth 
anniversary  of  the  death  of  Crassus.  Antony  found  Ventidius 
laying  siege  to  Samosata,  and  displaced  him,  only  to  abandon  the 
siege,  and  return  to  Athens.  Ventidius  repaired  to  Rome,  where 
he  was  honoured  with  a  well-deserved  triumph.  He  had  left  it 
as  a  mule-jobber :  he  returned  with  the  laurel  round  his  brows. 
He  was  the  first,  and  almost  the  last,  Roman  General  who  could 
claim  such  a  distinction  for  victory  over  the  Parthians. 

§  9.  The  alliance  with  Sext.  Pompeius  was  not  intended  to 
last,  and  it  did  not  last.  Antony  refused  to  put  him  in  posses- 
sion of  Achaia ;  and  to  avenge  himself  for  this  breach  of  faith 
Pompeius  again  began  to  intercept  the  Italian  corn-fleets.  Fresh 
discontent  appeared  at  Rome ;  and  Octavian  equipped  a  second 
fleet  to  sail  against  the  naval  chief;  but  after  two  battles  of 
doubtful  result,  the  fleet  was  destroyed  by  a  storm,  and  Sextus 
vas  again  left  in  undisputed  mastery  of  the  sea.  Octavian, 
however,  was  never  daunted  by  reverses,  and  he  gave  his 
favourite  Agrippa  full  powers  to  conduct  the  war  against  Pom- 
peius. This  able  commander  set  about  his  work  with  that  reso- 
lution that  marked  a  man  determined  not  to  fail.  As  a  harbour 
for  his  fleet,  he  executed  a  plan  of  the  great  Caesar, — namely,  to 
make  a  good  and  secure  harbour  on  the  coast  of  Latium,  which 
then,  as  now,  ofl'ered  no  shelter  to  ships.  For  this  purpose  he  cut 
a  passage  through  the  narrow  necks  of  land  which  separated 
JL/ake   Lucrinus   from   the   sea,   and    Lake   Avernus   from    Lake 


724  CIVIL  WARS:    SECOND   PERIOD.  Book  VIL 

Lucrinus,  and  faced  the  outer  barrier  with  stone.  This  was  the 
famous  Julian  Port.*  In  the  whole  of  the  two  years  38  and 
37  B.C.,  Agrippa  was  occupied  in  this  work  and  in  preparing  a 
sufficient  force  of  ships.  Every  dockyard  in  Italy  w'as  called 
into  requisition.  A  large  body  of  slaves  were  set  free  that  they 
might  be  trained  to  serve  as  rowers. 

§  10.  On  the  1st  of  July,  36  b.c,  the  fleet  put  to  sea.  Octa- 
vian  himself,  with  one  division,  purposed  to  attack  the  Northern 
coast  of  Sicily,  while  a  second  squadron  was  assembled  at 
Tarentum  for  the  purpose  of  assailing  the  Eastern  side.  Lepidus, 
with  a  third  fleet  from  Africa,  was  to  assault  Lilybajum.  But  the 
winds  were  again  adverse ;  and,  though  Lepidus  eff'ected  a  land- 
ing on  the  southern  coast,  Octavian's  two  fleets  were  driven  back 
to  Italy  with  great  damage.  But  the  injured  ships  were  refitted, 
and  Agrippa  was  sent  westward  towards  Panormus,  while  Octa- 
vian  himself  kept  guard  near  Messana.  Off  Mylse,  a  place  famous 
for  having  witnessed  the  first  naval  victory  of  the  Romans, 
Agrippa  encountered  the  fleet  of  Sext.  Pompeius;  but  Sextus, 
with  the  larger  portion  of  his  ships,  gave  Agrippa  the  slip,  and 
sailing  eastward  fell  suddenly  upon  Octavian's  squadron  off" 
Tauromenium.  A  desperate  conflict  followed,  which  ended  in 
the  complete  triumph  of  Sextus,  and  Octavian  escaped  to  Italy 
with  a  few  ships  only.  But  Agrippa  was  soon  upon  the  traces 
of  the  enemy.  On  the  3rd  of  September  Sextus  was  obliged 
once  more  to  accept  battle  near  the  straits  of  Messana,  and 
suff'ered  an  irretrievable  defeat.  His  troops  on  land  were  attacked 
and  dispersed  by  an  army  which  had  been  landed  on  the  eastern 
coast  by  the  indefatigable  Octavian ;  and  Sextus  sailed  off  to 
Lesbos,  where  he  had  found  refuge  as  a  boy  during  the  cam- 
paign of  Pharsalia,  to  seek  protection  from  the  jealousy  of 
Antony. 

§  11.  Lepidus  had  assisted  in  the  campaign;  but  after  the 
departure  of  Sextus  he  openly  declared  himself  independent  of 
his  brother  Triumvirs.  Octavian,  with  prompt  and  prudent 
boldness,  entered  the  camp  of  Lepidus  in  person  with  a  few 
attendants.  The  soldiers  deserted  in  crowds,  and  in  a  few  hours 
Lepidus  was  fain  to  sue  for  pardon,  where  he  had  hoped  to  rule. 
He  was  treated  with  contemptuous  indifference.  Africa  was 
taken  from  him ;  but  he  was  allowed  to  live  and  die  at  Rome  in 
quiet  enjoyment  of  the  Chief  Pontificate. 

§  12.  It  was  fortunate  for  Octavian  that  during  this  campaign 
Antony  was  on  friendly  terms  with  him.     In  37  b.c.  the  ruler  of 

*  Quid  memorem  portus  Lucrinoque  addita  claustra, 
Julia  qua  ponto  longe  sonat  unda  refuse, 
Tyrrhenusque  fretis  immittitur  aestus  Avernis? — Virg.  Georg.  ii.  161. 


Chap.  LXX.  ANTONY   AND   CLEOPATRA.  726 

the  East  again  visited  Italy,  and  a  meeting  between  the  two 
Chiefs  was  arranged  at  Tarentum.  The  five  years  for  which  the 
Triumvirs  were  originally  appointed  were  now  fast  expiring; 
and  it  was  settled  that  their  authority  should  be  renewed  by  the 
subservient  Senate  and  People  for  a  second  period  of  the  same 
duration.  They  parted  good  friends;  and  Octavian  undertook 
his  campaign  against  Sext.  Pompeius  without  fear  from  Antony. 
This  was  proved  by  the  fate  of  the  fugitive.  From  Lesbos 
Sextus  passed  over  to  Asia,  where  he  was  taken  prisoner  by 
Antony's  lieutenants,  and  put  to  death. 

§  13.  Hitherto  Octavia  had  retained  her  influence  over  Antony. 
But  presently  after  his  last  interview  with  her  brother,  the  fickle 
Triumvir  abruptly  quitted  a  wife  who  was  too  good  for  him,  and 
returned  to  the  fascinating  presence  of  the  Egyptian  Queen, 
whom  he  had  not  seen  for  three  years.  From  this  time  forth 
he  made  no  attempt  to  break  the  silken  chain  of  her  enchant- 
ments. During  the  next  summer,  indeed,  he  attempted  a  new 
Parthian  campaign.  But  his  advance  was  made,  like  that  of 
Crassus,  with  reckless  indiff"erence  to  the  safety  of  his  troops. 
Provisions  failed;  disease  broke  out;  and  after  great  suflfering 
he  was  forced  to  seek  safety  by  a  precipitate  retreat  into  the 
Armenian  mountains.  In  the  next  year  he  contented  himself 
with  a  campaign  in  Armenia,  to  punish  the  King  of  that  country 
for  alleged  treachery  in  the  last  campaign.  The  King  fell  into 
his  hands ;  and  with  this  trophy  Antony  returned  to  Alexandria, 
where  the  Romans  were  disgusted  to  see  the  streets  of  a  Grseco- 
Egyptian  town  honoured  by  a  mimicry  of  a  Roman  Triumph. 
For  the  next  three  years  he  surrendered  himself  absolutely  to 
the  will  of  the  enchantress.  To  this  period  belong  those  tales  of 
luxurious  indulgence  which  are  known  to  every  reader.  The 
brave  soldier,  who  in  the  perils  of  war  could  shake  off"  all  luxuri- 
ous habits,  and  could  rival  the  commonest  man  in  the  cheerful- 
ness with  which  he  underwent  every  hardship,  was  seen  no  more. 
He  sunk  into  an  indolent  voluptuary,  pleased  by  childish  amuse- 
ments. At  one  time  he  would  lounge  in  a  boat  at  a  fishing- 
party,  and  laugh  when  he  drew  up  pieces  of  salt-fish,  which  by 
the  queen's  order  had  been  attached  to  his  hook  by  divers.  At 
another  time  she  wagered  that  she  would  consume  ten  million 
sesterces  at  one  meal,  and  won  her  wager  by  dissolving  in  vine- 
gar a  pearl  of  unknown  value.  While  Cleopatra  bore  the  charac- 
ter of  the  goddess  Isis,  her  lover  appeared  as  Osiris.  Her  head 
was  placed  conjointly  with  his  own  on  the  coins  which  he  issued 
as  a  Roman  Magistrate.  He  disposed  of  the  kingdoms  and  prin- 
cipalities of  the  East  by  his  sole  word.  By  his  influence  Herod, 
son  of  Antipater,  the  Idumgean  minister  of  Hyrcanus,  the  late 


726  CIVIL   WARS :    SECOND   PERIOD.  Book  VII. 

sovereign  of  Judaea,  was  made  King  to  the  exclusion  of  the  right- 
ful heir.  Polemo,  his  own  son  by  Cleopatra,  was  invested  with 
the  sceptre  of  Armenia.  Encouraged  by  the  absolute  submission 
of  her  lover,  Cleopatra  fixed  her  eye  upon  the  Capitol,  and 
dreamed  of  winning  by  means  of  Antony  that  Imperial  crown 
which  she  had  vainly  sought  from  Caesar. 

§  14.  While  Antony  was  engaged  in  voluptuous  dalliance, 
Octavian  was  resolutely  pursuing  the  work  of  consolidating  his 
power  in  the  West.  His  patience,  his  industry,  his  attention  to 
business,  his  affability,  were  winning  golden  opinions  and  rapidly 
obliterating  all  memory  of  the  bloody  work  by  which  he  had 
risen  to  power.  He  had  won  little  glory  in  war ;  but  so  long 
as  the  corn-fleets  arrived  daily  from  Sicily  and  Africa,  the  popu- 
lace cared  little  whether  the  victory  had  been  won  by  Octavian 
or  by  his  generals.  In  Agrippa  he  possessed  a  consummate 
captain,  in  Maecenas  a  wise  and  temperate  minister.  It  is  much 
to  his  credit  that  he  never  showed  any  jealousy  of  the  men  to 
whom  he  owed  so  much.  He  flattered  the  People  with  the  hope 
that  he  would,  when  Antony  had  fulfilled  his  mission  of  recover- 
ing the  standards  of  Crassus,  engage  him  to  join  in  putting  an 
end  to  their  sovereign  power  and  restoring  constitutional  liberty. 
In  point  of  fidelity  to  his  marriage-vows  Octavian  was  little 
better  than  Antony.  He  renounced  his  marriage  with  Clodia, 
the  daughter  of  Fulvia,  when  her  mother  attempted  to  raise 
Italy  against  him.  He  divorced  Scribonia,  when  it  no  longer 
suited  him  to  court  the  favour  of  her  kinsman.  To  replace  this 
second  wife,  he  forcibly  took  away  Livia  from  her  husband,  Ti. 
Claudius  Nero,  though  she  was  at  that  time  pregnant  of  her 
second  son.  But  in  this  and  other  less  pardonable  immoralities 
there  was  nothing  to  shock  the  feelings  of  Romans. 

But  Octavian  never  suftered  pleasure  to  divert  him  from  busi- 
ness. If  he  could  not  be  a  successful  general,  he  resolved  at 
least  to  show  that  he  could  be  a  hardy  soldier.  While  Antony 
in  his  Egyptian  palace  was  neglecting  the  Parthian  war,  his  rival 
led  his  Legions  in  more  than  one  dangerous  campaign  against 
the  barbarous  Dalmatians  and  Pannonians,  who  had  been  for 
some  time  infesting  the  Province  of  Illyricum.  In  the  year 
33  B.C.  he  announced  that  the  limits  of  the  Empire  had  been 
extended  northwards  to  the  banks  of  the  Save. 

§  15.  Octavian  now  began  to  feel  that  any  appearance  of 
friendship  with  Antony  was  a  source  of  weakness  rather  than  of 
strength  at  Rome.  Misunderstandings  had  already  broken  out. 
Antony  complained  that  Octavian  had  given  him  no  share  in  the 
Provinces  wrested  from  Sext.  Pompeius  and  Lepidus.  Octavian 
retorted  by  accusing  his   colleague  of  appropriating  Egypt  and 


Chap.  LXX.  BATTLE  OF   ACTIUM.  '72'? 

Armenia,  and  of  increasing  Cleopatra's  power  at  tlie  expense  of 
the  Roman  Empire.  Popular  indignation  rose  to  its  height 
when  Plancus  and  Titius,  who  had  been  admitted  to  Antony's 
confidence,  passed  over  to  Octavian,  and  disclosed  the  contents 
of  their  master's  Will.  In  that  document  Antony  ordered  that 
his  body  should  be  buried  at  Alexandria,  in  the  mausoleum  of 
Cleopatra.  Men  began  to  fancy  that  Cleopatra  had  already 
planted  her  throne  upon  the  Capitol.  These  suspicions  were 
sedulously  encouraged  by  Octavian. 

§  16.  Before  the  close  of  32  b.c,  Octavian,  by  the  authority 
of  the  Senate;  declared  war  nominally  against  Cleopatra.  Antony, 
roused  from  his  sleep  by  reports  from  Rome,  passed  over  to 
Athens,  issuing  orders  everywhere  to  levy  men  and  collect  ships 
for  the  impending  struggle.  At  Athens  he  received  news  of  the 
declaration  of  war,  and  replied  by  divorcing  Octavia.  His  Fleet 
was  ordered  to  assemble  at  Corcyra;  and  his  Legions  in  the 
early  spring  prepared  to  pour  into  Epirus.  He  established  his 
head-quarters  at  Patrse  on  the  Corinthian  Gulf. 

§  17.  But  Antony,  though  his  fleet  was  superior  to  that  of 
Octavian,  allowed  Agrippa  to  sweep  the  Ionian  sea,  and  to  take 
possession  of  Methone,  in  Messenia,  as  a  station  for  a  flying 
squadron  to  intercept  Antony's  communications  with  the  East, 
nay  even  to  occupy  Corcyra,  which  had  been  destined  for  his 
own  place  of  rendezvous.  Antony's  fleet  now  anchored  in  the 
waters  of  the  Ambracian  Gulf,  while  his  legions  encamped  on  a 
spot  of  land,  which  forms  the  northern  horn  of  that  spacious 
inlet.  But  the  place  chosen  for  the  camp  was  unhealthy ;  and 
in  the  heats  of  early  summer  his  army  suffered  greatly  from  dis- 
ease. Agrippa  lay  close  at  hand  watching  his  opportunity.  In 
the  course  of  the  spring  Octavian  joined  him  in  person. 

§  18.  Early  in  the  season,  Antony  had  repaired  from  Patrae  to 
his  army,  so  as  to  be  ready  either  to  cross  over  into  Italy  or  to 
meet  the  enemy  if  they  attempted  to  land  in  Epirus.  At  first 
he  showed  something  of  his  old  military  spirit,  and  the  soldiers, 
who  always  loved  his  military  frankness,  warmed  into  enthusi- 
asm ;  but  his  chief  oflScers,  won  by  Octavian  or  disgusted  by  the 
influence  of  Cleopatra,  deserted  him  in  such  numbers,  that  he 
knew  not  whom  to  trust,  and  gave  up  all  thoughts  of  maintain- 
ing the  contest  with  energy.  Urged  by  Cleopatra,  he  resolved 
to  carry  off  his  fleet  and  abandon  the  army.  All  preparations 
were  made  in  secret,  and  the  great  fleet  put  to  sea  on  the  28th 
of  August.  For  the  four  following  days  there  was  a  strong  gale 
from  the  south.  Neither  could  Antony  escape,  nor  could  Octa- 
vian put  to  sea  against  him  from  Corcyra.  On  the  2nd  of  Sep- 
tember, however,  the  wind  fell,  and  Octavian's  light  vessels,  by 


Y28  CIVIL   WARS:   SECOND   PERIOD.  Book  VIL 

using  their  oars,  easily  came  up  with  the  unwieldy  galleys  of  the 
Eastern  Fleet.     A  battle  was  now  inevitable. 

Antony's  ships  were  like  impregnable  fortresses  to  the  assault 
of  the  slight  vessels  of  Octavian  ;*  and,  though  they  lay  nearly 
motionless  in  the  calm  sea,  little  impression  was  made  upon 
them.  But  about  noon  a  breeze  sprung  up  from  the  west ;  and 
Cleopatra,  followed  by  sixty  Egyptian  ships,  made  sail  in  a 
southerly  direction.  Antony  immediately  sprang  from  his  ship 
of  war  into  a  light  galley  and  followed.  Deserted  by  their  com- 
mander, the  captains  of  Antony's  ships  continued  to  resist 
desperately ;  nor  was  it  till  the  greater  part  of  them  were  set  on 
fire,  that  the  contest  was  decided.  Before  evening  closed,  the 
whole  fleet  was  destroyed ;  most  of  the  men  and  all  the  treasure 
on  board,  perished.  A  few  days  after,  when  the  shameful  flight 
of  Antony  was  made  known  to  his  army,  all  his  Legions  went 
over  to  the  conqueror. 

§  19.  It  was  not  for  eleven  months  after  the  Battle  of  Actium 
that  Octavian  entered  the  open  gates  of  Alexandria.  He  had 
been  employed  in  the  interval  in  founding  the  City  of  Nicopolis 
to  celebrate  his  victory  on  the  northern  horn  of  the  Ambracian 
Gulf,  in  rewarding  his  soldiers,  and  settling  the  aff'airs  of  the 
Provinces  of  the  East.  In  the  winter  he  returned  to  Italy,  and 
it  was  midsummer,  30  B.C.,  before  he  arrived  in  Egypt. 

§  20.  When  Antony  and  Cleopatra  arrived  off"  Alexandria  they 
put  a  bold  face  upon  the  matter.  Some  time  passed  before  the 
real  state  of  the  case  was  known ;  but  it  soon  became  plain  that 
Egypt  was  at  the  mercy  of  the  conqueror.  The  Queen  formed 
all  kinds  of  wild  designs.  One  was  to  transport  the  ships  that 
she  had  saved  across  the  Isthmus  of  Suez  and  seek  refuge  in 
some  distant  land  where  the  name  of  Rome  was  yet  unknown. 
Some  ships  were  actually  drawn  across,  but  they  were  destroyed 
by  the  Arabs,  and  the  plan  was  abandoned.  She  now  flattered 
herself,  that  her  powers  of  fascination,  proved  so  potent  over 
Caesar  and  Antony,  might  subdue  Octavian.  Secret  messages 
passed  between  the  conqueror  and  the  queen ;  nor  were  Octa- 
vian's  answers  such  as  to  banish  hope. 

Antony,  full  of  repentance  and  despair,  shut  himself  up  in 
Pharos,  and  there  remained  in  gloomy  isolation. 

§  21.  In  July  30  B.C.  Octavian  appeared  before  Pelusium.  The 
place  was  surrendered  without  a  blow.  Yet,  at  the  approach  of 
the  conqueror,  Antony  put  himself  at  the  head  of  a  division  of 

*  "  Ibis  Liburnis  inter  alta  navium, 

Amice,  propugnacula." — Horat.  Epod.  i.  1. 
Maecenas,  it  may  be  remarked,  relinquished  bis  intention  of  joining  the  fleet 


Chap.  LXX.     DEATHS   OF   All^TONY  AND   CLEOPATRA.  729 

cavalry,  and  gained  some  advantage.  But  on  his  return  to 
Alexandria  he  found  that  Cleopatra  had  given  up  all  her  ships ; 
and  no  more  opposition  was  offered.  On  the  1st  of  August 
(Sextilis  as  it  was  then  called)  Octavian  entered  the  open  gates 
of  Alexandria.  Both  Antony  and  Cleopatra  sought  to  win  him. 
Antony's  messengers  the  conqueror  refused  to  see;  but  he  still 
used  fair  words  to  Cleopatra.  The  Queen  had  shut  herself  up  in 
a  sort  of  mausoleum  built  to  receive  her  body  after  death,  which 
was  not  approachable  by  any  door ;  and  it  was  given  out  that  she 
was  really  dead.  All  the  tenderness  of  old  times  revived  in 
Antony's  heart.  He  stabbed  himself,  and  in  a  dying  state  ordered 
himself  to  be  laid  by  the  side  of  Cleopatra.  The  Queen  touched 
by  pity,  ordered  her  expiring  lover  to  be  drawn  up  by  cords  into 
her  retreat,  and  bathed  his  temples  with  her  tears.  After  he  had 
breathed  his  last,  she  consented  to  see  Octavian.  Her  penetra- 
tion soon  told  her  that  she  had  nothing  to  hope  from  him.  She 
saw  that  his  fair  words  were  only  intended  to  prevent  her  from 
desperate  acts,  and  reserve  her  for  the  degradation  of  his  Tri- 
umph. This  impression  was  confirmed  when  all  instruments  by 
which  death  could  be  inflicted  were  found  to  have  been  removed 
from  her  apartments.  But  she  was  not  to  be  so  baffled.  She 
pretended  all  submission ;  but  when  the  ministers  of  Octavian 
came  to  carry  her  away,  they  found  her  lying  dead  upon  her  couch, 
attended  by  her  faithful  waiting-women,  Iras  and  Charmion. 
The  manner  of  her  death  was  never  ascertained ;  popular  belief 
ascribed  it  to  the  bite  of  an  asp,  which  had  been  conveyed  to  her 
in  a  basket  of  fruit. 

Thus  died  Antony  and  Cleopatra.  Antony  was  by  nature  a 
genial,  open-hearted  Roman,  a  good  soldier,  quick,  resolute,  and 
vigorous,  but  reckless  and  self-indulgent,  devoid  alike  of  pru- 
dence and  of  principle.  The  corruptions  of  the  age,  the  seduc- 
tions of  power,  and  the  evil  influence  of  Cleopatra,  paralysed  a 
nature  capable  of  better  things.  We  know  him  chiefly  through 
the  exaggerated  assaults  of  Cicero  in  his  Philippic,  and  the  nar- 
ratives of  writers  devoted  to  Octavian.  But  after  all  deductions 
for  partial  representation,  enough  remains  to  show  that  Antony 
had  all  the  faults  of  Caesar,  with  little  of  his  redeeming  greatness. 

Cleopatra  was  an  extraordinary  person.  At  her  death  she  was 
but  thirty-eight  years  of  age.  Her  power  rested  not  so  much  on 
actual  beauty  as  on  her  fascinating  manners  and  her  extreme 
readiness  of  wit.  In  her  follies  there  was  a  certain  magnificence, 
which  excites  even  a  dull  imagination.  We  may  estimate  the 
real  power  of  her  mental  qualities  by  observing  the  impression 
her  character  made  upon  the  Roman  Poets  of  the  time.  No 
meditated  praises  could  have  borne  such  testimony  to  her  great- 

31* 


i730 


CIVIL  WARS:    SECOND   PERIOD. 


Book  VIL 


ness  as  the  lofty  strain  in  which  Horace  celebrates  her  fall,  and 
congratulates  the  Roman  world  on  its  escape  from  the  ruin  which 
she  was  threatening  to  the  Capitol.* 

§  22.  Octaviaii  dated  the  years  of  his  Imperial  Monarchy  from 
the  day  of  the  Battle  of  Actimn.  But  it  was  not  till  two  years 
after  (the  summer  of  29  b.c.)  that  he  established  himself  in 
Rome  as  Ruler  of  the  Roman  World.  Then  he  celebrated  three 
magnificent  Triumphs,  after  the  example  of  his  uncle  the  great 
Dictator,  for  his  victories  in  Dalmatia,  at  Actium,  and  in  Egypt.f 
At  the  same  time  the  Temple  of  Janus  was  closed  (notwithstand- 
ing that  border  wars  still  continued  in  Gaul  and  Spain)  for  the 
iirst  time  since  the  year  235  b.c.  All  men  drew  breath  more 
:!reely,  and  all  except  the  soldiery  looked  forward  to  a  time  of 
tranquillity.  Liberty  and  independence  were  forgotten  words. 
After  the  terrible  disorders  of  the  last  century,  the  general  cry 
was  for  quiet  at  any  price.  Octavian  was  a  person  admirably 
fitted  to  fulfil  these  aspirations.  His  uncle  Julius  was  too  fond 
of  active  exertion  to  play  such  a  part  well.  Octavian  never 
shone  in  war,  while  his  vigilant  and  patient  mind  was  well  fitted 
for  the  discharge  of  business.  He  avoided  shocking  popular 
feeling  by  assuming  any  title  savouring  of  royalty ;  but  he 
enjoyed  by  universal  consent  an  authority  more  than  regal. 


*  Carm.  xxxvii. 

f  "*  At  Cfesar,  tripliei  inveetus  Romana  triumpho, 
Moenia,  Dis  Italia  votum  immortale  sacrabat."- 


-Virg.  Aen.  viii.  Yl-l 


Figure  Head  of  Roman  Galley,  dredged  up  near  Actium. 


Octavian. 


CHAPTER    LXXI. 

STATE    OF   THE    EMPIRE  I     LITERATURE,    ART,    MANNERS,    AND 
RELIGIOUS    FEELING. 

§  1.  Acquiescence  of  the  Roman  World  in  Despotic  rule.  §  2.  Circum- 
stances that  favoured  Octavian.  §  3.  Disguise  thrown  over  his  power  by 
Octavian,  §  4.  Exhausted  condition  of  Italy.  §  5.  The  Provinces  bene- 
fited by  the  establishment  of  a  central  Despotism.  §  6.  Its  deadening 
effects  upon  the  mind  of  Rome :  but  the  first  effects  of  tranquillity  pro- 
duced a  new  Literature.  §  7.  Review  of  Roman  Literature  from  the 
beginning  of  the  Civil  Wars :  Oratory :  Education.  §  8.  Historical 
Memoirs  and  Histories.  §  9.  Grammatical  and  Philological  Writers. 
§  10.  Cicero.  §  11.  The  Drama.  §  12.  Mimes:  their  chief  authors,  Dec. 
Laberius  and  Publ.  Syrus.  §  13,  Other  kinds  of  poetry :  Didactic  Poetry: 
Lucretius.  §  14,  Catullus  and  Calvus.  §  15.  Epic  Poetry:  various. 
§  16.  Virgil.  §  17.  Horace.  §  18.  Elegiac  Poets.  §  19.  Art.  §  20.  Public 
Buildings.  §  21.  Public  Works  in  the  Provinces.  §  22.  Unsettled  state  of 
sentiment  and  opinion :  Stoic  and  Epicurean  Philosophy.  §  23.  Super- 
stitious practices  and  sentiments.  §  24.  Preparation  of  the  public  mind 
for  a  purer  Faith. 

§  1.  We  have  now  traced  the  progress  and  decline  of  the  Roman 
Constitution  through  its  several  stages.  We  have  seen  it  pass 
from  a  Monarchy  into  a  Patrician  Oligarchy,  from  a  Patrician 
Oligarchy  into  a  limited  Republic,  from  a  limited  Republic  into 
an  Oligarchy  of  Wealth ;  and  now,  after  a  century  of  Civil  War, 


732  CITIL  WARS:    SECOND   PERIOD.  Book  VII 

in  which  the  State  swayed  from  one  extreme  to  the  other,  we 
close  with  the  contemplation  of  an  absolute  Despotism.  Every 
page  of  the  latter  portion  of  our  narrative  shows  how  inevitably 
events  were  tending  to  this  issue.  The  Roman  world  had  long 
been  preparing  for  it.  At  no  time  had  such  authority  been 
altogether  alien  from  the  mind  of  the  People  of  Rome.  Dictator- 
ships were  frequent  in  their  earlier  history.  In  later  times  the 
Consuls  were,  by  the  will  of  the  Senate,  raised  to  Dictatorial 
power  to  meet  emergencies,  military  or  civil.  The  despotic 
commands  conferred  upon  Sylla  and  Pompey,  the  powers  seized 
first  by  CaBsar,  and  after  him  by  the  Triumvirate,  were  all  of  the 
same  form  as  the  authority  conferred  upon  Octavian; — that  is, 
all  were,  in  form  at  least,  temporary  and  provisional.  The  dis- 
orders of  the  State  required  the  intervention  of  one  or  more 
persons  endued  with  absolute  authority.  And  whether  power 
was  vested  in  a  Dictator,  such  as  Sylla  and  Caesar ;  in  a  sole 
Consul,  such  as  Pompey ;  in  a  Commission  of  Three,  such  as  the 
Triumvirate  of  Antony,  Octavian,  and  Lepidus ;  or  in  an  Impe- 
rator,  such  as  Octavian  alone,  the  constitutional  principle  was 
the  same.  These  despotic  powers  were  in  every  case,  except  in 
the  cases  of  Sylla  and  Caesar,  granted  for  a  definite  term :  even 
Caesar's  first  Dictatorships  were  conferred  for  limited  periods. 
The  Triumvirate  was  renewed  at  intervals  of  five  years,  the 
imperial  rule  of  Octavian  at  intervals  of  ten.  In  theory  these 
powers  were  conferred  exceptionally,  for  a  temporary  purpose; 
and  when  the  purpose  was  served,  the  exception  was  to  yield  to 
the  rule.  Even  in  the  reign  of  Octavian  there  were  some  persons 
credulous  enough  to  expect  a  restoration  of  the  Republic.  It 
belongs  to  the  History  of  the  Empire  to  examine  in  detail  the 
arts  of  government,  by  which  a  provisional  and  temporary  power 
was,  by  the  adroitness  of  the  new  ruler,  converted  into  a  despotic 
Monarchy.     Here  a  few  brief  notes  must  be  sufficient. 

From  the  time  that  all  Italians  were  made  Citizens  of  Rome, 
it  became  plain  that  some  great  alteration  must  be  made  in 
the  Constitution.  Marius  seems  first  to  have  entertained 
thoughts  of  a  perpetual  Consulship ;  but  the  confidence  reposed 
in  him  as  a  leader  in  war  neither  could  nor  did  avail  to  gain  him 
a  similar  confidence  in  peace.  Circumstances  rather  tlmn  set 
purpose  placed  Sylla  at  the  head  of  the  State ;  and  he  endea- 
voured to  solve  the  political  problem  of  the  day  by  placing  all 
authority  in  the  hands  of  the  Senatorial  Oligarchy.  His  death 
was  followed  by  an  explosion ;  and  the  remainder  of  the  History 
of  the  Republic  is  merely  a  personal  conflict  for  supreme  power. 
Every  man  was  for  himself.  Pompey  never  assumed  the  cha- 
racter of  champion  of  the  Senate  because  he  was  jealous  of  Caesar; 


Ohap.  LXXL  conduct   of   OCTAVIAK  733 

Csesar,  from  the  first,  had  a  clear  determination  to  establish  him- 
self as  the  ruler  of  the  future  fortunes  of  Rome,  and  he  suc- 
ceeded. But  he  disclosed  his  wish  to  assume  sovereign  power, 
and  he  fell  by  the  hands  of  men  who  had  accepted  his  favours,  but 
in  heart  were  jealous  of  his  greatness, — men  who  professed  to  be 
Republicans,  but  who  were  in  fact  the  agents  of  the  Senatorial 
Oligarchy.  Then  came  Antony  and  the  Triumvirate,  who  pre- 
pared the  way  for  acquiescence  in  the  sole  dominion  of  Octavian. 
§  3.  Octavian's  adroitness  has  often  been  commended.  But  he 
had  many  examples  to  warn  and  to  guide  him.  Above  all,  the  pre- 
cedent of  his  uncle,  the  Great  Dictator,  proved  that  the  Romans 
were  not  prepared  to  accept  even  order  and  good  government  at 
the  price  of  Royalty;  and  he  dexterously  avoided  the  danger.  The 
cruelties  of  the  Triumviral  Proscription  he  was  able  to  throw 
chiefly  upon  Antony.  But  these  very  cruelties  stood  him  in 
stead ;  for  they  induced  men  to  estimate  at  more  than  its  real 
worth  the  clemency  which  distinguished  his  sole  government. 
He  avoided  jealousy  by  assuming  a  power  professedly  only  tem- 
porary. The  title  by  which  he  liked  to  be  known  was  that  of 
Prince;  for  he  revived  in  his  own  person  the  title  Princeps 
Senatus,  which  had  slept  since  the  death  of  Catulus.*  But  in 
fact  he  absorbed  all  the  powers  of  the  State.  As  Imperator  he 
exercised  absolute  control  over  the  lives  of  all  Roman  Citizens 
not  within  the  limits  of  the  City.  As  Pontifex  Maximus,  an 
office  for  which  he  waited  patiently  till  the  death  of  Lepidus,  he 
controlled  the  religion  of  the  State.  He  assumed  the  Censorial 
power  without  a  colleague  to  impede  his  action :  thus  he  was 
able  to  revise  at  pleasure  the  Register  of  the  Citizens  and  the 
List  of  the  Senate,  promoting  or  degrading  whom  he  pleased. 
He  appropriated  also  the  Tribunician  power; — and  thus  the 
Popular  Assembly  was  by  a  side-blow  deprived  of  vitality ;  for 
without  its  Tribunes  it  was  naught.f  Consuls  were  still  elected 
to  give  name  to  the  year ;  and  the  Assembly  of  the  Centuries 
still  met  for  the  empty  purpose  of  electing  those  whom  the 
Prince  named.  Often,  indeed,  several  pairs  were  elected  for  one 
year,  after  a  practice  begun  by  the  Great  Dictator. 

§  4.  The  name  of  Italy  now  at  length  assumed  the  significance 
which  it  still  bears;  for  all  free  inhabitants  of  Cisalpine  Gaul 
obtained  the  rights  of  Roman  citizens.  But  little  was  done  to 
repair  the  losses  and  decays  of  which  we  have  spoken  in  former 
chapters.     The  military  Colonies  planted  by  Sylla  and  Octavian, 

*  "  Non  Regno  ....  neque  Dictatura,  sed  Principis  nomine  constitutam 
Rempublicam." — Tacit.  Annal.  i.  9. 

+  Chapt.  XXXV.  §  1 2.  He  was  not  styled  Censor  or  Tribune,  but  was  said 
ty  be  invested  Censorid  potestate,  Tribunicid  potentate. 


734  CIVIL   WARS:    SECOND  PERIOD.  Book  VIL 

had  lowered  its  condition  even  beyond  its  former  misery. 
Ancient  and  respectable  citizens  made  way  for  reckless  and 
profligate  soldiery, — such  as  the  Centurion  who  would  have 
slain  the  Poet  Virgil.  Our  pity  for  the  ejected  inhabitants  is 
somewhat  lessened  by  the  thought  that  all  the  civilised  world 
was  open  to  them,  for  all  the  world  was  Roman.  Gaul,  and 
Spain,  and  Sicily,  and  the  Provinces  of  the  East,  depopulated  by 
long  wars,  gratefully  received  families  of  Italian  citizens,  who 
brought  them  their  habits  of  civilised  life,  industry,  and  such 
property  as  they  had  saved  from  the  ruin  of  their  homes.  Great 
as  was  the  injustice  of  expelling  these  persons,  the  actual  loss 
and  suffering,  after  the  pain  of  leaving  home  was  over,  must 
have  been  incalculably  less  than  we,  in  the  present  condition  of 
Europe,  are  apt  to  imagine.  After  the  settlement  of  these 
Colonies,  it  is  probable  that  what  could  be  done  for  the  welfare 
of  Italy  was  done  by  Augustus  and  his  able  Ministers,  Agrippa 
and  Maecenas,  But  the  evils  were  too  great  and  too  recent  to 
admit  of  palliation ;  and  Italy  probably  never  recovered  from  the 
effects  of  the  Roman  Wars  of  Conquest,  till  she  received  a  new 
population  from  the  North. 

§  5.  The  Provinces  were  gainers  by  the  transference  of  power 
from  the  Senate  to  a  single  man.  The  most  important  Provinces 
were  governed  by  Deputies  appointed  by  the  Prince  himself;* 
the  rest  were  left  to  the  rule  of  Senatorial  Proconsuls.  The 
condition  of  the  Imperial  Provinces  was  preferred ;  for  the  taxes 
exacted  were  lighter,  and  the  government  under  severer  control. 
Instances  occur  of  Senatorial  Provinces  requesting  as  a  favour  to 
be  transferred  to  the  rule  of  the  Emperor.f  But  even  the  Sena- 
torial Government  was  more  equitable  than  of  old.  The  salaries 
of  the  Proconsuls  were  fixed ;  greedy  men  were  no  longer  left  to 
pay  themselves  by  extortion ;  and  the  Governors  held  power  for 
several  years,  so  that  they  had  more  temptation  to  win  the  good 
opinion  of  their  subjects.  The  examples  of  Pilate  and  Felix  show, 
indeed,  that  glaring  injustice  was  still  perpetrated ;  but  these 
very  cases  show  that  the  Governors  stood  in  awe  of  those  whom 
'hey  governed, — for  in  both  cases  the  iniquity  was  committed 
through  fear  of  the  Jews,  whom  these  men  had  mis-governed, 
and  whose  accusations  they  feared.  It  may  be  added  that  both 
these  men  were  severely  punished  for  their  misgovernment. 

§  6.  The  world,  therefore,  on  the  whole,  was  a  gainer  by 
the  substitution  of  the  Imperial  rule  for  the  Constitution, 
falsely  named  Republican.  For  nearly  two  centuries  the  go- 
vernment  was,  with   two   intervals,  administered   by   rulers   of 

*  Legati  or  Praefecti  Caesaris. 

f  As  Achaia  and  Macedonia  in  the  time  of  Tiberius,     Tacit,  Annal.  176- 


Chap.  L XXI.  LITERATURE :   ORATORY  735 

great  abilities  and  great  energy;  and  though,  no  doubt,  there 
was  enough  of  oppression  and  to  spare,  yet  there  was  much  less 
than  had  been  common  in  the  times  of  Senatorial  dominion. 

But  if  the  Provinces — that  is,  the  Empire  at  large — continued 
to  be  content  with  a  Central  Despotism,  in  comparison  with  the 
old  Senatorial  rule  of  "every  man  for  himself,"  this  was  not  the 
cas3  at  Rome.  The  educated  classes  at  least,  and  the  Senatorial 
INTobility,  soon  began  to  regret  even  the  turbulent  days  of  Marius 
and  Pompey.  The  practice  of  Oratory,  in  which  Romans  excelled 
and  took  chief  delight,  was  confined  to  mere  forensic  pleadings, 
and  lost  all  that  excitement  which  attached  to  it  when  an  orator 
could  sway  the  will  of  the  Senate,  and  calm  or  rouse  the  seething 
passions  of  the  Forum.  We  cannot  wonder  at  Cicero,  notwith- 
standing his  hatred  for  commotion,  throwing  himself  into  the 
conflict  against  Antony  with  the  fervid  energy  which  is  revealed 
in  the  Philippics.  He  felt  that  this  was  the  last  change  of  sup- 
porting the  old  freedom  of  the  Forum, — which,  with  all  its 
turbulence,  he  loved,  partly  as  the  scene  of  his  own  glories,  partly 
as  a  barrier  against  the  crushing  force  of  military  despotism. 
And  though  the  slaughter  of  the  Proscription  and  of  the  Civil 
Wars  removed  many  of  the  leading  Senators,  men  of  independent 
will  revolted  against  the  deadening  weight  of  despotic  govern- 
ment, as  is  revealed  in  the  pages  of  Tacitus.  For  a  time,  how- 
ever, there  was  a  general  disposition,  even  at  Rome,  to  welcome 
the  tranquillity  ensured  by  the  rule  of  Octavian,  and  nothing  can 
more  strongly  show  the  security  that  men  experienced,  even 
before  the  battle  of  Actium,  than  the  sudden  burst  with  which 
Literature  and  the  polite  Arts  rose  from  their  slumbers. 

§  Y.  This  leads  us  to  give  a  brief  account  of  the  state  of 
Literature  at  Rome,  since  we  last  took  notice  of  the  subject,  at 
the  beginning  of  the  Civil  Wars. 

Since  that  epoch  literary  pursuits  had  languished, — the 
natural  effect  of  political  excitement  and  perilous  times.  Ora- 
tory indeed  had  flourished,  as  every  page  of  our  History  indi- 
cates ;  and  Oratory  may  be  called  the  popular  literature  of  Rome, 
as  truly  as  Journalism  may  be  called  the  popular  literature  of 
England.  Cicero,  a  master  of  his  art  both  in  theory  and  prac- 
tice, has  left  us  an  account  of  a  host  of  Orators  whom  he  thought 
worthy  of  being  placed  in  a  national  catalogue.  Of  the  Gracchi, 
of  Antonius,  of  Crassus,  of  Sulpicius,  we  have  spoken.  After 
their  time  Cotta  was  the  chief  favourite,  and  then  Hortensius 
rose  to  be  "King  of  the  Courts."  He  was  what  we  may  call  an 
Advocate  by  profession,  taking  little  part  in  politics  till  he  had 
made  a  large  fortune  by  the  presents  which  at  that  time  stood 
in  the  place  of  regular  fees ;  and  even  in  the  hot  conflicts  that 


736  CIVIL   WARS:    SECOND    PERIOD.  Book  V XL 

distinguished  the  rise  of  Pompey's  popularity  he  took  but  a 
languid  part.  His  style  of  speaking  was  what  Cicero  styles 
Asiatic, — that  is,  florid  and  decorated  beyond  what  even  the 
liberal  judgment  of  his  critic  could  approve.  Cicero  con- 
sidered his  own  youthful  manner  to  partake  of  this  character, 
and  refers  to  the  brave  speech  in  which  he  defended  Sext. 
Roscius  of  Ameria  as  an  example  of  this  style.  But  that  elabo- 
rate phraseology  and  copious  flow  of  language  remained  with 
him  to  the  last.  It  was  only  when  his  feelings  were  strongly 
excited,  or  when  his  time  was  limited,  as  when  he  defended  old 
Rabirius  or  assailed  Catiline  in  the  Senate,  that  he  displayed 
anything  of  that  terrible  concentration  of  speech  with  which 
Demosthenes  smote  his  antagonists.  So  far  as  we  can  judge 
from  the  scanty  remnants  preserved,  C.  Gracchus,  more  than 
any  other  Roman,  possessed  this  fierce  earnestness.  The  ex- 
ample and  criticism  of  Cicero  lead  to  the  conclusion  that  Roman 
Oratory  generally  had  a  tendency  to  be  redundant,  if  not  wordy. 
This  tendency  may  be  ascribed  to  the  prevailing  mode  in  which 
the  young  orators  of  the  day  sought  to  acquire  skill  in  speaking. 
The  Schools  of  the  Rhetorical  Teachers  were  thronged  by  them; 
and  here  they  were  taught  to  declaim  fluently  on  any  subject, 
without  reference  to  passion  or  feeling  or  earnestness  of  purpose. 
The  Romans  of  a  former  generation  endeavoured  to  crush 
such  schools;  and  it  was  not  at  Rome  that  the  most  cele- 
brated Teachers  were  to  be  found.  Athens  and  Rhodes  were 
the  fashionable  Universities,  as  we  may  call  them,  to  which 
the  young  Romans  resorted,  when  they  had  finished  their 
schooling  at  Rome.*  After  learning  grammar,  and  reading 
Latin  and  Greek  Poets  in  their  boyhood,  they  repaired  to  the 
more  famous  haunts  of  Grecian  learning  to  study  a  little  Geo- 
metry and  a  little  Philosophy;!  but  it  was  to  Rhetoric  or  the 
acquirement  of  a  facile  power  of  speaking  on  any  given  subject 
that  the  ambitious  youth  devoted  their  chief  eflPorts. 

§  8.  Education  in  Greek  literature  led  many  persons  in  this 
period  to  compose  Greek  memoirs  of  the  stirring  scenes  in 
which  they  had  lived  or  acted.  Examples  of  this  kind  had  been 
set  as  early  as  the  Second  Punic  War  by  Cincius  and  Fabius. 
It  now  became  very  common ;    but  many  began  to  employ  the 

I 

I 

''  *  We  know  this  of  the  two  Ciceros,  of  Caesar,  of  Horace,  of  Persius.     Tho 
age  at  which  they  went  seems  to  have  been  much  the  same  as  that  at  which 
young  men  in  the  present  day  go  to  the  Universities. 
f  Such  at  least  Horace  represents  it : 

"Adjecere  bonae  paullo  plus  artis  Athenae, — 
Scilicet  ut  posseni  curvo  dic/noscere  rectum, 
Atque  inter  silvas  Academi  quaerere  verum." — 2.  Bpist  ii.  43. 


Chap,  LXXI.  HISTORICAL  WORKS.  1Sl 

vernacular  language.  C.  Fannius  Strabo,  who  mounted  tlie 
walls  of  Carthage  by  the  side  of  Ti.  Gracchus,  and  his  con- 
temporary L.  Caelius  Antipater,  wrote  Latin  histories  famous 
in  their  time.  Both  were  thought  worthy  of  abridgment  by 
Brutus.  The  former  is  commended  by  Sallust,  the  latter  was 
preferred  to  Sallust  by  the  Emperor  Hadrian.  Even  Cicero 
commended  Antipater  as  an  improver  of  Latin  composition ; 
his  follower  Asellio,  says  the  Orator,  returned  to  the  meagre 
dullness  of  the  ancient  Annalists.  Then  came  L.  Cornelius 
Sisenna,  who  witnessed  the  bloody  scenes  of  the  Social  and 
First  Civil  Wars  and  wrote  their  history.  Cicero  commends 
his  style ;  Salkist  speaks  with  praise  of  his  diligence,  but  hints  at 
his  subserviency  to  Sylla  and  the  Senate.  But  the  great  men 
who  made  History  at  this  epoch  also  took  up  the  pen  to  write 
History.  Q.  Lutatius  Catulus,  the  colleague  of  Marius,  left  an 
accuunt  of  the  Cimbric  War.  The  good  Rutilius  Rufus  employed 
his  leisure  in  penning  an  historical  Avork.  Sylla  composed  a 
memoir  of  his  own  political  life,  to  which  Plutarch  often  refers ; 
but  from  the*  specimens  which  he  gives  the  Dictator  seems  not 
lo  have  been  scrupulously  impartial  in  his  narrative.  Lucullus 
composed  similar  memoirs.  Cicero  drew  up  a  Greek  notice  of 
his  Consulate  with  his  own  ready  pen,  and  endeavoured  to  per- 
suade L.  Lucceius  to  undertake  a  similar  task.  Even  the  grim 
Marius  wishes  to  have  his  deeds  commemorated  by  a  worthy 
hand.*  The  Commentaries  of  Caesar  have  been  already  quoted 
as  illustrating  one  characteristic  of  the  great  Dictator's  mind. 
His  pen  was  taken  up  by  several  of  his  officers,  Au.  Hirtius,  who 
completed  the  narrative  of  the  Gallic  War,  C.  Oppius,  to  whom 
the  memoirs  of  the  Dictator's  Wars  in  Egypt,  Africa,  and  Spain 
are  often  attributed,  L.  Cornelius  Balbus,  and  others.  But  the 
most  remarkable  prose-writer  of  the  late  Republican  Era  is  C. 
Sallustius  Crispus,  familiarly  known  to  us  as  Sallust.  The  two 
works  that  remain  to  us  from  the  pen  of  this  vigorous  writer, 
the  account  of  the  Catilinarian  Conspiracy  and  the  Jugurthan 
War,  are  rather  to  be  styled  political  pamphlets  than  histories. 
Sallust  was,  as  we  have  mentioned,  an  ardent  partisan  of  the 
Marian  and  Caesarian  party.  He  had  been  expelled  from  the 
Senate.  Dislike  of  the  reigning  oligarchy  appears  at  every  turn, 
notwithstanding  the  semblance  of  impartiality  assumed  by  a 
man  who  practised  the  profligacy  which  he  indignantly  de- 
nounces. But  Sallust's  writings  are  valuable  in  a  literary  point 
of  view,  because  they  disclose  the  terse  and  concentrated  energy 
of  which  the  Latin  language  was  capable,  qualities  little  favoured 

*  By  L.  Plotiufe,  a  rbetoriciao,  of  whom  little  is  known,  pro  Archid  9. 


738  CIVIL  WARS:    SECOND   PERIOD.  Book  VIL 

by  the  oratorical  tendencies  of  the  day,  but  used  with  marvellous 
effect  in  a  later  age  by  Tacitus, 

Other  writers  now  first  endeavoured  to  hand  down  in  Latin  a 
History  of  Rome  from  her  foundation,  or  from  early  periods  of 
her  existence.  Such  were  C.  Licinius  Macer,  Q.  Claudius  Quadri- 
garius,  and  Q.  Valerius  Antias,  all  born  about  the  beginning  of 
the  last  century  before  the  Christian  Era.  The  works  of  these 
and  other  Annalists  were  used  and  swallowed  up  by  the  History 
of  Livy,  who  was  born,  probably  at  Padua,  in  the  year  59  B.C.,' 
and  belongs  to  the  Imperial  Era  of  Augustus,  of  which  we  speak 
not  here. 

§  9.  Some  few  writers  in  this  same  period  began  to  cultivate 
grammatical  and  philological  studies.  The  founder  of  these  pur- 
suits at  Rome  is  reputed  to  be  L.  ^lius  Stilo,  the  friend  of  Q. 
Metellus  Numidicus,  and  his  companion  in  exile.  He  was  closely 
followed  by  Aurelius  Opilius,  a  freedman,  who  attended  Rutilius 
Rufus  into  exile,  as  Stilo  had  attended  Metellus.  But  the  man 
whose  name  is  in  this  department  most  conspicuous  is  M.  Teren- 
tius  Varro  of  Reate.*  He  was  born  in  116  b.c,  ten  years  later 
than  Cicero,  whose  friendship  he  cultivated  to  the  close  of  the 
great  Orator's  life.  Varro  was  a  laborious  student,  and  earned 
by  his  successful  pursuit  of  all  kinds  of  knowledge  a  reputation 
not  deserved  by  his  public  life.  From  the  first  he  adhered 
to  the  cause  of  Pompey.  After  Pharsalia,  Caesar  received  him 
with  the  same  clemency  that  he  had  shown  to  all  his  foes,  and 
employed  him  in  promoting  the  plans  which  he  had  formed 
of  establishing  a  Public  Library  at  Rome.  After  the  death  of 
Caesar  he  retired  to  the  country,  and  confined  himself  to  literary 
pursuits;  but  this  did  not  save  him  from  being  placed  on  the 
Proscription-list.  He  escaped,  however,  to  be  received  into 
favour  by  Octavian,  and  continued  his  studies  in  grammar,  phi- 
lology, and  agriculture,  till  he  reached  the  great  age  of  eighty- 
eight,  when  he  died  in  peace.  Of  his  great  work  on  the  Latin 
Language,  originally  consisting  of  twenty-four  Books,  six  remain 
to  attest  the  industry  of  the  man  and  the  infantine  state  of  phi- 
lological science  at  the  time.f  His  work  on  Agriculture  in  three 
books,  written  when  he  was  eighty  years  old,  is  still  in  our 
hands,  and  forms  the  most  accurate  account  we  possess  from 
the  Romans  of  the  subject.     Fragments  and   notices   of  many 

*  To  distinguish  him  from  P.  Varro  Atacinus,  a  Poet  from  the  banks  of 
the  Atax  (Aude)  in  Narbonese  Gaul.     See  Horace,  1  Serm.  x  46. 

f  For  instance  :  Ocrea,  quod  opponebatur  ob  cms :  Anas,  a  nando  •  Lus- 
cinia,  quia  luctuose  canere  existimetuv :  Ignis,  a  nascendo,  quod  hie  nascitua 
et  omne  quod  nascitur  ignis  scindit  •  Luna,  quod  lucet  noctu :  Sol,  quod 
iolum  ita  lucet  ut  ex  eo  dies  sit. 


Chap.  LXXL  CICERO  —  THE   DRAMA.  739 

otlier  writers  on  all  kinds  of  topics  have  been  handed  down  to 
justify  the  title  given  by  the  ancients  to  Varro — "the  most 
learned  of  the  Romans." 

§  10.  We  will  close  this  sketch  of  the  Prose  Literature  of  the 
last  age  of  the  Republic  with  a  notice  of  Cicero's  writings.  Of 
his  oratory  and  of  his  epistles  something  has  been  said  in  former 
pages ;  and  it  is  to  these  productions  that  we  must  attribute  the 
great  orator's  place  in  the  Commonwealth  of  Letters.  Of  his 
poems  it  were  better  to  say  nothing.  Of  his  memoirs  and 
Jiistorical  writings  little  is  known,  unless  we  count  the  fragments 
of  "  The  Republic  "  in  this  class.  But  his  rhetorical  and  philo- 
sophical Essays  each  fill  a  goodly  volume ;  and  these  writings 
have  been  the  themes  of  warm  admiration  for  ages  past.  Yet  it 
is  to  be  doubted  whether  the  praises  lavished  upon  them  are  not 
chiefly  due  to  the  magic  influence  of  the  language  in  which  they 
are  expressed.  The  "Brutus"  doubtless  is  extremely  interest- 
ing as  containing  the  judgment  of  Rome's  greatest  orator  on  all 
the  speakers  of  his  own  generation  and  of  foregoing  times.  The 
Dialogues  on  "  The  Orator"  are  yet  more  interesting  as  furnish- 
ing a  record  of  his  own  professional  experience.  But  the  philo- 
sophical works  of  Cicero  are  of  little  philosophical  value.  They 
were  written  not  so  much  to  teach  mankind  as  to  employ  his 
time  at  moments  when  he  was  banished  from  the  City.  Their 
highest  merits  consist  in  the  lucid  and  graceful  style,  which 
seduced  the  great  Italian  Latinists  at  the  end  of  the  fifteenth 
century  to  abjure  all  words  and  phrases  which  did  not  rest  on 
Ciceronian  authority,  and  which  led  Erasmus  himself,  who  re- 
sisted this  pedantry,  to  "  spend  ten  years  in  reading  Cicero." 

§  11.  The  Dramatic  Art  fell  more  and  more  into  dishonour. 
We  hear,  indeed,  of  two  illustrious  actors,  vEsopus  and  Roscius, 
who  where  highly  honoured  at  Rome,  and  died  in  possession  of 
large  fortunes.  But  it  was  from  the  great  families  that  their 
honours  and  the  means  of  making  money  came.  The  Theatres, 
as  we  have  before  observed,  remained  mere  temporary  buildings 
till  the  second  Consulship  of  Pompey,  when  the  first  stone 
theatre  at  Rome  was  erected  by  one  of  his  wealthy  freedmen. 
The  pieces  represented  were  more  of  the  nature  of  spectacles. 
Those  in  which  Roscius  and  ^sopus  acted  must  have  been  old 
plays  revived.  In  this  period  hardly  one  name  of  a  dramatic 
author  occurs.*  It  was  not  in  Theatres,  but  in  Amphitheatres, 
that  Rome  and  Roman  Towns  sought  amusement.  Not  only  is 
the  Flavian  Amphitheatre  the  most  gorgeous  of  the  remains  of 

*  T.  Quinctius  Atta  is  almost  the  only  one  known  to  us.  He  died  in 
78  B.C.,  and  it  is  evident  from  Horat.  2  Epist.  ii.  79,  that  his  Plays  were  the 
most  popular  dramas  of  the  day. 


740  CIVIL   WARS.    SECOND   PERIOD.  Book  VH. 

Imperial  Rome,  but  at  all  places  where  Roman  remains  are  pre- 
served, at  Verona  in  Transpadane  Gaul,  at  Aries  and  Nismes  in 
"the  Province,"  at  Treves  on  the  distant  Moselle,  it  is  the  Am- 
phitheatre that  characterises  the  Roman  City,  as  it  is  the  Theatre 
that  marks  the  Greek. 

§  12.  During  this  period,  indeed,  a  new  kind  of  dramatic 
representation  was  introduced,  which  enjoyed  a  short-lived 
popularity.  This  was  the  Mime.  The  name  at  least  was 
borrowed  from  the  Greeks  of  Sicily.  The  Greek  Mime  was  a 
kind  of  Comic  Dialogue  in  prose,  adapted  to  the  purposes  after- 
wards pursued  by  the  Roman  Satire.  But  while  the  Greek 
Mime  in  the  hands  of  Sophron  assumed  a  grave  and  dignified 
character,  so  that  Aristotle  classes  him  among  Poets  though  he 
wrote  in  prose,  the  Roman  Mime  was  generally  coarse  and  licen- 
tious. Sylla  was  particularly  fond  of  these  productions  and  their 
authors.  After  his  time,  Dec.  Laberius,  a  Knight,  strove  to  give 
them  greater  dignity.  His  Mimes,  as  the  fragments  show,  were 
in  iambic  verse,  and  diftered  from  Comedy  chiefly  in  their 
absence  of  plot  and  their  relation  to  the  topics  of  the  day.  The 
fame  of  Laberius  was  rivalled  by  Publ.  Syrus,  a  freedman  who 
acted  in  his  own  Mimes,  whereas  the  Knighthood  of  Laberius 
forbade  this  degradation.  Caesar,  however,  on  the  occasion  of 
his  quadruple  Triumph,  thonght  fit  to  order  Laberius  to  enter 
into  a  contest  with  Syrus ;  and  the  Knight,  though  a  man  of 
sixty  years,  dared  not  refuse.  His  sense  of  the  indignity  was 
strongly  marked  by  a  fine  passage  in  the  Prologue,  still  preserved : 

The  Gods  themselves  cannot  gainsay  his  might ; 
And  how  can  I,  a  man,  think  to  gainsay  it  ? 
So  then,  albeit  I'  ve  lived  twice  thirty  years 
Free  from  all  taint  of  blame,  I  left  my  house 
At  morn  a  Roman  Knight  and  shall  return 
At  eve  a  sorry  Player.     Faith,  my  Hfe 
Is  one  day  longer  than  it  should  have  been.* 

In  the  course  of  the  dialogue  he  expressed  himself  with  freedom 
against  the  arbitrary  power  of  the  great  Dictator : — 

And  then,  good  People,  we've  outlived  our  Freedom,  f 


*  "  Etenim  ipsi  Di  negare  cui  nil  potuerunt, 
Hominem  me  denegare  quis  possit  pati  ? 
Ergo  bis  tricenis  aetis  annis  sme  nota 
Eques  Romanus  lare  degressus  meo 
Domum  reverto  Mimus.     Nimirum  hoc  die 
Uno  plus  vixi  mihi  quam  vivendus  fuit " 

f  "  Porro,  Quirites,  libertatem  perdimus." 


Chap.  LXXI.  LUCRETIUS.  H- 

And  in  another  line  almost  ventured  to  threaten: — 


It  needs  must  be 


That  he  fears  many,  whom  so  many  fear.* 

Caesar,  however,  took  no  further  notice  of  these  caustic  sallies 
than  to  assign  the  prize  to  Syrus. 

§  13.  In  Poetry,  the  long  period  from  the  death  of  Lucilius 
to  the  appearance  of  Virgil  and  Horace, — a  period  of  about 
sixty  years, — is  broken  only  by  two  names  worthy  of  mention. 
But  it  must  be  admitted  that  these  names  take  a  place  in  the 
first  ranks  of  Roman  Literature.  It  is  sufficient  to  mention 
Lucretius  and  Catullus. 

T.  Lucretius  Cams  was  a  Roman  of  good  descent,  as  his  name 
shows.  All  we  know  of  hnn  is  that  he  was  born  about  95  b.c, 
and  died  by  his  own  hand  in  the  forty-fourth  year  of  his  age. 
But  if  little  is  related  of  his  life,  his  great  Poem  on  the  Nature 
of  the  Universe  is  known  by  name  at  least  to  all.  It  is  dedicated 
to  C.  Memmius  Gemellus,  a  profligate  man  and  an  unscrupulous 
politician,  who  sided  now  with  the  Senatorial  party,  now  with 
Caesar,  and  ended  his  days  in  exile  at  Mitylene.  But  Memmius 
had  a  fine  sense  in  literature,  as  is  evinced  by  his  patronage  of 
Lucretius  and  of  Catullus. 

The  poem  of  Lucretius  seems  to  have  been  published  about 
the  time  when  Clodius  was  lord  of  misrule  in  the  Roman  Forum, 
that  is,  about  58  B.C.  Memmius  took  part  against  the  Dema- 
gogue, and  to  this  the  Poet  probably  alludes  in  the  introduction 
to  the  First  Book,  where  he  regrets  the  necessity  which  involved 
his  friend  in  political  struggles.f 

The  attempt  of  Lucretius  in  his  great  poem  is  to  show  that  all 
creation  took  place  and  that  all  nature  is  sustained,  without  the 
agency  of  a  creating  and  sustaining  God,  by  the  self-operation 
of  the  elemental  atoms  of  which  all  matter  is  composed  and  into 
which  all  matter  may  be  resolved.  The  doctrine  is  the  doctrine 
of  Epicurus ;  but  his  arguments  are  in  great  part  borrowed  from 
the  early  Greek  philosophers,  who  delivered  their  doctrines  in 
heroic  verse  of  the  same  majestic  kind  that  extorts  admiration 
from  the  reader  of  Lucretius.  He  professes  unbounded  reverence 
for  the  name  of  Empedocles ;  and,  doubtless,  if  the  works  of  this 
philosopher,  of  Anaxagoras,  and  others  were  in  our  hands,  we 
should  see,  what  their  fragments  indicate,  the  sources  from 
which  Lucretius  drew.     Mingled  with  the  philosophic  argument 

*  "  Necesse  est  multos  timeat,  quern  multi  timent." 

f  "Nam  neque  nos  agere  hoc  patriai  tempore  iniquo 

Possumus  aequo  animo,  nee  Memmi  clara  propago 
Talibus  in  rebus  communi  desse  saluti." — i.  41. 


742  CIVIL   WARS:    SECOND   PERIOD.  Book  VIL 

are  passages  of  noble  verse;  but  here  also  it  may  be  doubted 
how  far  we  can  believe  in  his  originality.  One  of  the  most  mag- 
nificent passages, — the  Sacrifice  of  Iphigenia, — is  taken  in  every 
detail  from  the  famous  Chorus  in  the  Agamemnon  of  ^schylus. 
When  we  see  this,  and  know  that  the  almost  universal  habit  of 
Latin  Poets  was  not  to  create,  but  to  adapt  and  borrow,  we  must 
pause  before  we  give  Lucretius  credit  for  originality. 

Yet  none  can  rise  from  the  perusal  of  Lucretius  without  feel- 
ing that  he  was  a  true  Poet.  The  ingenuity  with  which  he 
employs  Latin,  a  language  unused  to  philosophical  speculation, 
to  express  in  the  trammels  of  metre  the  most  technical  details 
of  natural  phenomena,  is  itself  admirable.  But  more  admirable 
are  those  majestic  outbursts  of  song  with  which  the  philo- 
sophical speculations  are  diversified.  The  indignant  and  melan- 
choly passion  with  which  he  attacks  the  superstitious  Religion 
of  his  time  cannot  but  touch  us,  though  we  feel  that  his  censure 
falls  not  upon  Superstition  only,  but  upon  the  sacred  form  of 
Religion  herself.  But  he  was  little  appreciated  at  Rome.  Cicero 
speaks  of  him  with  that  cold  praise  which  is  almost  worse  than 
censure,*  Horace  never  makes  mention  of  his  name.  Virgil 
alone  showed  the  true  feeling  of  a  poet  by  his  value  for  Lucre- 
tius. He  scrupled  not  to  borrow  whole  lines  from  his  poem ; 
many  passages  in  the  Georgics  bear  witness  to  the  faithful  study 
which  he  had  bestowed  on  the  works  of  his  great  predecessor,! 
and  in  one  often-quoted  place  he  confesses  his  inferiority  to  the 
great  didactic  Poet.J  On  the  whole,  it  may  be  afiirmed  that 
Lucretius  possessed  the  greatest  genius  of  all  Roman  Poets. 

§  14.  In  striking  contrast  to  the  majestic  gravity  of  Lucretius 
appears  the  second  Poet  whom  we  have  named.  C.  or  Q.  Vale- 
rius Catullus  (for  his  first  name  is  variously  given)  was  a  native 
of  Verona,  or  its  neighbourhood.  He  was  born  about  97  B.C., 
and  is  known  to  have  been  alive  in  the  Consulship  of  Vatinius§ 
(47  B.C.).     He  was  then  fifty  years  of  age,  and  we  hear  of  him 

*  "Lucretii  poemata,  ut  scribis,  ita  sunt:  non  multis  luminibus  iQgenii, 
multae  tamen  artis." — Ad  Quinhim  Fratrem,  ii.  11,  4. 

f  Compare,  for  instance,  Oeorg.  i.  121  sq.  with  Lucret.  v.  931  sq.;  Georrj 
ii.  461  with  Litcret.  ii.  24;  Georg.  iii.  289  with  Lucret.  i.  921;  Georg.  iii 
478  sq.  with  the  description  of  the  Plague  in  Lucret.  vi. ;  <fec. 

X  "Felix  qui  potuit  rerum  cognoscere  causas 

Atque  metus  omnes  et  inexorabile  fatum 
Subjecit  pedibus  strepitumque  Acherontis  avari. 

*  *  *  « 

Sin  has  ne  possim  naturae  accedere  partes, 

Frigidus  obstiterit  circum  prgecoT-dia  sanguis, 

Flumina  amem  silvasque  inglorUs !"  <fec. — Georg.  ii.  490,  sq. 

^  "Per  Consulatum  pejerat  Vatinius." — ^lii.  3. 


Chap.  LXXL  CATULLUS   AND   CALYUS.  Y43 

no  more.  His  father  was  a  friend  of  Cgesar,  and  left  his  son  in 
the  possession  of  some  property.  He  had  a  house  on  the  lovely 
peninsula  of  Sirmio,  at  the  foot  of  Lake  Benacus,  well  known  from 
his  own  description  ;*  he  had  a  villa  near  Tibur,  and  many  of 
his  poems  indicate  the  licentiousness  of  the  life  which  he  led  at 
Rome.  He  endeavoured  to  mend  his  broken  fortunes  by  attend- 
ing Memmius,  the  friend  of  Lucretius,  when  he  went  as  Praetor 
into  Bithynia,  but  was  little  satisfied  with  the  result,  and  bitterly 
complained  of  the  stinginess  of  his  patron .f  When  he  was  m 
Asia,  his  brother  died,  and  he  addressed  to  Hortalus,  son  of  the 
Orator  Hortensius,  that  beautiful  and  affecting  elegy  which  alone 
would  entitle  him  to  a  foremost  place  among  Roman  Poets.J; 
Fearless  of  consequences,  he  libelled  Caesar  in  language  too  coarse 
for  modern  ears.  The  great  man  laughed  when  he  heard  the 
libel,  and  asked  the  poet  to  dinner  the  same  day. 

The  poems  of  Catullus  range  from  gross  impurity  to  lofty 
flights  of  inspiration.  The  fine  poem  called  the  Atys  is  the 
only  Latin  specimen  which  we  possess  of  that  dithyrambic  spirit 
which  Horace  repudiated  for  himself.  The  elegy  to  Hortalus  is 
perhaps  the  most  touching  piece  of  poetry  that  has  been  left  us 
by  the  ancients.  The  imitation  of  Callimachus  is  a  masterpiece 
in  its  way.  The  little  poems  on  passing  events, — pieces  de  circon- 
stance  (as  the  French  call  them),  are  the  most  lively,  natural, 
and  graceful  products  of  the  Latin  Muse.  To  those  who  agree 
in  this  estimate  it  seems  strange  that  Horace  should  only  notice 
Catullus  in  a  passing  sneer.§  It  is  difficult  to  acquit  the  judge 
of  jealousy.  For  Catullus  cannot  be  ranked  with  the  old  Poets, 
such  as  Livius,  Ennius,  and  others,  against  the  extravagant 
admiration  of  whom  Horace  not  unjustly  protested.  His  lyric 
compositions  are  as  finished  and  perfect  as  the  productions  of 
Horace,  who  never  wrote  anything  so  touching  as  the  Elegy  to 
Hortalus,  or  so  full  of  poetic  fire  as  the  Atys. 

With  Catullus  may  be  mentioned  his  friend  C.  Lucinius  Macer, 
commonly  called  Calvus,  whom  Horace  honours  by  comprehend- 
ing him  in  the  same  condemnation.  He  was  some  fifteen  years 
younger,  and  was  probably  son  of  Lucinius  Macer  the  Historian. 
He  was  a  good  speaker,  and  a  Poet  (if  we  believe  other  authors, 

*  Ad  Sirmionem  Peninsulara,  xxxi. 
f  xxviii.  6,  sq.,  xlvii.  2. 
*    i  Ixv.     Compare  e. 

§  "  Quos  neque  puleher 

Hermogenes  unquam  legit,  neque  simius  iste, 

Nil  praeter  Calvum  et  doctus  cantare  Catullum." — 1  Serm.  x.  18. 

This  was  written  indeed  before  Horace  published  any  of  his  Odes,  but  not 
necessarily  before  he  had  partly  executed  his  design  of  writing  Latin  Lyrics. 


744  *     CIVIL  WARS :    SECOND   PERIOD.  Book  YiL 

rather  than  Horace),  not  unworthy  to  be  coupled  with  Catullus. 
He  died  at  the  early  age  of  thirty-five  or  thirty-six. 

Another  poet  highly  praised  by  Catullus  was  C.  Helvius  Cinna, 
supposed  to  be  the  unlucky  man  torn  to  pieces  by  the  rabble 
after  Caesar's  funeral  by  mistake  for  L.  Cornelius  Cinna. 

§  15.  At  the  time  that  the  battles  of  Philippi  secured  to  Italy 
somewhat  of  tranquillity,  many  others  began  to  devote  them- 
selves to  poetry.  Among  these  were  L.  Varius  Rufus,  celebrated 
by  Horace  as  the  Epic  Poet  of  his  time  ;*  and  the  few  fragments 
from  his  pen  which  remain  do  much  to  justify  the  praise.  He 
was  the  intimate  friend  both  of  Horace  and  Virgil. 

Furius  Bibaculus  also  may  be  mentioned  here  as  an  Epic  Poet, 
who  attempted  to  commit  to  verse  the  campaign  of  Caesar  in 
Gaul.  Horace  ridicules  his  pretensions  in  two  well-known  pas- 
sages ;f  but  there  is  reason  to  think  that  in  the  case  of  Furius 
also  the  satirist  was  influenced  by  some  personal  feeling. 

But  the  fame  of  all  other  Poets  was  obscured  by  the  bright- 
ness which  encircled  the  names  of  Virgil  and  Horace.  Properly 
their  history^  belongs  to  the  Augustan  or  Imperial  era.  But  as 
they  both  published  some  of  their  best  works  before  the  Battle 
of  Actium,  a  slight  notice  of  them  may  be  permitted  here. 

§  16.  P.  Virgilius  (or  Vergilius)  Maro  was  born  at  Andes,  a 
village  near  Mantua,  in  the  famous  year  10  b.c,  so  that  he  was 
entering  manhood  about  the  time  when  Lucretius  put  an  end 
to  his  own  life.  From  his  father  he  inherited  a  small  estate. 
After  the  Battle  of  Philippi,  he  was  among  those  whose  lands 
were  "handed  over  to  the  soldiery  of  the  victorious  Triumvirs. 
But  what  seemed  his  ruin  brought  him  into  earlier  notice  than 
otherwise  might  have  been  his  lot.  He  was  introduced  to 
Maecenas  by  Asinius  Pollio,  himself  a  Poet,  who  had  been  made 
Governor  of  Cisalpine  Gaul,  and  was  reinstated  in  his  property. 
This  happy  event,  as  every  one  knows,  he  celebrates  in  his  First 
Eclogue.  But  it  appears  that  when  he  tried  to  resume  pos- 
session he  was  nearly  slain  by  the  rude  soldier  who  had  received 
a  grant  of  the  land,  and  it  was  some  months  before  he  was  se- 
curely restored.];  In  company  with  Horace,  Varius,  and  others, 
he  attended  Maecenas  in  the  famous  journey  to  Brundusium 
(probably  in  Si  b.c).  He  had  already  (in  the  year  40  b.c.) 
written  the  famous  Eclogue  on  the  Consulship  of  Pollio,  of  which 
we  have  before  spoken ;  and  soon  after  this  he  began  the 
Georgics,  at  the  special  desire  of  Maecenas.  They  seem  to  have 
been  published  in  their  complete  form  soon  after  the  Battle  of 
Actium.     For  the  rest  of  his  life,  which  he  closed  at  Brundusium 

*  1  Carm.  vi.  8,  1  Serm.  x.  44.  f  1  Serm.  x.  Si,  2.  Serm.  v.  41. 

:j:  To  this  he  is  supposed  to  refer  in  his  Ninth  Eclogue. 


Chap.  LXXI.  VIRGIL— HORACR  745 

in  the  fifty-first  year  of  his  age  (b.c.  19),  he  was  occupied  vfit\ 
his  ^neid,  which  with  modest  self-depreciation  he  ordered  to 
be  destroyed.  But  it  was  revised  by  his  friends  Varius  and 
Plotius,  and  published  by  order  of  the  Emperor,  whom  he  had 
accompanied  in  a  tour  through  Greece  just  before  his  death. 

The  character  of  Virgil  was  gentle  and  amiable,  his  manners 
simple  and  unobtrusive,  and  we  hear  little  from  himself  of  the 
^reat  men  with  whom  he  was  associated  in  friendship.  His 
J.'alth  was  feeble,  and  his  life  passed  away  in  uneventful  study 
of  which  his  poems  were  the  fruit  and  are  the  evidence.  Nothing 
can  be  more  finished  than  the  style  and  versification  of  Virgi[ 
Ilis  phraseology  is  so  idiomatic  as  often  to  defy  translation ;  hii 
learning  so  great,  that  each  page  requires  a  commentary.  Hg 
bestowed  the  greatest  labour  in  polishing  his  writings ;  his  habit 
being,  as  is  said,  to  pour  forth  a  vast  quantity  of  verses  in  the 
morning,  which  he  reduced  to  a  small  number  by  continuaj 
elaboration,  after  the  manner  (as  he  said)  of  a  bear  licking  her 
cubs  into  shape.  It  may  be  said  that  Cicero,  Horace,  and  Yirgi/ 
lilmsclf,  completed  the  Hellenising  tendency  which  had  begun 
with  Ennius.  Lucretius,  though  he  borrowed  his  matter  from 
the  old  Greek  philosophers,  is  much  more  Roman  in  his  style. 
Catullus  is  more  Roman  still.  But  Virgil,  except  in  idiom,  is 
Greek  everywhere.  His  Eclogues  are  feeble  echoes  of  the  Doric 
grace  of  Theocritus.  His  Georgics  are  elaborately  constructed 
from  the  works  of  Hellenic  writers,  tempered  in  some  of  the 
noblest  poetic  passages  with  the  grave  majesty  of  Lucretius.  In 
his  iEneid  almost  every  comparison  and  description  is  borrowed 
from  Homer,  Apollonius,  and  other  Greek  Poets.  In  strength 
of  character  his  Epic  fails  entirely.  No  one  person  in  the 
^neid  excites  awe.  love,  sympathy,  or  any  other  strong  feeling, 
unless  we  except  the  untimely  end  of  Nisus  and  Euryalus,  the 
fates  of  young  Lausus  and  young  Pallas,  and  the  death  of  the 
heroine  Camilla.  But,  notwithstanding  all  this,  such  is  the 
tender  grace  of  his  style,  such  the  elaborate  beauty  of  his 
descriptions,  that  we  read  again  and  yet  again  with  renewed 
delight. 

§  17.  To  give  any  adequate  account  of  the  gay  Horace  in  a 
page  is  impossible.  Q.  Horatius  Flaccus  was  born  in  the  Colony 
of  Venusia  in  the  year  65  B.C.,  two  years  before  the  Consulship 
of  Cicero.  He  was  therefore  nearly,  six  years  younger  than 
Virgil,  and  two  years  older  than  Octavian.  He  died  in  the  fifty- 
seventh  year  of  his  age  (8  b.c),  following  his  friend  and  patron 
Maecenas,  who  died  a  month  or  two  before,  according  to  his  own 
prophetic  promise.*  His  father  was  a  Freedman  by  birth,  and 
*   Carrn.  xvii.  8,  sq. 

32 


T4Q  CIVIL  WARS :    SECOND   PERIOD.  Book  VIL 

by  profession  a  Tax-collector,  a  good  and  tender  parent,  caring 
above  all  things  for  the  education  of  his  son.  He  was  at  the 
expense  of  taking  the  promising  boy  to  Rome,  probably  when  he 
was  about  twelve  years  old,  where  he  attended  the  school  of 
Orbilius,  known  to  others  besides  Horace  for  his  belief  in  the 
maxim  that  the  "  sparing  of  the  rod  spoils  the  child."*  There 
he  learnt  Greek  as  well  as  Latin,  by  reading  Homer  and  the  old 
Roman  Poets.  About  the  age  of  eighteen  he  went  to  complete 
his  education  at  Athens,  where  Q.  Cicero  was  his  fellow-student. 
He  was  at  Athens  when  Csesar  was  murdered,  and  became  an 
officer  in  the  army  of  Brutus.  After  the  Battle  of  Philippi  he 
returned  to  Rome,  and  was  thrown  entirely  upon  the  world.  He 
obtained,  we  know  not  how,  a  Clerkship  in  the  Treasury,  on  the 
proceeds  of  which  he  contrived  to  live  in  the  most  frugal  manner : 
vegetables  and  water  formed  his  truly  poetic  diet.f  But  he  was 
not  left  to  languish  in  poverty.  He  became  acquainted  with 
Varius  and  Virgil,  and  was  by  them  introduced  to  Maecenas ;  and 
we  have  from  his  own  pen  a  pleasing  narrative  of  the  introduction.^ 
For  several  months,  however,  he  received  no  sign  of  the  great 
man's  favour;  but  before  the  journey  to  Brundusium  he  was  evi- 
dently established  in  intimacy  as  great  as  Virgil's.  Soon  after  this 
he  published  the  First  Book  of  the  Satires.  The  Second  Book  and 
the  Epodes  followed ;  but  in  the  interval  he  had  received  a  sub- 
stantial reward  from  his  patron  in  the  present  of  the  Sabine  farm, 
so  prettily  described  by  himself.§  At  a  later  period  he  became 
master  of  a  cottage  at  Tibur,  distant  about  fifteen  miles  from 
his  Sabine  villa.  But  it  must  be  said  that,  notwithstanding  his 
dependence  upon  patrons,  Horace  always  maintained  a  steady 
determination  not  to  be  subservient  to  any  one.  Emperor  or 
Minister.  The  Epistle  to  Maecenas  deserves  especial  notice*, 
for  it  is  written  in  a  tone  equally  creditable  to  the  Poet 
who  would  not  condescend  to  flatter  the  Patron,  and  to  the 
Patron  who  tolerated  such  freedom  in  the  Poet.||  Hitherto  he 
had  declined  the  name  of  Poet.  But  the  publication  of  the 
Three  Books  of  his  Odes  in  rapid  succession  indicated  his  title 
to  this  name,  though  still  he  declined  to  approach  subjects 
of  Epic  grandeur.  Before  this  he  had  been  introduced  to 
Agrippa,  and  somewhat  later  to  Octavia.  The  First  Book  of  his 
Epistles  seems  to  have  been  completed  in  21  e.g.,  when  the  Poet 

*  A  line  is  quoted  from  Doraitius  Marsus,  a  brother  poet,  who  was  edu- 
cated at  the  school  of  Orbilius : 

"  Si  quos  Orbilius  scutica  ferul^ve  ceeidit." 
f  See  the  description  of  his  day,  1  Serm.  vi.  110,  sg. 
t  Ibid.  55,  s^.  §  1  JEJpist.  xvi.  4.  $q. 

I  1  Epist.  vii. 


Chap.  LXXI.  ART.  747 

was  beginning  his  forty-fifth  year.*  Then  followed  the  Carmen 
Seculare,  which  may  be  fixed,  by  the  occasion  to  which  it  belongs, 
to  the  year  17  b.c.  After  this  came  the  Fourth  Book  of  Odes 
and  the  Second  Book  of  Epistles,  works  in  great  part  due  to  the 
express  request  of  Augustus. 

The  popularity  of  the  Odes  of  Horace  has  ever  been  great.  He 
disclaims  the  title  of  Poet  for  his  other  writings:  and  of  the 
Odes  he  says  that  he  wrote  poetry  only  under  the  sharp  com-' 
pulsion  of  poverty .f  Much  is  borrowed  from  the  Greek,  as  wo 
know ;  and  if  the  works  of  the  Greek  Lyric  Poets  remained  to 
us  in  a  less  fragmentary  form,  we  should  doubtless  find  far  more 
numerous  examples  of  imitation.  But  the  style  of  Horace  is  so 
finished,  his  sentiments  expressed  with  so  much  lively  precision, 
and  in  words  so  happily  chosen,  that  he  deserves  the  title  which 
he  claims  of  "Rome's  Lyric  Minstrel."  No  doubt  his  poetry  was 
the  result  of  great  labour,  and  every  persual  of  his  Odes  strengthens 
the  belief  that  he  spoke  literally  when  he  compared  himself  to 
"the  Matine  bee,  rifling  the  sweets  of  many  flowers,  and  finishing 
his  work  with  assiduous  labour.  It  is  in  the  First  Book  of  the 
Epistles  that  we  must  seek  the  true  genius  of  Horace, — the  easy 
man  of  the  world,  popular  with  his  great  patrons,  the  sworn 
friend  of  his  brother  poets,  good-natured  to  every  one,  except 
the  old  poets  of  Rome,  whom  he  undervalued  partly  (as  in  the 
case  of  Livius)  from  dislike  for  a  rude  and  imperfect  style,  partly 
(as  we  must  suspect  in  the  case  of  Catullus  and  Calvus)  from  an 
irrepressible  emotion  of  jealousy. 

§  18.  The  Elegiac  Poets,  TibuUus  and  Propertius,  with  their 
younger  and  more  famous  compeer  Ovid,  and  many  writers  of 
lesser  note,  belong  to  the  Imperial  era  of  Augustus. 

§  19.  A  few  words  may  be  added  on  the  subject  of  Art  gene- 
rally. With  the  great  fortunes  that  had  been  amassed  first  by 
Senatorial  Rulers  and  afterwards  by  the  favourites  of  the  Trium- 
virs, it  is  natural  that  Art  in  some  shape  should  be  cultivated. 
But  Greek  Masters  still  ruled  at  Rome ;  and  a  taste  began  for 
collecting  ancient  works,  such  as  resembles  the  eagerness  with 
which  the  pictures  of  the  old  Masters  are  sought  in  modern 
Europe.  In  the  oration  of  Cicero  against  Verres  we  have  an 
elaborate  exposure  of  the  base  and  greedy  arts  by  which  that 
wholesale  plunderer  robbed  the  Sicilians  of  their  finest  Works  of 
Art.     It  was,  no  doubt,  an  extreme  case ;    but  Verres  would  not 

*  It  is  impossible  here  to  enter  minutely  into  the  time  of  the  publication  of 
Horace's  wo^ks.  Their  order  is  pretty  well  ascertained,  as  given  in  the  text. 
The  date  of  none,  except  the  1st  Book  of  the  Epistles  and  the  Carmen  Seculare, 
can  be  settled  exactly,  even  after  all  that  has  been  written  by  Bentley,  Tait, 
Milman,  and  many  German  scholar*. 

t  2  Epist.  ii.  50. 


i4S  CIVIL  WARS :    SECOITD  PERIOD.  Book  VII. 

have  dared  to  proceed  to  extremities  so  audacious,  unless  he  had 
been  encouraged  by  many  precedents. 

§  20.  The  Arts  also  of  the  Builder  and  Engineer  grew  with  the 
growing  wealth  of  Rome.  It  was  one  of  the  chief  and  favourite 
occupations  of  C.  Gracchus,  during  his  brief  reign,  to  improve 
the  roads  and  bridges.  The  great  Dictator  Caesar  had  many 
projects  in  view  when  he  was  cut  off, — as,  for  instance,  the  drain- 
ing of  the  mountain-lakes  by  tunnels,  of  the  Pontine  marshes  by 
canal.  Many  of  these  works  were  afterwards  executed  by  Agrippa, 
who  also  (as  we  have  said)  constructed  the  Julian  harbour,  by 
uniting  the  Lucrine  and  Avernian  Lakes  with  the  sea.  In  the 
year  33  b.c.  he  condescended  to  act  as  ^dile,  and  signalised  his 
Magistracy  by  a  complete  repair  of  the  aqueducts  and  sewers. 

Before  this  time,  also,  nad  begun  the  adornment  of  the  City 
with  noble  buildings  of  public  use.  A  vast  Basilica*  was  laid 
out  and  begun  by  M.  ^Emilius  Paullus,  Consul  in  50  b.c.  This 
magnificent  work  was  said  to  have  been  erected  with  money 
received  from  Caesar  as  the  price  of  the  Consul's  good  services.f 
But  the  Basilica  ^'Emilia  was  eclipsed  by  the  splendid  plans  of 
the  Dictator  Caesar.  A  great  space  had  lately  been  cleared  by 
the  fire  kindled  at  the  funeral  of  Clodius.  Other  buildings  were 
pulled  down,  and  the  Basilica  Julia  extended  on  the  south  of  the 
Forum  along  the  frontage  formerly  occupied  by  the  Tabernaj 
Veteres.  The  great  work  was  completed  by  Octavian.  A 
still  more  magnificent  edifice  were  the  Thermae  or  Hot-batha. 
of  Agrippa,  and  the  noble  Temple  erected  by  the  same  great 
builder,  which  still  remains  under  the  name  of  the  Pantheon. 
In  this  structure  the  Arch,  that  instrument  by  which  Rome 
was  enabled  to  give  that  combination  of  stability  and  magnitude 
which  distinguishes  all  her  works,  achieved  its  greatest  triumph ; 
and  here  was  seen  the  first  of  those  great  vaulted  domes  which 
became  the  distinctive  attribute  of  the  Christian  Architecture 
of  modern  Italy.  By  these  and  many  other  works, — politic  both 
because  they  increased  the  magnificence  and  the  health  of  the 
capital,  and  also  gave  constant  employment  to  workmen  who 
might  otherwise  have  been  turbulent, — the  Emperor  Augustus 
was  enabled  to  boast  that  he  had  "  found  Rome  of  brick,  and 
left  it  of  marble."]: 

*  The  Basilica  was  a  Hall  of  greater  length  than  breadth,  divided  into  a 
central  nave,  flanked  on  each  side  by  aisles.  Portions  of  these  buildings 
were  set  apart  for  the  use  of  the  Law-courts,  and  for  the  transaction  of  other 
kinds  of  business.  The  first  Basilica  was  the  Porcia,  b.c.  184  ;  the  second 
the  Fulvia,  b.c.  179.     That  of  Paullus  was  a  restoration  of  the  latter. 

f  Chapt.  Ixvii.  §  2. 

X  "  Ut  jure  sit  gloriatus  marmoream  se  relinquere,  quam  lateritiam  acce- 
pi»set"— Sueton.  Octav.  28. 


Chap.  LXXI.  SUPERSTITION.  749 

§  21.  But  it  was  not  to  Rome  alone  that  Augustus,  Agrippa, 
and  others  confined  their  labours.  Nothing  more  excites  our 
wonder  than  to  stumble  upon  costly  works,  built  with  a  solidity 
that  seems  to  imply  immortality,  in  the  mountain  districts  of 
Italy,  or  in  remote  valleys  of  Gaul  or  Asia  Minor  or  Africa. 
Wherever  the  Roman  went  he  carried  with  him  his  art  of  Build- 
ing. The  Aqueduct  which  was  constructed  by  Agrippa  to  supply 
Nemausus  (Nismes),  a  colony  of  no  great  note,  with  water,  is  a 
proof  of  this  assertion.  The  largest  modern  cities  can  hardly 
show  a  work  of  public  utility  so  magnificent  as  the  structure 
which  is  known  to  thousands  of  modern  travellers  under  the 
name  of  the  Pont  du  Gard. 

§  22.  It  is  needless  here  to  repeat  the  dismal  tale  of  corruption 
and  vice  which  was  presented  in  the  life  of  most  of  the  eminent 
Romans  of  the  time.  Even  the  rich  who  were  not  vicious  in 
their  pleasures,  such  as  Lucullus  and  Hortensius,  showed  less  of 
taste  and  good  sense  in  their  expenditure  than  a  desire  of  aston- 
ishing by  display.  The  old  Religion  had  lost  its  hold  upon  the 
public  mind,  though  superstitious  practices  lingered  among  the 
uneducated  classes.  Philosophy  did  little  to  supply  the  void. 
The  practical  tendencies  of  the  Roman  mind  attached  it  to  the 
most  practical  doctrines  of  the  Hellenic  Teachers.  The  moral 
philosophy  of  Zcno  and  Epicurus  divided  the  Roman  world ;  for 
here  were  to  be  found  broad  and  positive  principles  of  action, 
comprehensible  by  all.  The  finer  speculations  of  the  Academic 
and  Peripatetic  Schools  found  few  votaries  among  men  who  were 
equally  downright  in  their  purposes  of  virtuous  or  vicious 
living.  In  earlier  times  the  Stoic  doctrines  had  found  a  response 
in  the  hearts  of  men  who  revived  the  stern  simplicity  of  the  old 
Roman  life.  Some  of  the  best  men,  in  the  times  that  followed 
the  Punic  Wars,  were  Stoics  by  practice  as  well  as  in  profession. 
Such  were  ^milius  Paullus  and  his  son  the  younger  Scipio. 
Notwithstanding  the  pride  and  self-sufficiency  which  was  the 
common  result  of  Zeno's  discipline,  there  was  something  en- 
nobling in  the  principle  that  a  man's  business  in  life  is  to 
do  his  Duty,  regardless  of  pleasure  or  pain,  riches  or  poverty, 
honour  or  disgrace.  But  Nature  is  too  strong  for  such  a  system 
to  prevail  for  many  years  or  over  many  men.  The  popular 
Philosophy  of  the  later  times  was  borrowed  from  the  School  of 
Epicurus,  but  it  was  an  easy  and  fashionable  modification  of 
the  morality  of  that  Philosopher.  Epicurus  taught  that  humai? 
happiness  could  not  exist  without  Pleasure,  but  he  added,  tbai, 
without  the  practice  of  Virtue  real  Pleasure  could  not  exist. 
The  former  precept  was  adopted  by  the  sensualists  of  Rome; 
the  latter  was  set  aside. 


';50  CIVIL  WARS:    SECOND   PERIOD.  Book  YIL 

Nothing  more  strongly  proves  the  vicious  state  of  society 
than  the  neglect  of  the  marriage  tie  and  the  unblushing  immo- 
rality of  the  female  sex.  Caesar  and  Octavian,  though  their  own 
practice  was  not  such  as  to  set  example  to  society,  both  saw  the 
danger  of  this  state  of  things,  and  both  exerted  themselves  to 
restore  at  least  outward  decency.  Lawful  marriage  they  endea- 
voured  to  encourage  or  even  to  enforce  by  Law. 

§  23.  But  if  Religion  had  given  way,  Superstition  was  busy  at 
work.  Men  in  general  cannot  entirely  throw  aside  those  senti- 
mants  which  are  unfolded  w^ith  more  or  less  of  strength  in  every 
mind  and  in  every  state  of  social  existence.  There  will  still  be 
cravings  after  spiritual  things  and  the  invisible  world.  The 
ancient  Oracles  had  fallen  into  disrepute,  and  soon  after  the  Fall 
of  the  Republic  (as  is  well  known  to  Christian  students)  shrank 
into  ignoble  silence.  But  behind  the  Hellenic,  a  new  world  was 
now  opened  to  Rome.  She  became  familiar  with  the  mystic  specu- 
lation and  the  more  spiritual  creeds  of  the  East.  The  fanatical 
worship  of  the  Egyptian  Divinities,  Isis  and  Serapis,  became 
common  even  in  Rome,  notwithstanding  the  old  feeling  against 
Cleopatra,  and  notwithstanding  many  attempts  to  crush  this 
worship.  It  became  a  common  practice  to  seek  for  revelatior.s 
of  the  future  by  means  of  the  stars.  The  grim  Marius  carried 
about  with  him  a  Syrian  soothsayer.  To  consult  Babylonian 
star-readers  was  familiar  to  the  friends  of  Horace.  Magi  were 
the  companions  of  Roman  magistrates.  One  of  Juvenal's  most 
striking  pictures  is  that  of  the  gloomy  voluptuary  Tiberius 
sitting  in  his  island  Palace  surrounded  by  a  host  of  Chalda^an 
astrologers.  Nor  could  the  purer  and  sublimer  images  of  the 
Hebrew  Scriptures  be  unknown.  Jews  abounded  in  every  po- 
pulous City  of  the  Empire  long  before  they  were  scattered  by  the 
fall  of  their  Holy  City.  Virgil  drew  one  of  his  noblest  bui'sts 
of  poetry  from  the  inspiration  of  Isaiah's  prophetic  visions. 
Others  sought  the  presence  of  God  in  Nature,  and  confounded 
the  Divinity  with  his  works.  Man  seemed  to  them  such  a  mass 
of  contradictory  meannesses,  that  they  tried  to  solve  the  riddle 
of  evil,  by  supposing  that  he,  like  the  animals  and  the  whole 
creation,  was  but  a  machine  animated  by  the  universal  and 
pervading  spirit  of  the  Deity.  Such  was  the  elder  Pliny,*  who 
forfeited  a  life  spent  in  the  study  of  nature  to  the  curiosity 
which  led  him  to  brave  the  fires  of  Vesuvius. 

§  24.  Out  of  this  seething  mass  of  doubts  and  fears,  uncer- 
tain belief  and  troubling  disbelief,  rose  an  eagerness  to  find  and 
a  readiness  to  receive  the  principles  of  that  Religion  which  took 

*  See  his  ISTatural  History  (ii.  5), — ^a  very  striking  and  interesting  passage. 


Chap.  LXXL       PREPARATION   FOR   CHRISTIANITY.  761 

root  a  few  years  later  in  Galilee  and  Judaea,  and  which  extended 
itself  with  marvellous  rapidity  over  every  Province  of  the  Em- 
pire. The  purity  of  its  morality  attracted  those  whose  hearts 
were  still  craving  for  something  better  than  could  be  found  in 
the  Religions  or  Philosophies  of  the  day.  Its  divine  aspirations 
and  the  light  it  threw  upon  the  baffling  uncertainties  of  life 
beyond  the  grave,  offered  great  attractions  to  those  who  were 
looking  with  doubt  and  fear  upon  all  that  lay  before  or  behind. 
The  breaking  up  of  national  distinctions,  the  union  of  all  the 
Mediterranean  shore  under  one  strong  and  central  Government, 
the  roads  and  canals  which  connected  countries  and  Provinces 
under  the  magnificent  rule  of  the  first  Caesars,  were  potent 
instruments  in  assisting  the  rapid  march  of  the  new  Religion. 
All  things,  moral  and  physical,  internal  and  external,  concurred 
to  promote  the  greatest,  but  most  silent,  Revolution  that 
has  ever  passed  over  the  mind  of  the  civilised  portion  of  the 
World. 


M.  Vipsaiiius  Agrippa 


INDEX. 


ABOEIGINEB. 


Aborigines  of  Latium,  18. 

Accensi,  who,  48,  188. 

Accius,  tragic  poet,  513. 

Achaean  League,  416.  Submits 
to  the  kings  of  Macedon, 
ih.  Position  after  death  of 
Aratus,  420.  Acts  with 
Kome  against  Philip,  425. 
Vexation  at  seeing  Nabis 
spared,  430.  Real  weak- 
ness, 436.  Achaean  patriots 
sent  prisoners  to  Rome,  468. 
Set  free,  476.  Encouraged 
by  Pseudo-Philippus  to  de- 
clare war,  477.  Defeated 
by  Metellus,  ib. 

Actium,  battle  of,  728. 

Addicti,  who,  90,  93. 

^diles.  Plebeian,  94.  Elected 
at  Coniitia  Tributa,  100. 

^diles,  Curule,  160,  371,  372. 

^gatian  Isles,  battle  of,  279. 

^milian  Road,  442. 

.(Emilius  Mamercus,  131. 

.^miliusPaullus,L.,  conquers 
lUyrians  :  Consul  before 
Cannae,  311.  Unwilling  to 
fight,  312.     Death,  314. 

.^•milius  PauUus,  L.,  son  of  I 


AMBITUS. 

Afranius,  L.,  comic  poet,  513. 

Agathocles,  king  of  Syracuse, 
228.  His  struggles  with 
Carthaginians,  264. 

Ager  Publicus,  96,  158.  How 
available  for  surplus  popu- 
lation, 397.     Plans  of  Grac- 

/  chus  for  using,  520,  seq. 

Ager  Romanus,  82.  ! 

Agis  IV.,  king  of  Sparta,  his 
reforms  and  death,  415.        ' 

Agrarian  Law,  nature  of,  96,  i 
seq.  Of  Licinius,  158.  Of  i 
M.  Curius,  226.  Of  Ti.' 
Gracchus,  520.  Of  C.  Grac- 
chus, 541.  Of  Saturninus, 
568.  Of  L.  Brutus,  603.  Of 
RuUus,  644.    Of  Cajsar,  655.  j 

Agriculture,  409,  Of  Africa, 
486.  Fondness  of  the  Ro-I 
mans  for,  497.  Its  decline, ' 
506.    Treatises,  738.  [ 

Agrigentum  taken,  268.  Byi 
Carthaginians,  263,  329.        | 

Agrippa,  M.  Vips.,  706.  Con-' 
eludes  the  war  of  Perusia,! 
721.  Forms  the  Julian  bar- ] 
hour,  723.  Defeats  Sext.i 
Pompeius,  724.  Minister 
of  Octavian,  726.  His 
splendid  works,  748,  seq. 

Ahala,  C.  Servilius,  kills  Sp. 
Maelius,  134. 


last,    conquers    Ligurians,L4Ja  of  Cavalry,  what,  188. 
442.      Consul  against  Fer-l Alauda,  Gallic  Legion,  695. 


sens,  462.  Wins  battle  of 
Pydna,  463.  Settles  Mace- 
donia, 464.  Triumph,  465. 
Censorship  and  death,  471. 

^neas,  legend  of,  22. 

^quians,  an  Oscan  tribe,  16. 
Country,  85.  Power  after 
expulsion  of  Tarquius,  102. 
Defeated  by  Cincinnatus, 
108. 

^Esernia,  city  of,  178. 

yEtolian  League,  417.  ^to- 
lians  invade  Peloponnesus, 
expelled  by  Philip  V.,  ib. 


Alba  Fucentia,  colony,  208 

Alba  Longa,  foundation,  23, 
Destruction,  35-37. 

Alban  Hills,  description  of,  84. 

Alban  Lake,  draining  of,  139. 

Albinus  commands  against 
Jugurtha,  549.    Death,  550. 

Alexander  of  Macedon,  con- 
temporary with  early  part 
of  Sainnite  Wars,  259.  De- 
signs upon  West,  260.  Fate 
of  his  empire,  412. 

Alexander,  son  of  Perseus, 
last  heir  to  Macedon,  466. 


Allied  with  Rome,  420.  Alexander  of  Molossus,  lands 
(Uaim  chief  honour  at  Cy-j  in  Italy,  and  death,  196. 
nocephalae,  427.  Discon-  Alia,  battle  of  the,  146. 
tent  at  peace  with  Philip,  AUobrogian  Gauls,  befriend 
428.  Invite  Antiochus  into  1  Hannibal,  301 .  Conquered, 
Greece,  433, 434.  Saved  by  547.  Concerned  with  Cati- 
Flamininus,  436,  439.  |     line,  647. 

Afranius,     L.,    defeated    by  Alps,    passed    by    Hannibal, 
Caesar  in  Spain,678.  Escapes]     301. 
to  Africa,  689.    Death,  691 .  Ambitus,  what,  449. 


ANTONIUS. 

Ambracia  built,  239.  Taken 
by^tolians,  417.  Besiegtd 
by  Fulvius  Nobilior,  439. 

Ambrones,  who,  557. 

Amiternum,  85,  177. 

Amphipolis,  464. 

Amphitheatres,  characteristic 
of  Roman  towns,  739. 

Amynander  sides  with  Rome 
against  Philip,  425. 

Anagnia  taken  by  Rome,  208. 
Submits  to  Pyrrhus,  243. 
A  prefecture,  253. 

Anclle,  Ancilia,  what,  30. 

Ancus  Martins,  Sabine,  36. 
Popular  character,  37. 

Andriscus  pretends  to  the 
throne  of  Macedon,  477. 

Anicius,  L.,  defeats  Genthius, 
462. 

Anales  Pontificum,  162. 

Annius,  T.,  accuses  T.  Grac- 
chus, 523, 

Antemnae,  Sabine  city,  26. 

Ante-signani,  who,  188. 

Antigonus,  king  of  Syria  and 
Asia  Minor,  413. 

Antigonus  Doson,  415.     Mas- 

j     ter  of  Achaean  League,  416. 

Antigonus  Gonatus,  415. 

Antiochus  I.,  king  of  Syria, 
founds  Antioch,  413. 

Antiochus  the  Great,  414. 
Proposes  to  divide  Egypt 
with  Philip,  421.  Warned 
by  Flamiuinus,  429.  Crosses 
Hellespont,  431.  Visited  by 
Hannibal,  433.  Persuaded 
by  -^tolians  to  invade 
Greece,  434.  Defeated  at 
Thermopylae,  4;'5.  Returns 
to  Asia,  436.  Defeated  at 
Magnesia,  438. 

Antiochus  Epiphanes  (or  Epi- 
manes),  invades  Egypt, 
stopped  by  "  Circle"  of  Po- 
pillius,  467.  Tyranny  over 
Jews,  469.     Death,  470. 

Antonius,  M.  (orator),  com- 
pared with  Crassus,  567. 
Defends  AquiUius,  572.  Im- 
peached, 574.  Put  to  death 
by  Marius,  591. 

Antonius,  M.,  son  of  last, 
commands  against  Pirates, 
called  Creticus,  634. 

Antonius,  C,  brother  of  last, 
colleague  of  Cicero,  643. 
Bent  against  Catiline,  646, 


I2JDEX 


753 


ANTONIUS. 

649.  Impeached  by  Clodius, 
658. 

Antonius,  M.  (Triumvir), 
Tribune,  6T4.  Joins  Csesar 
at  Ariminum,  676.  Left 
to  bring  part  of  Caesar's 
army  to  Epirus,  680.  De- 
lays and  eventual  success, 
681.  Sent  to  rule  Italy 
after  Pharsalia,  689,  690. 
Offers  diadem  to  Caesar,  698. 
Escapes  during  Csesar's 
murder,704.  Makes  advances 
to  conspirators,  705.  Ora- 
tion over  Caisar's  body,  706. 
Master  of  Rome,  706.  En- 
deavours to  foil  Octavian, 
707.  Arbitrary  rule,  ib. 
Takes  field  against  Dec. 
Brutus,  709.  Defeated  by 
Hirtius,  710.  Retires  into 
Gaul  to  Lepidus,  710.  Ne- 
gotiates with  Octavian,  711. 
Forms  2nd  Triumvirate, 
712.  Proscription,  ib.  Ar- 
rives at  Philippi,  7 1 0.  Wins 
first  battle,  717.  Receives 
East,  in  2nd  distribution  of 
Provinces,  720.  Follows 
Cleopatra  to  Egypt,  ib. 
Threatens  Italy,  721.  Mar- 
ries Octavia,  722.  Returns 
to  Athens,  723.  Attempts 
ags«*nst  Parthians,  725.  Puts 
Sext.  Pompeius  to  death, 
ib.  Returns  to  Cleopatra, 
ib.  Will  published  at  Rome, 
727.  Prepares  for  war,  ib. 
Loses  battle  of  Actium,728. 
Death,  729. 

Anxur,  colony,  197. 

Apega,  wife  of  Nabis,  429. 

ApoUonia,  in  Epirus,  occupied 
by  Romans,  291. 

Appeal,  laws  of,  126. 

Appian  Road  and  Aqueduct, 
222,  seq. 

Appius  Claudius  (I.),  a  Sa- 
bine, 81.  Leader  of  Patri- 
cians against  Plebeians,  91. 

Appius  Claudius  (II.),  son  of 
I.,  opposes  first  Publilian 
Law,  100.  Impeachment 
and  suicide,  112. 

Appius  Claudius  (III.),  son  of 
II.,  Decemvir,  115.  Legend 
of  Virginia,  117,  seq.  Im- 
peachment and  suicide,  122. 

Appius  Claudius  Csecus,  con- 
sul in  3rd  Samnite  War, 
211.     Heads  city  populace, 

220.  Censor,  ib.  Distributes 
freedmen    over    all   tribes, 

221.  Public  works,  222. 
Consul,  223.  Dissuades 
peace  with  Pyrrbus,  242 
His  house,  400. 

App.  Claudius,  son  of  las*, 
defeats  Hiero,  ^66. 


Appius  Clodius  Pulcher,  his 
embassy  to  Tigranes,  631. 

Apulians,  16,  179.  Engage  in 
2nd  Sanmite  War,  199. 
Join  Hannibal,  317. 

Aquae  Sextise,  first  colony  in 
Gaul,  541.     Battle  of,  560. 

AquTleia,  colony  there,  445. 

Aquillius,  M',  crushes  2ud 
Slave  War  in  Sicily,  564. 
Impeached,  572.  Put  to 
death  by  Mithridates,  596. 

Aratus  of  Sicyon,  author  of 
Achsean  League,  calls  in 
Macedonians  against  Cle- 
omenes,  416.   Poisoned,  420. 

Arch,  use  of,  in  Roman  archi- 
tecture, 410,  748. 

Archelaus,  occupies  Piraeus, 
596.  Obstinate  resistance 
to  Sylla,  597.  'Retires  to 
Boeotia,  ib.  Defeated  at 
Chaeronea,  598.  At  Orcho- 
menus,  ib.  Interview  with 
Sylla,  599. 

Archimedes,  his  inventions 
for  defence  of  Syracuse, 
328. 

Architecture,  at  Rome,  409, 
748. 

Archytas,  follower  of  Pytha- 
goras, 203,  231 . 

Ariminum,  gives  name  to 
first  Gallic  Province,  251, 
291. 

Aristobulus,  king  of  Judea, 
dethroned  by  Pompey,  637. 

Aristion  induces  Athenians 
to  revolt,  596.  Surrenders 
to  Sylla,  597. 

Aristonlcus  revolts  against 
Rome,  529. 

Army  of  Rome  aad  Latium, 
187-189.  In  Gallic  War 
of  225  15. c,  289,  Officers 
continually  changed,  373. 
Resembled  a  militia,  374. 
Changes  after  Punic  Wars, 
447,  505. 

Arplnum,  prefecture,  253, 
550. 

Arretium,  in  alliance  with 
Rome,  210. 

Artists,  notice  of  earliest 
names,  407. 

Arts  of  Design  at  Rome, 
whence  derived,  407,  seq. 

Arts,  useful,  little  cultivated 
in  early  times  at  Rome, 
409,     See  Building. 

Ascanius,  legend  of,  23. 

Asculum,  battle  of,  244. 

Asculum,  in  Picenum,  taken, 
250.  Social  War  there,  575. 
Siege,  579. 

A.sia,  province  of,  594.  Asi- 
atics receive  Mithridates 
with  joy,  596.  Fined  by 
Sylla,  600.    Fleeced  by  Met, 


Scipio,  690.  By  Brutus  and 
Cassius,  715. 

Aasidui,  who,  47. 

Asylum,  what,  26. 

Atellane  Fables,  what,  403. 

AthenTo,  563,  seq. 

Athens,  condition  of,  415.  De- 
mands protection  against 
Philip,  422.  Suburbs  de- 
stroyed by  Philip,  423. 
Taken  by  Sylla,  597. 

Attalus  I.,  of  Pergamus,  414. 
Joins  Rome  against  Philip, 
420.  Flies  before  PhUip, 
422.     Death,  426. 

Attalus  II.  incited  to  accuse 
his  brother  Eumenes,  469. 
Succeeds  him,  ib. 

Attus  Clausus,  Sabine  chief, 
joins  Romans,  81. 

Avenio,  Hannibal  crossed 
Rhone  near,  299. 

Aventine  Hill,  peopled  by 
Latins,  37.  Divided  among 
plebeian  families,  114. 

Augurs,  number  of,  31,  40. 
Increased,  218. 

Auruncans  and  Ausonians, 
16.  Annihilated  in  2nd 
Samnite  War,  206. 


B. 

Bacchanalian  rites  secretly 
practised  at  Rome,  449, 

Balbus,  L.  Cornelius,  first 
foreign  consul,  696. 

Balearic  Isles,  supply  sling- 
ers  to  Carthage,  262.  Sub- 
dued, 547. 

Ballot,  successive  laws  for  its 
introduction,  494. 

Basilicas,  Roman,  748. 

Bastirnians,  who,  458. 

Beneventum,  178,  203.  Pyr- 
rhus  defeated  there,  246. 
Defies  Hannibal,  309. 

BJbulus,  M.  Calp.,  colleague 
of  Caesar  in  sedileship,  641. 
In  consulship,  654.  At- 
tempts to  thwart  Caesar, 
655.  Pompey' s  admiral, 
680.     Death,  681. 

Blossius,  preceptor  of  TL 
Gracchus,  519.  Questioned 
by  Laelius,  528. 

Bocchus,  king  of  Mauritania, 
552.  Retires  before  Ma- 
rius,  553.  Gives  up  Ju- 
gurtha,  554. 

Boian  Gauls  conquered,  234. 
Declare  for  Hannibal.  303. 
Subdued,  441. 

Bononia  FelsTna,  442. 

Bovianum,  chief  city  of  Pen- 
trian  Samnites,  178. 

Brennus,  king  of  SenonUn 
Gauls,  145.     Name,  t6. 


754 


INDEX. 


BBUNDUBIITM. 

Brandusium,  colony,  250. 

Bruttians,  179.  Submit  after 
departure  of  Pyrrhus,  249, 
Join  Hannibal,  317.  Head- 
quarters of  Hannibal,  333, 

Brutulus  Papius,  202. 

Brutus,  Dec.  Junius,  conquers 
Gallicia,  403.  Patron  of 
Accius,  513.  Leads  attack 
upon  C.  Gracchus,  543. 

Brutus,  Dec.  Junius,  legate 
of  Csesar,  677.  Conspirator, 
700.  Collects  gladiators, 
704.  Occupies  part  of  Rome, 

706.  Seizes  Cisalpine  Gaul, 

707.  Besieged  in  Mutina, 
709,  Unable  to  pursue  An- 
tony, 711.     Death,  712. 

Brutus,  L.  Junius,  name,  60. 
Expels  Tarquinius,  62. 
Judgment  of  his  sons,  64. 

Brutus,  L.  Junius,  one  of 
first  tribunes,  92. 

Brutus,  L.  Junius,  a  leader 
of  Marian  party.  Agrarian 
law  of,  603.  Legate  to 
Lepidus,  631.  Put  to  death 
by  Pompey,  622. 

Brutus,  M.  Junius,  son  of  last, 
submits  to  Caesar,  685.  His 
habits,  6'.)9.  Conspiracy 
against  Caesar,  ib.  Pro- 
claims liberty,  704.  Quits 
Rome,  706.  Hesitation,  707. 
Leaves  Italy,  708.  Occu- 
pies Macedonia,  715.  Joins 
Cassius  in  Asia,  ib.  Be- 
sieges Xanthus,  ib.  Story 
of  the  spectre,  716.  At 
Philippi,  ib.  First  battle, 
717.  Second  battle,  and 
death,  718.     Character,  ib. 

Building  at  Rome,  409.  Un- 
der Octavian,  748. 

Burial,  outside  walls,  410. 

Burning  alive,  121. 

Burning  -  glasses  of  Archi- 
medes, 328. 

Byrsa  of  Carthage,  262. 


Csecilius,  Q. ,  comic  poet,  513. 

Cecubau  vineyards,  191. 

Cables  Vibenna,  28,  39. 

Caelian  Hill,  occupied  by 
Etruscans,  28.  By  Latins 
of  Alba,  36. 

Caelius  Rufus,  M.,  won  by 
Caesar,  674  Proposes  abo 
lition  of  debts,  689. 

Csenlna,  Sabine  city,  26. 

Csepio,  Q.  Servilius,  his 
double  treachery,  492. 

Caepio,  Q.  Servilius,  defeated 
by  Cimbrians,  558.  Con- 
demned by  people,  565. 

Csepio,  Cn.  Servilius,  opposes 
Sfcturninus,  570. 


C8er6,  forsakes  Rome,  175. 
Prefecture,  franchise,  252. 

Caesar,  C.  Julius,  marries 
daughter  of  Cinna,  617,  640. 
Early  life,  640,  aeq.  Re- 
stores trophies  of  Marius, 
641.  Jidile  during  affair 
of  Catiline,  ib.  Supports 
Agrarian  law  of  Rullus, 
6M.  Promotes  prosecution 
of  Rabirius,  ib.  Pont.  Max., 
645.  Speaks  against  capital 
punishment  of  Catilinari- 
ans,  648.  Whether  an  ac- 
complice, 649,  seq.  Supports 
Pompey,  652.  Borrows  of 
Crassus,ib.  Praetor  in  Spain, 
ib.    Cabal  with  Pompey  and 


umph,  694.  Legislative  re- 
forms, 694,  697.  Loss  of 
popularity,  698.  Dictator 
for  life,  ib.  Wishes  to  be 
king,  ib.  Plan  to  make  him 
king  in  the  provinces,  699. 
Conspiracy  against,  699. 
Assassination,  701.  Cha- 
racter, ib.  Confirmation 
of  his  acts,  705.  Will  and 
funeral,  ib. 

■Caesar,  Sext.  Julius,  his  mis- 
sion to  Corinth,  478. 

Calatlnus  Serranus,  Au.  Ati- 
lius,  story  of,  277. 

Calendar  of  Cn.  Flavius,  221 
Condition  of  in  Caesar's 
time,  696.     Reform,  697. 


Crassus  (1st  Triumvirate),  Cales,  190.     Colony,  196. 


654.  Consul,  ib.  Agrarian 
law,  655."  Confirms  Pom- 
pey's  acts,  ib.  Gratifies 
tax-collectors,  656.  Obtains 
both  Gauls,  556.  Marries 
Julia  to  Pompey,  ib.  Di- 
vorce, 657.  Marries  Cal- 
purnia,  658.  Offers  place 
to  Cicero,  ib.  Promotes  his 
banishment,  ib.  Promotes 
mission  of  Cato  to  Cyprus, 
659.  First  three  campaigns 
in  Gaul,  661,  seq.  Court  at 
Lucca,  663.  Threatened  by 
consuls,  666.  Government 
prolonged,  ib.  Fourth  cam- 
paign in  Gaul,  669.  Accused 
of  treachery,  ib.  Invades 
Britain,  670.  Threatened 
with  general  rising  of  Gauls, 
ib.  Triumph,  670,  673. 
Prepares  for  a  struggle  at 
home,  674.  Gives  back  two 
legions  to  Pompey,  675. 
Proposes  that  both  should 
resign,  ib.  Proclaimed  a 
public  enemy,  ib.  Crosses 
Rubicon,  676.  Master  of 
Italy,  676,  seq.  Conquers 
Pompeians,,,i«-^§pain,  678. 
Named'~'aictatorby  Lepi- 
dus, and  resigns,  ib.  Lands 
in  Epirus,  680.  Joined  by 
/Antony,  681.  Draws  lines 
\round  Pompey,  ib.  Re- 
'treirtS-TTror-^Kiessaly,  682. 
JBattle  of  Pharsalia,  683,  seq. 
(Pursues  Pompey,  684,  687. 
iWar  at  Alexandria,  688. 
^eeming  indolence  in  Egypt, 
/690.  Conquers  Pharnaces, 
'  ih.    Dictator  (2nd  time),  ib. 

tiiells  mutiny  of  10th  Ic- 
on, ib.     Subdues  Porapei- 
is  in  Africa,  Gd  1 .    Returns 
J   Rome,  692.     Quadruple 
triumph,  ib.     Leniency,  ib. 
Dictator    (3rd    time),    693. 
CCampaign  against  Pompei- 
kns  in  Spain,  ib.    Fifth  tri- 


Callicrates,  Romanising  chief 
of  Achaean  League,  468,  476, 
477.    Death,  477. 

Calor,  river,  178. 

Calvus,  C.  Licinius  Macer, 
the  poet,  743. 

Camina,  what,  30. 

Camillus,  L.  Furius,  entitled 
Deliverer  of  Rome,  150. 

Camillus,  M.  Furius,  Dicta- 
tor, 138.  Takes  Veil,  140. 
Takes  Falerii,  ib.  Greedi- 
ness, 142.  Banishment,  ib. 
Conquest  of  Ganls,  149. 
Reconciles  orders  and  builds 
temple  of  Concord,  161. 
Death,  168. 

Campagna  of  Rome,  82. 

Campanians,  16.  Were  Sam- 
nites,  179  Subjects  of 
Rome,  190.  Join  Hannibal, 
318. 

Cannae,  battle  of,  312,  seq. 

Cantabrians,  who,  443. 

Canuleius,  law  of,  129. 

Canusium,  18. 

Capitol  distinguished  from 
Arx,  26.  Temple  of  Capi 
toline  Jupiter,  59.  Burnt, 
606. 

Capua,  founded  by  Capys,  17 
Anciently  Vulturnum,  179, 
Share  in  1st  Samnite  War, 
180.  Condition  after  Latin 
War,  194.  A  prefecture 
253,257,334.  Admits  Han 
nibal,  317.  Besieged,  331 
Surrender,  333,  337. 

Carbo,  Q.  Papirius,  leads  de 
mocracy  after  death  of  Ti 
Gracchus,  529.  Urges  exe 
cution  of  Agrarian  law,  530 
Supposed  murderer  of  Sci 
pio,  532.     Suicide,  546. 

Carbo,  Cn.  Papirius,  joins  Cin 
na,  589.  Consul  with  Cinna 
twice,  601,  602.  Sole  con 
sul,  602.  Consul  3rd  time 
606.  Repulses  Sylla,  601. 
Flight,  608.    Death,  612. 


INDEX. 


755 


CAENBADE8. 

Carneades,  embassy  of  to 
Rome,  472. 

Carseoli,  208, 

Carthage,  account  of,  260,  seq. 
Site  of,  485.  Fall,  489.  At- 
tempt to  found  colony  there 
by  C.  Gracchus,  490,  541. 

Carthaginians,       commercial 


OHBYSOGONUS. 


liarities,  454,  seq. 
less  rigorous,  471.  Moves 
dismissal  of  Grreek  sophists, 
472.  Defends  Spaniards,  ib. 
Intercedes  for  Achaean  cap- 
tives, 476.  Urges  destruc- 
tion of  Carthage,  482. 
Death,  487. 
treaty  with  Rome,  80,  263.  Cato,  M.  Porcius  (of  Utica), 
Struggles  with  kings  of  Sy-      lieutenant  of  Pompey,  635, 


racuse,  zzy.  Defeated  by 
Gelon,  229,  263.  Settle- 
ments and  attempts  in  Si- 
cily, 263.  Second  treaty 
with  Rome,  265.  Rupture, 
229,  seq.  See  Punic  Wars, 
Hamilcar,  Hannibal,  Masi- 
nissa.  Perfidious  dealings 
of  senate,  481,  seq.  Prepa- 
rations for  resistance,  484. 
See  Scipio. 

Carthago  Nova,  founded  by 
Hasdrubal,  292.  Taken  by 
Scipio  Africanus,  353. 

Carvilius,  Sp.,  in  3rd  Samnite 
War,  214.  Sets  up  a  statue 
in  the  capitol,  407. 

Carvilius,  Sp.,  proposes  to  fill 
senate  with  Latins,  319. 

Casca,  P.  Servilius,  conspira- 
tor against  Caesar,  700. 

Casinum,  colony,  206. 

Casillnum,  prefecture,  253. 
Taken  by  Hannibal,  318. 

Cassius  Longinus,  C. ,  repulses 
Parthians,  669.  Submits  to 
Caesar,  688.  One  of  chief 
conspirators,  700.  Leaves 
Italy,  708.  Takes  posses- 
sion of  Syria,  715,  Joins 
Brutus,  ib.  Extortions,  716. 
Defeated  by  Antony,  717. 
Death,  ib. 

Cassius  Longinus,  Q. ,  tribune, 
supports  Caesar,  675.  Left 
by  Caesar  in  Spain,  678. 

Cassius,    Sp.,   thrice    consul, 

96.  Author  of  1st  Agrarian 
law,  96,  seq.   Impeachment, 

97.  Author  of  League  with 
Latins  and  Hernicans,  110, 

Castor  and  Pollux,  temple, 
54.     Worship  at  Rome,  69 

Catilina,  L.  Sergius,  early  life, 
642.  Conspiracy,  ib.  Ac- 
quitted, 643.  Loses  consul 
ship,  ih.  Betrayed  by  Ful 
via,  646.  Cicero  attacks 
him,  ib.  Proclaimed  public 
enemy,  ib.     Death,  649, 

Cato,  M.  Porcius  (censor),  le- 
gate of  Glabrio,  436.    Qua; 


Speech  upon  punishment  by 
death,  648.  Opposes  con- 
firmation of  Pompey' s  acts, 
652.  Sent  to  conquer  Cy- 
prus, 658,  seq.  Character,  ib. 
Executes  his  commission, 
665.  Defends  Clodius,  ib. 
Proposes  to  deliver  Caesar 
to  Gauls,  669.  At  Corcyra 
689.  Accompanies  Ponipei 
ans  to  Africa,  ib.  March 
to  Utica,  ib.  Disinterested 
ness,  ib.     Death,  69i. 

Catullus,  742,  seq. 

Catulus,  Q.  Lutatius,  ends 
1st  Punic  War,  279,  seq. 

Catulus,  Q.  Lutatius,  col- 
league of  Marius  in  4th 
consulship.  Character,  558. 
Posted  in  Lombardy  against 
Cimbrians,  559.    Proconsul, 

561.  Retreats,  ib.  Joined 
by  Marius,  ib.  Commands 
at    Vercellae,    ib.      Merits, 

562.  Put  to  death  by  Ma- 
rius, 592. 

Catulus,  Q.  Lutatius,  son  of 
last,  leader  of  senatorial 
party,  620.  Last  Princeps 
Senatus  in  republic,  628. 

Celeres,  ancient  name  for 
knights,  30. 

Celtiberians,  who,  448. 

Censorinus,  L.,  consul  in  Af- 
rica, 482-486. 

Censors  appointed,  130.  Te- 
nure of  oflice  shortened, 
131 .  One  plebeian,  170, 191. 
Both  plebeian,  530. 

Censorship,  new  powers  in 
hands  of  Cato  and  success- 
ors, 455.  Suppressed  by 
Sylla,  616.  Revived  by  se- 
nate, 628.  Censorial  power 
granted  to  Octavian,  733. 

Census  of  Servius,  48. 

Centumviri,  who,  160. 

Centurice,  47. 

Centuria  Prcerogativa,  324. 

Cethegus,  C.  Cornelius,  on( 
of  Catilinarians,  646.  Cha 
racter,  647.     Death,  648. 

Chsfironea,  battle  of,  598. 


stor  in  Sicily,  443.     Consul 
-in  Spain,  ib.    Triumph,  444.  iChaonians,  15. 
Early   life,    450.      Attacks  Charops,     guides    Flaminius 
Hellenic  fashions,  451.    As-      to  Philip' s  camp,  424-. 
sails   Scipio,   452.     Deserts;  Charops,     head    of     Roman 
senatorial  party,  454.    Cen-j     party  in  Epirus,  461. 
B«r;  his  rigour,  ib.    Pecu-'Chrysogonus,  614,  618. 


Cicero,  M.  Tullius,  attack! 
SyUa,  618.  Quits  Rome,  62T. 
Quaestor  in  Sicily,  ib.  Pro- 
secutes Verres,  ib.  Designs 
to  defend  Catiline,  648. 
Consul,  ib.  Speaks  against 
Agrarian  law  of  RuUus, 
644.  Defends  Rabirius,  ib. 
First  and  second  speeches 
against  Catiline,  646.  Ar- 
rests conspirators,  647. 
Third  speech,  ib.  Fourth 
speech,  648.  His  haste,  ib. 
Defends  Murena,  ib.  Ac- 
quits Caesar  of  complicity 
with  Catiline,  650.  Vanity, 
651.  Prevented  from  speak- 
ing by  Metellus  Nepos,  ib. 
Opposes  Agrarian  law  of 
Caesar,  655.  Perplexity  as 
to  Pompey,  656.  Offends 
Clodius,  657.  Impeached  by 
him,  658.  Retires  to  Thes- 
salonica,  659.  Recalled,  663, 
664.  Joins  triumvirs,  667. 
Returns,  679.  Joins  Pom- 
pey in  East,  ib.  Offered 
command  after  Pharsalia, 
689.  Visited  by  Caesar,  698. 
Leaves  senate-house  during 
Caesar's  murder,  704.  Visits 
conspirators  in  capitol,  ib. 
Seconds  Antony's  motion 
for  amnesty,  705.  Proposes 
to  leave  Italy,  708.  Returns 
to  Rome,  ib.  First  Philip- 
pic, ib.  Publishes  second 
Philippic,  709.  Again  leaves 
Rome,  711.  Death  and  cha- 
racter, 713,  seq.  Oratory 
and  writings,  736,  739. 

Cicero,  Q.  Tullius,  brother  of 
last,  governor  of  Asia  Mi- 
nor, 663.  Legate  of  Caesar, 
ib.  Reconciles  his  brother 
to  Caesar,  667.     Death,  713. 

Cilician  Pirates  treat  with 
Spartacus,  624.  Daring  ex- 
ploits, 633.  Crushed  by 
Pompey,  635. 

Cimber,  L.  Tillius,  conspira- 
tor against  Caesar,  700. 

Cimbrians,  origin,  557.  First 
conflicts  with  Romans,  ib. 
Pass  into  Spain,  558.  Pass 
to  North  of  Italy,  559.  De- 
scend Adige,  561.  Annihi- 
lated at  Vercellae,  562. 

Ciminian  Hills,  86,  207. 

Cincinnatus,L.,  106-108.  Dic- 
tator, 134. 

Cincius,  Alimentus  L.,  early 
Latin  annalist,  406. 

Cineas,  minister  of  Pyrrhus, 
sent  to  Rome,  242.  Death, 
245.  Saying  on  wine  »f 
Latium,  409. 

Cinna,  poet,  murdered  at  Cas- 
Bar's  funeral,  706,  744. 


756 


INDEX 


Cinna,  L.  Cornelius,  consul, 
588.  Heads  new  citizens, 
ib.  Driven  from  Rome,  ib. 
Kevives  Italian  "War,  589. 
Joined  by  Carbo,  Sertorius, 
Marius,  ib.  Enters  Rome, 
590.  Assumes  consulship 
2nd  time,  592.  3rd  and  4th 
times,  001,602.  Expedition 
to  Dalmatia,  602.  Mur- 
dered, ib. 

Circus  Maximus,  45. 

Cirta,356,  549,  551. 

Cities,  centres  of  ancient  civi- 
lization, 395. 

Civil  War,  first,  532,  seq. 
Second,  604,  seq.  Third, 
703,  seq.    Fourth,  719,  seq. 

Cimtates  Liberce  et  Federatoe, 
257.     In  provinces,  388. 

Claelia,  legend  of,  07. 

Classes  of  Servius,  47,  seq. 
Change,  378. 

Claudius,  P.,  son  of  App.  Clau- 
dius Caucus,  loses  fleet  at 
Drepanum,  277. 

Cleomenes  III., king  of  Sparta 
reforms,  416.  Defeated  at 
Sellasia,  ib. 

Cleon,  leader  of  insurgent 
slaves,  500.     Death,  5ul. 

Cleonymus  of  Sparta,  called 
in  by  Tarentines,  232. 

Cleopatra,  history,  085.  Wins 
Caesar,  688.  Queen  of  Egypt, 
ib.  At  Rome,  699.  Disap- 
pointed by  Caesar's  will, 
705.  Sails  up  Cydnus,  726. 
Takes  Antony  to  Egypt,  ib. 
Forsaken,  71:3.  Again  at- 
tracts Antony,  725,  seq.  Her 
son  by  Antony  made  king 
of  Armenia,  726.  Flies  at 
Actium,  728.  Seeks  to  win 
Octavian,  729.  Death  and 
character,  ib. 

Cliens,  derivation,  28. 

Clients,  what,  28,  seq. 

Clivus  Capilolinua,  55. 

Cloaca  Maxima,  45. 

Clocks,  water-clocks,  when 
first  used  at  Rome,  409. 

Clodius  Pulcher,  excites  sedi- 
tion in  army  of  LucuUus, 
633.  Impeaches  Catiline, 
642.  Violates  mysteries, 
657.  Cicero  deposes  against 
him,  ib.  Impeaches  C. 
Antonius,  658.  Tribune,  ib. 
Impeaches  Cicero,  ib.  Ca- 
reer as  tribune,  660.  Of- 
fends Pompey,  663.  Bars 
recall  of  (.Jicero,  664.  At- 
tacked by  Cicero,  665. 
.iEdile,  i6.  (Jontinued  power, 
671.  Killed  by  Milo,  ib. 
Riots  at  funeral,  ib. 

Clubs.     See  Coitiones. 

Cluilius,  dictator  of  Alba,  34. 1 


CORFINIUM. 

Coitiones  or  Clubs  of  patrl 
cians  against  plebeians,  'il7 

CoUatinus,  son  of  Egerius,  44. 

Colline  Grate,  54.  Hannibal's 
approach,  333.  Sylla'  s,  585. 
Battle  there,  608,  seq. 

Colonies,  Roman  and  Latin, 
254.  List  of  Roman,  255. 
What  meant  by  Latin  co- 
lonies, ib.  (See  Latins.) 
Colonies  of  C.  Gracchus. 
541.  All  previous  colonies 
within  Italy,  ib. ;  cf.  ?.54. 
Military  colonies  of  Sylla, 
614.  Of  Caesar,  696.  Of 
Octavian,  720,  733. 

Columna  Rostrata,  what,  270. 

Comedy  at  Rome,  510. 

Comitia  Centuriata,  48.  In- 
fluence of  patricians,  98. 
Change  in  constitution,  378. 
Relation  to  Comitia  Tri- 
bute, 381.  At  end  of  Punic 
Wars,  383. 

Comitia  Curlata,  29.  Lose 
legislative  power  by  Pub- 
lilian  law,  191.  Condition 
in  Cicero's  time,  370. 

Comitia  TribUta,  51.  Power 
increases  with  that  of  tri- 
bunes, 379. 

Com,itium,  what,  27,  55. 

Com,mercii  jus,  what,  192. 

Compitalia,  festival  of,  32. 

ConciliabaluTn,  what,  536. 

Concord,  temple  of,  erected 
by  Camillus,  161.  By  Opi- 
mius,  544. 

Confarreutio,  what,  399. 

Connubium,  41,  42.  Refused 
to  plebeians,  127.  Conced- 
ed by  Canuleian  law,  129. 
One  of  Jura  privata,  192. 
Cajsar's  marriage-law,  696. 
Octavian' s,  750. 

ConsvMia,  Consus,  26. 

Consuls,  anciently  called  prae- 
tors or  judices,  63,  120. 
Never  elected  by  curies, 
98.  Name,  121.  Replaced 
by  decemvirs,  115.  By  mi- 
litary tribunes,  130.  Con- 
sulate opened  to  plebeians, 
160.  Both  patrician,  170. 
Both  plebeian,  170,  370. 
Age  for  consulship,  371. 
After  1st  Punic  War,  con- 
fined to  wealthy  families, 
373.  Reelection,  374.  In- 
vested by  senate  with  dic- 
tatorial power,  .384 ;  cf.  543, 
570,  644,  647,  658,  675.  A 
shadow  under  Octavian,733. 

Cooptatio,  what,  123,  218. 

Corcyra,  occupied  by  Ro- 
mans, 287,  291. 

Corfinium,  capital  of  Italian 
allies,  576.  Defended  against 
Caesar,  676.  | 


i  Corinth  taken,  478,  seq. 

Coriolanus,  C.  Marcius,  Vol- 
scianWars,  102-105. 

Corn,  prices  of,  338. 

Cornelia,  mother  of  the 
Gracchi,  519.  Intercedes 
with  Caius,  537.  Bearing 
after  his  death,  544. 

Cornelian  laws.     See  Sylla. 

Cornelii,  name  given  to  slaves 
enfranchised  by  Sylla,  615. 

Corn-law  of  C.  Gracchus,  537. 
Faults  increased  by  Satur- 
ninus  and  Clodius,  569,  660. 
Limited  by  Caesar,  694. 

Corno,  Monte,  6,  85. 

Corsica,  wrested  from  Car- 
thage by  Rome,  285. 

CoruRcanlus,  first  plebeian 
pontifex  max.,  218,  243. 

Coruncanii,  envoys  to  Teuta, 
queen  of  Illyrians,  287. 

Corvi,  in  1st  Punic  War,  270. 

Cotta,  C.  Aurelius  (orator), 
banished,  581. 

Cotta,  M.  Aur.,  commands  in 
3rd  Mithridatic  War,  630. 

Crassus,  P.  Licinius,  defeat- 
ed by  Perseus  in  Thessaly, 
460. 

Crassus,  P.  Licinius  (Muci- 
anus),  father-in-law  of  C. 
Gracchus,  528.  General 
against  Aristonicus,  529. 
Death,  530. 

Crassus,  P.  Licinius  (orator), 
indicts  Q.  Carbo,  546.  Com- 
pared with  Antonius,  567. 
Speech  for  Drusus,  573. 
Death,  574. 

Crassus,  P.  Licinius  (Dives), 
joins  Sylla,  604.  Defeats 
Italians  before  Rome,  609. 
Praetor  sent  against  Spar- 
tacus,  624.  Consul  with 
Pompey,  626.  Jealousy, 
628.  Reconciliation,  ib. 
Not  an  accomplice  of  Cati- 
line, 649.  Lends  money  to 
Cajsar,  652.  Visits  Caesar 
at  Lucca,  663.  Proconsul 
of  Syria,  666.  Expedition 
against  Parthians,  and 
death,  668,  seq. 

Crassus,  P.  Licinius,  son  of 
last,  legate  of  Caesar  in 
Gaul,  663.     Death,  669. 

Cremona,  colony  there,  290. 

Creta,  what,  3. 

Croton,  18.  Destroyed  bj 
Romans,  245. 

Crustumerium,  26. 

(Jrustumine  or  Crustumeilan 
tribe,  81. 

Cures,  a  Sabine  city,  26,  27. 

Curia;,  and  CHriun.es,  29. 

Ciiria  Hostilia,  36. 

Curio,  M.  Scribonius,  favour- 
ite of  Cicero,  374.     Secretly 


INDEX. 


757 


won  by  Caesar,  16.  Defeat 
and  death  in  Africa,  679. 

Cjurius  Dentatus,  M',  origin 
and  character,  225.  Con- 
quest of  Sabines,  ib.  Agra- 
rian law,  226.  His  reward, 
ib.     Defeats  Pyrrhus,  246. 

Curtius,  M.,  leaps  into  gulf  in 
forum,  168.  Other  reason  for 
name  of  Lacus  Curtius,  ib. 

Cynoscephalse,  battle  of,  427. 

Cyzicus,  siege  of,  630. 


Democracy     at     Rome,    506. 

Violence  after  the  death  of 

Ti.  Gracchus,  530. 
Dentatus,  Siccius,  117. 


Dalmatians  conquered,  471. 

Daunians,  15. 

Debtor  and  creditor,  severe 
laws  at  Rome,  89. 

Decemvirate,  first,  115.  Ten 
tables,  ib.  Second,  partly 
plebeian,  ib.  Changed  cha- 
racter, 116.  Ten  tables 
become  twelve,  ib.  War 
with  Sabines ;  Siccius  Den- 
tatus, 117.  War  with 
^quians  ;  Virginia,  117, 
seq.  Fall  of  decemvirs,  119. 

Diicemviri.     See  Duumviri. 

Decius  Jubellius,  captain  of 
Campanians,  240.  Seizes 
llhegium,  241,  245.  Sub- 
mits to  Rome,  250, 

Decius  Magius,  opposes  Han- 
nibal at  Capua,  817. 

Decius  Mus,  P.  (I.),  saves 
army  of  Cossus  in  1st  Sam- 
nite  War,  ISl.  Devotes 
himself  to  Dii  inferi,  186, 

Decius  Mus,  P.  (II.),  in  3rd 
Samnite  War,  211.  Censor 
with  Fabius ;  reforms,  223. 

Decius  Mus,  P.  (III.),  com- 
mands against  Pyrrhus,  244. 

Decuriae  and  Decurions  of 
senate,  30. 

Decurions,  Italian,  258. 

Delos,  free  port,  469.  Entre- 
pot of  slave-trade,  498. 

Delphi,  oracle  of,  consulted 
by  Tarquin,  60.  By  senate 
in  Veientine  War,  139 ;  in 
2nd  Punic  War,  316. 

Demetrius  of  Pharos,  minister 
of  Teuta,  287.  Betrays  her 
made  chief  of  Corcyra  by  I 
Rome,  ib.  Betrays  Romans 
to  Philip,  291.  Philip's  min- 
ister, 418.     Death,  421. 

Demetrius  Poliorcetes,  loses 
Syria,  413.  Becomes  king 
of  Macedon,  414. 

Demetrius,  son  of  Philip, 
mission  to  Rome,  467.  En- 
couraged to  set  his  father  at 
naught,  468.  Cruel  death, 
ib. 

r)«sinetr*uB,  kin^g  of  Syria.  470. 


Depontdni,  who,  47. 


Nu- 


Dictator,  power  of,  67. 
inerous  after  Licinian  laws, 
170,  384.  First  plebeian, 
170.  Great  immber  of  be- 
fore Samnite  Wars,  384. 

Diseus,  leads  violent  party  in 
Achaean  League,  477.  De- 
fends Corinth,  478. 

Diminutio  capitis,  what,  127. 

Dfonysius  of  Syracuse,  228. 
Struggles  with  Carthagini- 
ans, 264. 

Diophanes,  preceptor  of  Ti. 
Gracchus,  519.    Death,  528. 

Dolabella,  P.  Cornelius,  son- 
in-law  of  Cicero,  beaten  in 
lUyria,  678.  Proposes  abo- 
lition of  debts,  689.  Consul, 
704.  Slays  Trebonius  in 
Asia,  715.     Death,  ib. 

Domitius  Ahenobarbus,  L., 
threatens  to  recall  Csesar, 
666.  Holds  Corfinium 
against  Caesar,  676.  Com- 
plaints of  Pompey,  679. 
Insolence,  683.    Death,  685. 

Domus,  what,  114. 

Drama  at  Rome,  its  origin, 
404.     Decay,  739. 

Drepanum,  loss  of  Roman 
fleet  there,  277. 

Drusus,  M.  Livius,  employed 
to  outbid  C.  Gracchus,  541. 

Drusus,  M.  Livius,  son  of  last, 
character,  572.  Elected  tri- 
bune through  Scaurus,  573. 
Plan  to  reform  law-courts, 
ib.  To  enfranchise  Italians, 
ib.    Assassination,  574. 

Duilius,  C.,  defeats  Cartha- 
ginian fleet  off  Mylaj,  270. 

Duilius,  M.,  leader  of  plebe- 
ians in  2nd  secession,  119. 
Moderate  counsels,  122. 

Duumviri,  keepers  of  Sibyl- 
line books,  60.  Replaced 
by  decemviri,  159. 

Duumviri,  navrdes,  who,  284. 

Duum,viri  of  Italian  towns, 
258. 

Dyrrhachium,  struggle  be- 
tween Caesar  and  Pompey 
at,  681. 


E. 

Ebro,  boundary  of  Cartha- 
ginian dominion  in  Spain, 
292. 

Eclipse  before  battle  of  Pydna, 
foretold  by  Sulp.  Gallus,463. 

Ecnomus,  great  sea  -  fight 
there,  won  hy  Reguli's,  271. 


ETJNITS 

Education  at  Rome,  736,  746. 
How  used  by  Sertorius, 
622. 

Egypt,  its  condition  at  end  of 
the  Punic  Wars,  413. 

Elephants,  first  seen  by  Ro- 
mans, 241.  Number  taken 
in  first  Punic  War,  275. 

Emeriti,  who,  375. 

Em,issarium  or  Tunnel  of 
Alban  lake,  139.  Of  Fr- 
cine  lake,  ib.     Cf..  410. 

Emporium  or  -iaj,  31 9.  Scipio 
lands  there,  352.  Cato  de- 
feats Spaniards  there,  444. 

Engineering,  Roman,  410. 

Enna,  in  Sicily,  828.  Centre 
of  the  Slave  War,  499.  Of- 
fering there  to  Ceres,  501. 

Ennius,  Q.,  poet,  406.  Epi- 
taph, ib.  Use  of  Greek 
hexameter,  509.  Annals, 
510. 

Epaphroditus,  Greek  for  Fe- 
lix, Sylla's  surname,  611. 

Epicydes  and  Hippocrates, 
agents  of  Hannibal  at  Syra- 
cuse, 326.  At  Leontini, 
827.  Death  of  Hippocrates 
and  flight  of  Epicydes,  329. 
Epicydes  heads  Carthagini- 
ans against  Marcellus,  330. 

Epidaurus,  sends  sacred 
snake  to  Rome,  227. 

Epirots,  assist  Perseus  against 
Rome,  461.  Vengeance  upon 
them,  464.  Epirus  a  Ro- 
man province,  480. 

Equites,  of  Romulus,  30. 
Doubled  by  TuUus  and 
again  by  Tarquinius  Pris- 
cus,  44.  Tripled  by  Ser. 
vius,  48.  How  created  by  C. 
Gracchus,  504,  seq.  Change 
in  character  of,  504.  Cen- 
sus of,  ib.     See  Judices. 

Ergastula,  what,  91,  499. 

Etruria,  divided  by  Ciminian 
hills,  86,  207. 

Etruscan  art,  407. 

Etruscans,  early  history,  16. 
Origin,  17.  Language,  ih. 
Endeavour  to  restore  Tar- 
quins,  64,  65,  80.  Threatei! 
Rome,  102.  Confederacy, 
187.  War  at  time  of  Tc- 
rentine  War,  239,  248  Sub- 
mit to  Rome,  250,  Strong- 
hold of  Italian  party,  60G, 
612 :  cf.  359,  520,  689. 

Eumones  II.,  of  Pergamus, 
rewarded  after  Syrian  War, 
440.  Accuses  Perseus  be- 
fore senate,  469.  Life  at- 
tempted by  Perseus,  ib. 
Supports  Crassus  in  Thes- 
saly,  460.  Death  and  cha- 
acter,  46 '. 

Etinus    (Ewovj),  made    king 


758 


INDEX. 


EVANDKE. 

by    insurgents    of    SicUy, 
499,  500.     Death,  501. 
Evander,  22.    'Legend  of  set- 
tlement on  Palatine,  25. 


F. 

Fabii,  their  seven  consulships, 
98,  108.  Fabii  and  Veien- 
tines,  108,  109.  A  Sabine 
Gens,  109.  Etruscan  con- 
nexions, 407. 

Fabius  Buteo,  Q.,  embassy 
about  Saguntum,  294.  Dic- 
tator, fills  up  senate,  320. 
Rule  of  proceeding,  376. 

Fabius  Pictor,  C,  first  Roman 
painter,  407. 

Fabius  Pictor,  Q.,  consults 
oracle  at  Delphi,  316.  First 
prose-writer  at  Rome,  406. 

Fabius  Maximus,  Q.  (RuUi- 
anus),  chief  in  2nd  Samnite 
War,  201.  Quarrel  with 
Papirius  Cursor,  ib.  De- 
feated at  Lautulse,  206. 
Conquers  Vulsinians,  208. 
Consul,  212.  Censor  with 
Decius ;  reforms,  223. 

Fabius  Maximus,  Q.  (Cuncta- 
tor),  dictator,  308  -  310. 
Chief  and"  Shield  of  Rome" 
after  Cannae,  322.  Over- 
rules consular  elections,  324. 
Legate  to  son,  325.  Recov- 
ers Tarentum,  342.  Op- 
poses Scipio,  360.  Death, 
365. 

Fabius  Maximus,  Q.  (AUo- 
brogTcus),  successes  in 
Gaul,  547. 

Fabrateria,  196. 

Fabricius  Luscinus,  C, consul, 
defeats  Lucanians,  234.  His 
embassy  to  Pyrrhus,  243. 

Falernian  vineyards,  190. 

Families  at  Rome,  what,  41. 

Fannius  Strabo,  C,  consul, 
540.  Speaks  against  his 
patron,  C.  Gracchus,  541. 

Fanum  Voltumnoe,  meeting- 
place  of  Etruscans,  138. 

Fasti.    See  Calendar. 

Father  and  children,  125. 
Power  of  father,  400. 

Favonius,  M.,  at  Pharsalia, 
683.  Devotion  to  Pompev, 
685. 

Fescennine  verses,  404. 

Fetiales,  37. 

Fidense  destroyed,  138. 

Fimbria,  C.  Flavins,  active 
in  massacre  of  Marius,  591 
598.  Murders  Valerius 
Flaccus  and  leads  army  into 
Asia,  598.     Suicide,  600. 

Financial  measures  in  2nd 
Punic  "War,  338,  seq. 

Flamens,  31,  40. 


FULVIUS. 

Flaminius,  C,  Agrarian  law, 
288.  Invades  Insubrian 
territory,  290.  Contempt 
of  senate,  ib.  Character, 
305.  Defeated  and  slain  at 
Trasimene,  307, 

Flaminlnus,  T.,  sedileship. 
422.  Consul  at  thirty,  424. 
Commands  in  2ud  Muce- 
donian  War,  ib.  Defeats 
Philip,  425.  Pacifies  Epirus,  j 
ib.  Seizes  Anticyra  and 
besieges  Elateia,  ib.  Brings 
over  Achaean  League,  425. 
Interview  with  Philip,  ib. 
2nd  campaign,  426.  Battle 
of  Cynoscephalae,  427.  Of- 
fers terms  to  Philip,  428. 
Proclaims  liberty  of  Greece, 
ib.  Message  to  Antiochus, 
429.  Leads  Achseans  a- 
gainst  Nabis,  ib.  Policy 
in  Greece,  430.  Triumph, 
431.  Saves  JTtolians,  436, 
439.  Demands  surrender 
of  Hannibal,  453. 

Flaminlnus,  L.,  commands 
fleet,  424.  Operations  in 
Greece,  4C5.  Profligate 
cruelty,  449,  Punished  by 
Cato,  454. 

Flavins,  Cn.,  agent  of  App. 
Claudius  Caecus,  221. 

Foenus  undariwm,  125.     Se- 


lians,  535.  Sent  to  Mas- 
silia,  ib.  Tribune  witlj  C. 
Gracchus,  540.  Excites 
Gracchus  to  resist,  543. 
Death,  544. 

Fulvius  Flaccus,  Q.,  one  of 
Fabian  party  in  2nd  Punic 
War,  322.  Consulships, 
323.  Blockades  Capua,  331. 
Punishment  of  the  Capu- 
ans,  333.     Dictator,  341. 

Fulvius  Nobilior,  M.,  besieges 
Ambracia,  439.  Consul  in 
Spain,  473. 

Furculse  Caudlnse,  203,  De- 
feat of  Romans,  203,  205. 

Furius  Bibaculus,  poet,  744. 


G. 

Gabinius,  An.,  author  of  law 
to  invest  Pompey  with 
power  over  Mediterranean, 
634.  Proconsul  of  Syria, 
686.     Death,  689. 

Galatians,  who,  414, 439.  Con- 
quest of,  439. 

Galba,  P.  Sulpicius,  com- 
mands in  1st  Macedonian 
War,  420.  In  2nd,  422.  Ill 
success,  424. 

Galba,  Serg.,  treatment  of  the 
LusitanJans,  473. 

Gallaecians  (Gallicians),  443. 


ln\,Q-\Gallia  Braccala  and  Togata, 


miunctanum,  

rest  abolished,  183=  | 

Foreigners,  not  regarded   as  Gates  of  Rome,  53. 


having  any  rights,  402. 

Formise,  187.  Vineyards  of, 
191,  253. 

Fortuna  Muliebris  and  Viri- 
lis,  temples  of,  105. 

Forum  Boarium,  54. 

Forum  Romanunn,  plan  of,  54. 

Fraires  Arvdles,  who,  403. 

Freedmen,  take  place  of 
clients,  124.  Form  party 
in  state,  219.  Confined  .to 
four  city  tribes,  ib.  Distri- 
buted by  App.  Claudius 
Csecus,  221.  Again  thrown 
into  four,  223.  Place  and 
influence,  399. 

Fregellae,  taken  by  Samnites, 
180.  Roman  colony,  196. 
Taken  again  by  Samnites,! 
205.  Reestablished,  206.  i 
Taken  by  Pyrrhus,  243. 
Revolts,  535.  Treatment 
by  Opimius,  ib. 

Frentanians,  16,  179.  Allies 
of  Rome,  208. 

Fucine  lake,  85. 

Fulvia,  vengeance  on  Cicero, 
713.  Excites  war  against 
Octavian,  721. 


Irriga- 


Gaul,  Cisalpine,  11. 
tion  of,  ib. 

Gauls,  burn  Rome,  143,  seq. 
Of  Gaelic  race,  145.  Phy- 
sical characteristics,  ib. 
Legendary  history  of  inva- 
sion, 146,  seq.  Victory  of 
Alia,  147.  Occupation  of 
Rome,  148,  seq.  Falseness 
of  Roman  legend,  149. 
2nd  and  3rd  invasions,  150. 
Senonians  on  coast  of  Um- 
bria,  210.  In  3rd  Samnite 
War,  212,  seq.  Aid  Etrus- 
cans, 233.  Annihilated,  ib. 
Boians  defeated,  234.  War 
of  225  B.C.,  289.  Victory 
of  Telamon,  ib.  Conquest 
of  Insubrians,  290.  Bum 
Delphi  and  settle  in  Asia 
Minor,  415.  First  assault 
upon  Gauls  of  Southern 
France,  470.  Movement 
in  tribes  on  Rhone,  656. 
CsEsar's  government  of,  ib. 
His  campaigns  in  Gaul,  661, 
seq.,  669,  seq.  Franchise 
to  Transpadane  Gauls,  678, 


Death,  722. 
Fulvius  Flaccus,  M.,  friend  of  Gaums,  mount,  battle  of,  181. 
Ti.  Gracchus,  525.  Consul,  Gellius  Egn»tius,  Samnita 
bill   for  enfranchising  Ita-,     chief,  212. 


INDEX. 


'5[) 


Gelon  of  Syracuse,  102.  De 
feats  Etruscan  and  Cartha- 
ginian fleets,  229,  263. 

Chntes,  what,  41.  Their  spe- 
cial sacred  rites,  109,  148. 

Genthius  conquered,  462. 

Oentlles,  who,  41. 

Genucian  laws,  183. 

Genucius,  attacks  the  patri- 
cians, 99.     Murdered,  ib. 

Gisgo,  seized  by  mercenaries, 
283.     Death,  '285. 

Glabrio,  M'  Acilius,  defeats 
Antiochus  at  Thermopylae, 
435.  Prevented  by  Flftmi- 
ninus  from  crushing  JEto- 
lians,  436. 

Gladiators,  war  of  the,  623,8eg. 

Gladiua  Hispfmus,  187. 

Glaucia,  C.  Servilius,  law,  566. 
Praetor,  568.  Stands  for 
consulship,  570.     Death,  ib. 

Golossa,  joins  Romans,  486. 

Gracchus,  Ti.  Sempronius, 
consul,  320.  Enlists  slaves 
(volones),  323.  Defeats 
Hanno,  and  enfranchises 
volones,  325.     Death,  331. 

Gracchus,  Ti.  Sempronius,  son 
of  last,  pacification  of  Spain, 
445.  Reduces  Sardinia,  ib. 
Interposes  for  Scipio,  453. 
Family,  519. 

Gracchus,  Ti.  Sempronius, 
son  of  last,  at  Carthage,  488. 
Quaestor  in  Spain,  491. 
Early  life,  519.  Struck  by 
desolation  of  Etruria,  520. 
Tribune,      ib.  Reforms 

thwarted  by  Octavius,  522. 
Carried,  523.  Appropriates 
wealth  of  Attains  to  new 
landholders,  ib.  Decline  of 
popularity,  524.  Seeks  2nd 
tribunate,  ib.  Murdered, 
525.    Character,  526. 

Gracchus,  C.  Sempronius,  re- 
turns from  Spain,  526. 
Triumvir  for  executing 
Agrarian  law,  523,  530. 
Quaestor  in  Sardinia,  534. 
Detained  two  years,  535. 
Prosecuted  for  leaving,  536. 
Tribune,  ib.  First  measures 
vindictive,  537.  Legislation, 
537,  seq.  Purposes  and  re- 
sults contrasted,  539,     Re- 

,  elected  tribune,  540.  Pro- 
poses to  enfranchise  Italian 
allies,  ib.  Plans  for  coloni- 
sation, .541.  Outbid  by  Dru- 
■us,  ib.  Plants  colony  at 
Carthage,  ib.  Tumult  in 
capitol,  542.  War  declared 
against  Gracchus,  ib.  Flight 
and  death,  543. 

Graecie  Magna,  17.  Its  cities 
join  r'yrrhuB,  241 ;  and  Han- 
nibal, 319,  334. 


HANNIBAL. 

Greece,  commission  of  three 
sent  to  examine  laws,  114. 
Mention  of  L.  Camillus  by 
Aristotle,  150.  Early  in 
tercourse  between  Greece 
and  Rome,  227.  Grecian 
colonies  in  Italy  and  Sicily 
ib.  Their  decay,  228.  Ro- 
mans admitted  to  Isthmian 
games,  288.  All  Greece 
submits  to  Flamininus,  428, 
Liberty  proclaimed  at  Isth 
mian  games,  ib.  A  Roman 
province,  479. 


Hsemus,  458. 

Hamilcar  Barca,  employed  in 
latter  part  of  1st  Punic 
War,  278,  seq.  Refuses  to 
lay  down  arms,  280.  Com- 
mands against  mercenaries. 
283.  Indignation  against 
Rome,  285.  Commands  in 
Spain,  ill.  Career  in  Spain, 
2in,  seq.     Death,  292. 

Hamilcar  Phamseas,  deserts 
to  Scipio,  487. 

Hannibal  goes  to  Spain  at  the 
age  of  9  years,  291.  Oath 
ib.  Takes  command  at 
death  of  Hasdrubal,  292. 
Conquest  in  Spain,  293. 
Besieges  Saguntum,  ib. 
Qualities  for  command,  294. 
Expedition  against  Italy, 
297.  Turns  Pyrenees,  298. 
Crosses  Rhone,  299,  Passes 
Alps,  301,  seq.  Defeats  Ro- 
man cavalry,  303.  Wins 
battle  of  Trebia,  305.  Wins 
battle  of  Trasimene,  307. 
In  Campania,  3o9.  Winters 
in  Apulia,  ib.  At  Cannae, 
313.  Declines  to  march 
upon  Rome,  315.     Cruelty, 

316.  Received   at   Capua, 

317.  Repulsed  by  Mar- 
cellus  at  Nola,  318.  Takes 
Casilinum,  ib.  Winters  at 
Capua,  ib.  Camp  on  Mt. 
Tifata,  323.  Winters  at 
Arpi,  324.  Takes  Taren- 
tum,  331.  March  on  Rome, 
332,  seq.  Puts  up  shops  in 
forum  to  sale,  333.  Retires 
into  Bruttii,  ib.  Saying  over 
body  of  Marcellus,  343. 
Learns  death  of  Hasdrubal, 
348.  Ordered  home,  364. 
Lands  at  Leptis,  365.  Meets 
Scipio  at  Zama,  ib.  Defeat, 
366.  Compels  Carthagini- 
ans to  make  peace,  367. 
Reforms,  433.  Compelled 
to  leave  Carthage,  ib.  Re- 
sorts to  Antiochus,  ib.  Ad- 
vice frustrated,  434.     Opi- 


nion on  invasion  of  Greece, 
435.  Flight  after  battle  of 
Magnesia,  and  death,  453. 

Hasdrubal,  succeeds  Hamilcar 
in  Spain,  292.  Treaty  with 
Rome,  ib.    Assassinated,  ib. 

Hasdrubal  (brother  of  Han- 
nibal),  commands  in  Spain, 
298.  Attacked  by  Scipios, 
319.  Prepares  to  march 
into  Italy,  343.  Winters  in 
Gaul,  344.  Crosses  Alps, 
345.  Meets  Romans  in 
Umbria,  347.  Retreats,  ib. 
Defeat  and  death,  348. 

Hasdrubal  (son  of  Gisgo), 
deals  with  Syphax,  356. 
Bribes  him,  359.  Army 
cut  oflf  by  Scipio,  362.  Op- 
poses Hannibal,  367. 

Hasdrubal,  commandant  of 
Carthaginians,  487.  Bar- 
barity, 488.  Submits  to 
Scipio,  489. 

Hastati,  who,  188. 

HelmantTc6  taken,  293. 

Heraclea,  battle  of,  240. 

Heraclides,  421. 

Herdonea,  two  Roman  armies 
cut  off  there,  332,  340. 

Hereditary  succession,  38. 

Herennius,  advice  after  battle 
of  Furculse  Caudinse,  203. 

Hernici,  85,  110. 

Hiero  I.,  of  Syracuse,  229. 

Hiero  II.,  229,  265.  Attacks 
Mamertines,  265.  Defeated, 
266.  Alliance  with  Rome, 
268.  Dies,  320.  Services 
to  Rome,  ib.  Picture  of 
battle  of  Messana,  407. 

Hieronymus,  son  of  Hiero  II., 
assassinated,  327. 

Hippocrates.     See  Epicydes. 

Hirtius,  Au.,  acts  against  An- 
tony, 708.  Consul,  709.  De- 
feats Antony  near  Mutina, 
710.    Killed,  ib. 

Historians,  Roman,  earliest, 
406.  Before  Gracchi,  516. 
After  Gracchi,  737. 

History  of  Rome,  extent  of,  1 . 

Horatii  and  Curiatii,  34, 

Horatius  Barbatus,  M.,  con- 
sul, 120. 

Horatius  Codes,  65. 

Horatius,  M.,  65. 

Horatius  Flaccus,  Q.,  poet,  a 
tribune  at  Philippi,  716. 
Account  of,  745,  seq. 

Hortensian  laws,  226. 

Hortensius,  Q.,  promotes  Ci- 
cero's recall,  663.  His  ora' 
tory,  735. 

Husband  and  wife,  400, 

Hyrcanus,  687. 


lapydes,  531. 


^60 


INDEX. 


Icilian  law,  for  dividing  the 
Arentine,  114 

Ilia.     See  Silvia. 

Illyrians,  286.  War  to  check 
piracy,  287.  Conquered  hy 
Philip  v.,  421.  Treat  with 
Perseus,  462.  Conquered 
by  Anicius,  ib.  lUyria  a 
Roman  province,  480. 

Insula,  what,  114. 

Insubrian  Gauls  conquered, 
290.  Welcome  Hannibal, 
303.     Subdued,  441. 

Interamna,  colony,  206. 

Intercession  of  tribunes,  94, 
98. 

Interest.     See  Foenus. 

Interreges,  Interregmmi,  30. 

h)sus,  battle  of,  413. 

fsola  sacra,  22T. 

Isthmian  games,  Komans  ad- 
mitted there,  288. 

Istrians,  reduced  by  Marcel- 
lus,  445. 

Italiotes,  227. 

Italian  allies,  258.  Service 
required  of  them,  392.  Dis- 
like Agrarian  law  of  Grac- 
chus, 531.  Take  Scipio  for 
leader,  529,  531.  Ordered 
to  quit  Rome,  534.  Fulvian 
law  of  franchise,  535.  C. 
Gracchus  takes  up  their 
cause,  540.  Again  disap- 
pointed, 541.  Encouraged 
by  Marius  and  Saturninus, 
569.  Attempt  of  Drusus 
to  enfranchise,  573.  Exas- 
peration increased  by  Va- 
rian  law,  575.  Social  War, 
ib.  Measures  taken  by 
Italians,  576.  Franchise 
granted  in  part,  577.  Bit- 
terness of  contest,  578. 
Eight  allied  nations  reduced 
to  four,  580.  Total  losses 
in  war,  ib.  Plotian  and 
Papirian  law,  ib.  New 
citizens  enrolled  in  ten 
tribes',  581.  Distributed 
into  all  tribes  by  Sulpicius, 
583.  Transfer  command 
from  Sylla  to  Marius,  584. 
Cinna  heads  them,  588. 
Renews  the  Social  War,  ib. 
Depopulation  of  Italy,  615. 
Miserable  condition  after 
Civil  Wars,  733. 

Italy,  extent,  2.  Structure, 
2-6.  Geography,  6-13.  Uni- 
ted only  under  Rome,  14. 
Name,  15.  Limits,  15,  251. 
Six  nations  of,  15.  Sub- 
jected to  Rome,  250,  seq. 
Government  and  condition, 
261,  258.  Stability  of  Ro- 
man system,  257,  seq. 
Southern  Italy  favours  Han- 
nibal, 317. 


Janiculum  fortified,  37. 

Janus,  31.  Janus  and  Jamia, 
109.  Temple  closed  after 
1st  Punic  War,  286.  By 
Octavian,  730. 

Jerusalem  taken,  637. 

Jews  rise  against  Syrians,  are 
reduced,  470.  War  against 
Antiochus,  ib.  Affection 
for  Caesar,  690.  Antony 
makes  Herod  king,  725. 

Juba  defeats  Curio,  679, 
Strange  death,  691. 

Judtces  or  Jurymen,  how  fur- 
nished, 538.  Attempt  of 
Caepio  to  restore  power  to 
senate,  566.  Purity  tested 
by  remarkable  trials,  572. 
Attempt  of  Drusus  stopped 
by  his  murder,  574.  Judi- 
cial power  restored  to  se 
nate  by  Sylla,  616.  Abuse 
of,  626.  Aurelian  law  for 
reforming  the  courts,  ib. 

Jugurtha,  548.  Bribes  sena 
tors,  ib.  Puts  Adherbal 
to  death,  549.  Comes  to 
Rome  under  safe  conduct, 
ib.  Driven  to  extremities 
by  Metellus,  551.  Flies  to 
Mauritania,  552, 554.  Given 
up  by  Bocchus,  554.  Mise 
rable  end,  555. 

July,  Quintilis,  698,  707. 

Jupiter  Latiaris,  23,  84.  Fe- 
retrius,  26.     Stator,  27. 

Jura:  see  Rights.  Jus  La- 
ta :  see  Latinitas. 

Justititmi,  583. 


Kings,  their  history,  74 
Knights :  see  Equites. 


L. 

LaberiuB,  Dec,  Mimes  of, 
740.     His  disgrace,  ib. 

Labignus,  T.,  joins  Pompey, 
676.  Flies  to  Africa,  689. 
Escapes  to  Spain,  691,  603. 
Death,  694. 

Labienus,  Q.  (Parthicus), 
general  of  Parthians,  721. 
Overruns  Asia  Minor,  ib. 
Defeated  and  slain,  723. 

Lselius,  C,  friend  of  Scipio 
African  us,  358.  Disap- 
pointed of  command  in 
Syria,  437.  Restores  Pla- 
centia  and  Cremona,  441. 

Lselius,  C,  son  of  last,  com- 
mands fleet  at  Carthage, 
488.     Forces  his  way  into 


LIBBABY^ 

town,  489.      Conduct  afte» 

death  of  Ti.  Gracchus,  528. 

Language,  Latin,  how  formed, 

18,  19.     Condition  at  close 
of    1st    Punic    War,    402. 

I     Corrupted  by  Greek,  403. 

Lar  or  Lars,  what,  137. 

Latin  colonies,  origin,  264 
Number,  255.  Rights,  256. 
Twelve  refuse  to  furnish 
soldiers,  341.  Punished, 
360. 

Latinitas  or  Jws  Latii,  what, 
256.  Extended  to  Gauls  of 
Italy,  580. 

Latins,  origin,  18.  Of  Alba, 
conquered,  35.  Of  sea-coast, 
conquered,  37.  Subjects  of 
Rome  after  Latin  War,  193. 
Latin  communities,  ib. 

Latin  league,  110.  Broken 
up,  174  Again  formed, 
175.  Again  broken  after 
1st  Samnite  War,  185,  seq. 
War,  186-190. 

Latium,  early  inhabitants  and 
language,  18, 19.  Compari- 
son of  Ijatins  and  English, 

19,  20.      Settlement   after 
Latin  War,  191,  seq. 

Lautulse,  pass  of,  182.  Ro- 
mans defeate^^  there,  206. 

Law,  study  of,  at  Rome,  516. 

Legati  Coesaris,  who,  734 

Legends,  Roman,  nature  of, 
70,  seq.  Change  under  pa- 
tricians, 78.  Reasons,  163. 
Plebeian  legends,  165. 

Legion  of  Romulus,  30. 

Lentulus,  M.  Cornelius  (Sura), 
Catilinarian,  646.  Death, 
648. 

Lentulus,  P.  Corn.  (Spinther), 
consul,  promotes  Cicero'? 
recall,  664.  Ordered  to  re- 
store Ptolemy  Auletes,  665. 
Pretensions  at  Pharsalia, 
683. 

Leontini  taken,  327. 

LepTdus,  M.  ^milius,  remon- 
strates with  Philip,  422. 
-(Emilian  road,  442. 

LepTdus,  M.  ^milius,  consul 
against  Sylla' s  will,  620. 
Defeat  and  death,  621. 

Lepidus,  M.  ^milius,  son  of 
last,  prsefectus  urbis,  678. 
Names  Caesar  dictator,  ib. 
Commands  troops  during 
Caesar's  murder,  704.  Go- 
vernor of  Narbonese  Gaul, 
710.  Joins  Antony,  711. 
Triumvir,  712.  Ruler  of 
Africa,  720,  722.  Joins  in 
war  against  SextPompeius, 
724.    Loses  triumvirate,  ib. 

Lex  Annalis,  487. 

Libertlni,  Liberti,  124. 

Library,  first  public,  696. 


INDEX. 


^61 


LIBBI. 

libri  Lintei,  what,  162. 

tiibya,  province  of,  490. 

Licinian  rogations,  166.  Ob- 
ject, 157.  Opposition  of 
patricians,  158.  Carried, 
160.  Evasion  of  Agrarian 
law,  169.  Renewed  by  Ti. 
Gracchus,  520. 

Licinius  Macer,  C,  738. 

Ligarius,  Q.,  conspirator 
against  Csesar,  700. 

Ligurians,  wars  with,  441. 
In  Gaul,  470. 

Lilybaeum,  besieged  by  Pyr- 
rhus,  245.  Taken  by  Ro- 
mans, 278,  seq. 

Livia,  taken  from  her  hus- 
band by  Octavian,  726. 

Livius  Andronlcus,  M.,  first 
dramatist  at  Rome,  404. 

Livius,  M.,  commandant  at 
Tarentum,  325.  Surprised 
by  Hannibal,  331. 

LiviuH  SalTnator,  M.,  consul, 
chosen  second  time  to  op- 
pose Hasdrubal,  344.  Sta- 
tioned at  Sena  Gallica,  846. 
Commands  at  battle  of  Me- 
taurus,  347.    Triumph,  349. 

Loan,  voluntary,  in  2nd  Punic 
War,  339.     Repaid,  360. 

Locri,  in  Magna  Graecia,  joins 
Pyrrhus,  241.  Taken  by 
Romans,  245.    Pyrrhus,  246. 

Loatpletes,  who,  47.  | 

Luca  (Lucca),  colony,  442.        j 

Lucanians,  16,  179.  Take| 
part  in  2nd  Samnite  War,! 
199.  Attack  Thurii,  232, 
Rome  declares  war  against 
them,  ib.  Submit,  249. 
Join  Hannibal,  317. 

Luceres,  who,  30.  Inferior 
position,  39.  Raised  by 
Tarquinius  Prisons,  40. 

Luceria,  taken  by  Q.  Fabius, 
202.     Defies  Hannibal,  308. 

Lucilius,  C,  satirist,  515. 

Lucretia,  rape  of,  61. 

Lucretius  Cams,  T.,  poet,  741, 
seq. ;  comp.  510. 

Lucrine  lake,  Csesar's  plan  for 
harbour,  0'J5.  Executed  by 
Agrippa,  723. 

LucuUus,  L.  Licinius,  treach- 
ery iu  Spain,  473. 

Lncullus,  L.  Licinius,  grand- 
son of  last,  serves  in 
Greece,  597.  Allows  Mi- 
thridates  to  escape,  599. 
Defeats  his  fleet  at  Tenedos, 
ib.  Left  to  levy  money  in 
Asia,  600.  Commands  in 
3rd  Mithridatic  War,  630. 
Successes,  630,  seq.  Mild 
administration  in  Asia,  632. 
Enters  Armenia,  ib.  Oblig- 
ed by  his  soldiers  to  return, 
«B3.    Superseded,  666. 


MAB0ELLU8. 

Lucullus,  M.,  brother  of  last 
cuts  off  Spartacus,  625, 

Lucumo,  what,  29,  39. 

Ludi  Apollindres,  334. 

Lusitanians,  443. 

Lycortas,  chief  of  Achaean 
League,  468. 


Maccabseus,  Judas,  470. 

Macedon,  condition  after  Pu- 
nic Wars,  414.  Divided 
into  four  republics,  469, 
Province,  480. 

Macedonian  War,  first,  420, 
seq.  Second,  422.  Third, 
466,  seq.     Fourth,  477. 

Maecenas,  C.  Cilnius,  ances 
tors,  210.  Restores  Virgil's 
patrimony,  720.  Minister 
of  Octavian,  726. 

Maelius,  Sp.,  distributes  corn 
134.     Slain,  ib.;  cf.  395. 

Maenius,  tribune,  extends  tri 
bunician  power,  98. 

Mago,  262. 

Mago,  brother  of  Hannibal, 
follows  him  into  Italy,  298. 
Mission  to  Carthage,  318. 
Escapes  to  Balearic  Isles, 
368.  In  Liguria,  364.  Dies, 
ib. 

Maharbal,  298,  313.  Advice 
after  Cannae,  316. 

Malaria,  causes  of,  83,  seq. 

Mamers,  a  Sabine  god,  178. 

Mamertines,  name  for  Sam- 
nite mercenaries,  280, 
Seize  Messana,  ib.  Cause 
of  1st  Punic  War,  266. 

Mancinus,  Au.  Hostilus,  ill 
success  against  Perseus,  461. 

Mancinus,  C.  Host,  defeat  by 
Numantians,  and  treaty, 
492,  seq. 

Mancipes,  who,  393. 

Manilian  law,  gives  Pompey 
the  East,  635. 

Manilius,  M.,  consul  in  third 
Punic  War,  483-^7. 

Manlius  Torquaius,  T.,  battle 
with  a  Gaul,  and  name,  150. 
Consul  in  Latin  War,  186. 

Manlius  Torquatus,  T.,  rejects 
message  from  Hannibal, 
315.    Reduces  Sardinia,  326. 

Manlius  Vulso,  Cn.,  evil  of 
his  wars  in  Asia,  439,  seq. 

Manlius  Capitol! nus,  M., saves 
capitol,  148.  Popular  cham- 
pion, 154.  Trials  and  death, 
ib.     Motives,  155  ;  cf.  395. 

Mantua,  Etruscan  origin  of,17. 

Marcellus,  M.  Claudius,  gains 
Spolia  Opima  by  killing 
Viridomarus,  290.  Sent  to 
Casilinum  after  Cannse,  317. 
Repulses  Hannibal  at  Nola, 


MASIKI88A. 

318.  "  Sword  of  Rome," 
322.  Repulses  Hannibal 
again  at  Nola,  324.  Takes 
Leontini,  327.  Besieges 
Syracuse,  ib.  Takes  Hexa- 
pylum,  sheds  tears  over 
Syracuse,  329.  Admitted  by 
treachery  into  Achradina, 
ib.  Ovation,  330.  Patron 
of  Sicily,  338.     Death,  L  43. 

Marches,  rapid,  347,  363. 

Marcius  Rutilus,  C,  first  ple- 
beian dictater  and  censor, 
170.  Engaged  in  2nd  Sam- 
nite War,  201. 

Marine,  C,  early  life,  860. 
Accompanies  Metellus  to 
Africa,  551.  Attacks  Me- 
tellus, 662.  Seeks  consul- 
ship, ib.  Assumes  com- 
mand, 653.  Sends  Sylla  to 
Bocchus,  554.  ■  Triumph, 
ib.  Consul  2nd  time,  5i55. 
Preparations  for  Cimbrian 
War,  558.  Consul  3rd  and 
4th  time,  ib.  Camp  near 
Aries,  559.  Allows  Teu- 
tons to  pass,  ib.  Supersti- 
tion, ib.  Battle  near  Aix, 
660.  Consul  5th  time,  ib. 
Joins  Catulus  in  Italy,  501. 
Battle  of  Vercellse,  ib.  Ge 
nerosity,  561,  662.  Political 
position,  567.  Stands  for 
6th  consulship,  568.  League 
with  Saturninus  and  ruse 
to  entrap  Metellus,  569. 
Takes  up  arms  against  Sa- 
turninus, 570.  Political 
weakness,  571.  Visits  Mi 
thridates,  ib.  Gains  little 
credit  in  Social  War,  577. 
Intrigues  to  procure  com- 
mand against  Mithridates, 
682,  seq.  Attacked  by  Sylla, 
585.  Adventures  in  escap- 
ing, 586,  seq.  Returns,  589. 
Enters  Rome,  590.  Mas- 
sacres, 591.  7th  consul- 
ship, 592.     Death,  ib. 

Marius,  C,  son  of  last,  escapes 
to  Africa,  586,  587,  Made 
consul,  takes  his  station  at 
Pr«neste,  606.  Defeated  at 
Sacriportus,  ib.    Death,  609. 

Maroneians,  massacre  of,  457. 

Marriage.  See  Connubium 
Matrimonium,  Con/arr*' 
aUo,  Hxisband. 

Marrucinians,  16,  178,  20a 

Mars  Gradivus,  31. 

Marshes  of  Tuscany,  11. 

Marsian  War,  676. 

Marsians,  16,  178.  Submit 
and  become  allies,  208. 

Masinissa,  negotiates  with 
Romans  in  Spain,  355,  357. 
Chief  of  Numidia,  369. 
FUes,  ib.    Dispossesses  Sy- 


'762 


INDEX. 


phax,  362,  aeq.  Dealings 
with  Sophonisba,  3C3.  King 
of  Numidia,  ib.  Encroach 
ments  upon  Carthage,  481 
Defeats  Carthaginians  in 
presence  of  Scipio,  482. 
Hangs  back,  485.  Death, 
486. 

Massicus,  Mens,  190. 

Massilia,  allied  with  Rome, 
299.  Assisted  by  Rome, 
535.  Submits  to  Csesar, 
678. 

Mastarna,  46,  77. 

Matese,  mount,  178. 

Matho,  leads  Carthaginian  in- 
surgents, 283.  Brutality 
and  death,  285. 

Matronalia,  what,  27. 

Matrimunium,  what,  399. 

Mediolanum  taken,  290. 

Memmius,  C,  tribune,  in- 
quires into  senatorial  cor- 
ruption, 54').  Saves  Jugur- 
tha,  ib.     Death,  570. 

Menas,  his  traitorous  advice 
to  Sext.  Pompeius,  7C2. 

Menenius  Agrippa,  fable  of 
belly  and  members,  93. 

Mercenaries  of  Carthage,  re- 
volt, 282.     War  ended,  285. 

Meric,  329.  Deserts  to  Ro- 
mans, 330. 

Messalla,  M.  Valerius,  legate 
of  Brutus  at  Philippi,  716. 
Defeats  Octavian,  717. 
Submits  to  Antony,  718. 

Messana  occupied  by  Mamer- 
tines,  230.  Demands  aid 
of  Rome,  265. 

Messapians,  15.  Submit  to 
Rome,  250. 

Metapontum  opens  gates  to 
Hannibal,  332. 

Metaurus,  battle  of,  347,  seq. 

Metayers,  what,  506, 

Metelli,  405.     Eminence,  546. 

Metelhis,  L.,  Csecilius,  de- 
feats Carthaginians,  275. 
Captures  120  elephants,  ib. 
Coins  of,  ib. 

Metellus,  Q.  Csecilius  (Mace- 
donicus),  defeats  Pseudo- 
Philippus,  477.  Marches 
against  Achajans,  478.  Su- 
perseded, ib.  In  Spain,  491. 
Death  and  honours,  546. 

Metellus,  Q.  Csecilius  (Nunii- 
dTcus),  commands  against 
Jugurtha,  550.  Two  suc- 
cessful campaigns,  551,  seq. 
Jealousy  of  Marius,  551. 
Who  supersedes  him,  553, 

,    Reception     at     Rome,    ib. 

*  Joins  conservative  party. 
666.  Banished,  569.  Noble 
conduct,  ib.  Triumphant 
return,  571. 

Metellus,  Q.  Csecilius  (Pius), 


MITHEIDATIO.  KTIMIBIA. 

571.       Proconsul    in    Sam-  Monarchy  of  Augustus,  732, 
nium,  589.     Endeavours  to      733.       Comparative    bless- 


raise  siege  of  Rome,  590. 
Joins  Sylla,  604.  Consul 
with  Sylla,  617.  Sent  to 
check  Sertorius,  618,  621, 
seq.  Pontifex  max. ,  death, 
645. 

Metellus,  Q.  Csecilius  (Creti- 
cus),  commands  against 
Cretans,  634.  Triumph, 
635. 

Metellus,  Q.  Csecilius  (Celer), 
leads  senatorial  party,  653. 

Metellus,  Q.  Csecilius  (Nepos), 
opposes  Cicero,  652.  Bill 
in  favour  of  Pompey,  ib. 
Consul,  664. 

Metellus,  L.,  son  of  Creticus, 
shuts  treasury  against  Cse- 
sar, 677. 

Metellus  Scipio,  aids  Pompey 
in  Syria,  682.  Arrogant 
claims,  683.  Escapes  to  Af- 
rica, 689.     Death,  691, 

Mettus  Curtius,  27. 

Mettus  Fuffetius,  dictator  of 
Alba,  34^6. 

Micipsa,  son  of  Masinissa, 
king  of  Numidia,  486,  548. 

Milo,  235,  245,  246,  248. 

Milo,  T.  Atmius,  raises  troop 
of  gladiators,  664.  Kills 
Clodius,  671.  Retires  to 
MarseUles,  672. 

Mimes,  Roman,  740. 

Minucius,  L.,  prsefectus  an- 
nonse,  134,  135. 

Minucius  Rufus,  M.,  master 
of  horse  under  Fabius,  308. 
Partial  success,  310.  Saved 
by  Fabius,  ib. 

Mithridates,  his  ambassadors 
insulted  by  Saturninus,  571. 
Himself  by  Marius,  ib.  Em- 
bassy from  Italians,  578. 
Reply,  579,  594,  seq.  Em- 
pire, 595.  Declares  war, 
596.  Received  as  deliverer 
of  Asia,  ib.  Massacre  of 
Italians,  ib.     Sends  Arche- 


ings,  734.  Effects  on  litera 
ture,  art,  &c.,  735,  seq. 

Money,  early  Roman,  408. 
Diminution  of  As,  ib.  In- 
troduction of  silver  and 
gold,  ib. 

Mucins.     See  Sccevola. 

Mummius,  L.,  takes  Corinth, 
478.     Character,  479. 

Munda,  battle  of,  693. 

Municipal  towns,  253,  seq. 
Incorporated  with  Rome, 
ib.     Oppose  Hannibal,  320. 

Murena,  L.  Licinius,  com- 
mands in  Asia,  600.  Pro- 
vokes 2nd  Mithridatic  War, 
617.     Triumph,  ib. 

Murena,  L.  Licinius,  son  of 
last,  consul  during  Catilina- 
rian  conspiracy,  646.  De- 
fended by  Cicero,  648. 

Murgantia,  327,  328. 

Mutin  or  Mutton,  330. 

Mutina,  colony,  44'?.  Battles 
there,  709,  710. 

Mylse,  sea-fight  at,  270. 

N. 

Nabis,  joins  Flamininus,  426. 

Allowed    to    make    peace, 

429.     Death,  434. 
Nsevius,  Cn.,  poet,  404,  seq. 
Names  of  Romans,  41. 
Narbo   Marcus,    2nd    Roman 

colony  in  Gaul,  541. 
Narnia,  colony,  210. 
Neapolis,    18.       Near    False. 

polls  (or  Parthenope),  107. 
Nepete,  colony  sent  to,  174. 
Nero,    M.   Claudius,    consul, 

344.  Stationed  in  Apulia, 

345.  Intercepts  Hasdru- 
bal's  couriers,  346.  Assists 
in  winning  battle  of  Metau- 
rus, 347.  Informs  Hanni- 
bal of  his  brother's  death, 
348.     Triumph,  349. 

Nex-i,  who,  90. 


laus  to  Piraeus,  ib.     Court  jNicopolis  in  Pontus,  636. 


at  Pergamus,  ib.  Nearly 
taken  by  Fimbria,  599. 
Peace  with  Sylla,  ib.  De- 
feats Murena,  629.  Com- 
municates with  Sertorius, 
622,  630.  Prepares  for  3rd 
war,  630.  Besieges  Cyzi- 
cus,  ib.  Beleaguered  by  Lu- 
cuUus,  ib.  Flies  to  Armenia, 
631,  seq.  Defeats  Triarius 
at  Zela,  633.      Defeated  by 


Nicopolis  at  Actium,  7'28. 

Niebuhr,  his  interpretation  of 
Roman  legends,  74. 

Nola,  occupied  by  Greeks, 
197.  Taken,  206.  Nolan 
senate  send  for  Marcellus, 
318.  Holds  out  after  So- 
cial War,  580.  Taken  by 
SyUa's  officers,  612. 

Numa  Pompilius,  30.  Reli- 
gious institutions,  30-32. 


Pompey,  636.  Retires  to  Numdnt'a,  478.  War  with, 
the  Crimea,  ib.  Death  at!  finished  by  Scipio,  494,  seq. 
Panticapseum  and  burial  at  Numidia,  356,  Division  after 
Sinop6,  638.  I     death    ot    Masinissa,    48i 

Mithridatic  Wars,  593,  seq.J    Province,  692. 
617,  629,  630,  8eq. 


INDEX. 


'63 


Octavia,  sioter  of  Octavian 
marries  Antony,  722.  For- 
saken for  Cleopatra,  725. 

(Jctavius,  M.,  tribune,  op- 
poses law  of  Ti.  Gracchus, 
521.     Deposed,  523. 

Octavius,  M.  ((J.  Julius  Caesar 
Octavianus),  when  bom, 
045.  Educated  in  camp  at 
ApoUonia,  699.  Heir  of 
Caesar,  705.  Lands  at  Brun- 
dusium,  707.  Executes 
Caesar' s  will,  ib.  Champion 
of  senate,  708,  710.  Defeats 
Antony  at  Mutina,  710. 
Suffers  him  to  escape,  ib. 
Suspected  by  Cicero,  711. 
Declares  himself  av>inger  of 
Caesar,  ib.  Triumvir  with 
Antony  and  Lepidus,  712. 
Attempts  to  wrest  Sicily 
from  Sext.  Pompeius,  715. 
At  Philippi,  717.  Receives 
West,  7i0.  Confiscates  Ita- 
lian lands,  i&.  Goes  to  Gaul, 

721.  Makes  peace  and  en- 
ters   Rome    with    Antony, 

722.  Meets  Sext.  Pompeius 
at  Misenum,  ib.  Breaks 
with  him,  723.  Defeated 
by  Sextus,  724.  Seduces 
army  of  Lepidus,  ib.  Pru- 
dent government,  726.  Con- 
jugal licence,  ib.  Want  of 
faith  to  Antony,  ib.  Pub- 
lishes Antony's  will,  727. 
Wins  battle  of  Actium,  728. 
Returns  to  Italy,  ib.  Visits 
Egypt,  ib.  Threefold  tri- 
umph, 730.  Ruler  of  the 
world,  ib.  Nature  of  his 
power,  732,  733. 

(Enotrians,  15. 

Ofella,  Q.  Lucretius,  takes 
Praenestfc,  609.  Put  to  death 
by  Sylla,  613. 

Ogulnian  law,  218. 

Ogulnii,  set  up  the  image  of 
the  wolf  and  twins,  407. 

Op  Ilia,  festival  of  Ops,  36. 

OpTcans  or  Oscans,  16. 

Opiniiusv»L.,  praetor,  destroys 
Fregellae,  535,  Refused  con 
sulship,  540.  Elected,  542, 
Leads  senate  in  assault 
upon  C.  Gracchus,  542,  seq. 
Barbarity,  543.  Prosecuted, 

,  but  acquitted,  545.  Put  to 
death,  550. 

Jppius,  tribune,  his  sumptu- 
ary law  for  women,  320. 

Oratory,  at  Rome,  51 6.  Decay 
under  the  emperors,  735. 

Orestes,  M.  Aurelius,  477. 

OrTcura  occupied,  291. 

Qstia  built  by  Ancus,  37, 


Otacilius  Crassus,  T.,  twice 
I  refuses  consulship,  324,  337. 
jOxybians,  470. 


P. 

Pacorus,  overruns  Phoenicia, 
721.     Defeated,  723. 

Pacuvius  Calavius,  317. 

Pacuvius,  M.,  poet,  513. 

Pagandlia,  festival  of,  32. 

Pugi,  what,  32. 

Painting,  its  rise  at  Rome,  407. 

Palcepolis.     See  Neapolis. 

Pangaeus,  mount,  gold-mines 
there,  456. 

Panormus  taken  by  Romans, 
274.     Battle  of,  275. 

Pansa,  C.  Vibius,  consul  with 
Hirtius,  709.  Surprised  and 
mortally  wounded  by  An- 
tony, 710. 

Papirius  Cursor,  M.,  200. 
Quarrel  with  Q.  Fabius,  201. 
Consul,  204.     Dictator,  207. 

Papirius  Cursor,  L.,  214.  Sets 
up  sun-dial  at  Rome,  409. 

Parma,  colony  there,  442. 

ParthenSpe.     See  Ne-apolis. 

Parthians,  668.  Defeat  Cras- 
sus, 669.  Defeated  by  Cas- 
sius,  ib.  Caesar's  designs 
against,  699.  Overrun  Asia 
Minor  and  Phcenicia,  721. 
Driven  back  by  Ventidius, 
723.  Antony's  fruitless 
campaigns,  ib. 

Pastures  of  Samnite  moun- 
tains, 178. 

Patres  Conscripti,  who,  63. 
Patres,  Palricii,  41.  Pa- 
tres Minorum  Gentium,  44. 

Patricians,  41.  Gentes,  41. 
Resided  chiefly  in  city,  88. 
Absolute  after  expulsion  of 
Tarquins,  89.  An  exclusive 
caste,  89,  seq.  Decrease  of, 
127,  370.  Seek  the  tribu- 
nate, 1-8.  Their  quarters 
at  Rome,  396. 

Patrons  and  Clients,  29,  41. 

Peculium,  what,  398. 

Pedius,  Q.,  nephew  of  Caesar, 
711.  Joins  Octavian  in 
avenging  him,  ib.  Death, 
712. 

Pelagonia,  464. 

Pelasgian  tribes  in  Italy,  15. 
At  Rome,  22. 

Pelignians,  16,  178,  208. 

Pelia,  464. 

Pennus,  M.  Junius,  his  alien 
law,  534. 

Pentrians,  178. 

People  of  the  city,  as  opposed 
to  rural  population,  506. 
Meaning  of  a  "  popular 
man"  at  Rome,  507, 


pun^ippus. 

Pergamus,  414.  Roman  pro- 
vince, 547,  593. 

Perperna,  M.,  621.  Joins 
Sertorius  in  Spain,  622. 
Murders  his  chief,  623. 
Taken  by  Pompey,  ib. 

Perseus,  son  of  Philip  V., 
excites  father's  jealousy 
against  Demetrius,  457. 
Measures,  450.  Deceived 
by  Philippus,  460.  Forces, 
ib.  Defeats  Crassus  in  Thes- 
saly,  ib.  Foils  Mancinus, 
461.  Retreats  to  Pydna, 
ib.  Prepares  lines  on  Eni- 
peusto  receive  PauUus,  462. 
Falls  back  to  Pydna,  ib. 
Defeated,  463.     End,  466. 

Perusia,  war  of,  excited  by 
Fulvia,  721. 

Petreius,  M.,  defeats  Catiline, 
649.  Defeated  by  Caesar  in 
Spain,  678.     His  death,  6:?1. 

Peucetians,  15. 

Phalanx,  compared  with  le- 
gion, 240,  At  Cynoscc- 
phalae,  426.  Of  Antiochus, 
437.     Of  Perseus,  460. 

Pharnaces,  rebels,  638.  Sub- 
dued by  Caesar  at  Zela,  690. 

Pharsalia,  battle  of,  683,  seq. 

Philip  v.,  king  of  Macedon, 
letters  to  Hannibal  inter- 
cepted, 320,  326.  Treaty 
with  Hannibal,  326.  Sacks 
Thermon,  417.  Makes 
Demetrius  minister,  418. 
Treaty  with  Hannibal,  ib. 
Activity,  420.  Burns  Ther- 
mon, 421.  Terminates  1st 
Macedonian  War,  ib.  As- 
sists Hannibal  at  Zama,  ib. 
Agrees  to  partition  Egypt 
with  Antiochus,  ib.  In- 
vades Asia  Minor,  422. 
Answer  to  JEmilius,  ib.  Re- 
duces Thrace,  423.  Destroys 
suburbs  of  Athens,  ib. 
Foils  Galba,  424.  Driven 
from  pass  of  Aoii  s  by  Fla- 
mininus,  ib.  Interview  with 
Flamininus,  425.  Defeat- 
ed at  Cynoscephalae,  427. 
Makes  peace,  428.  Takes 
part  against  Antiochus,  435, 
437.  Sends  his  son  De- 
metrius to  Rome,  457.  Or- 
ders his  death,  458.  Re- 
morse and  death,  ib, 

Philippi,  position  of  armies, 
716,  seq.  First  battle,  717. 
Second  battle,  718. 

Philippus,  Q.  Marcius,  name, 

460.  Deceives  Perseus,  ib. 
Commands  against  Perseus, 

461 .  Forces  pass  of  Tempe, 
but  retires,  ib. 

Philippus,  L.  Marcius,  leader 
gf  geneitorial  party.  673. 


764 


INDEX. 


Polybius  sent  to  Rome,  468, 
Friend      of     Scipio      the 


PHILOPCEMEN. 

Philopoemen   commands    the 

Achaean  cavalry  at  Sellasia, 

416.         Chief    of    Achtean 

League,  421.     Recommends 

neutrality,  425.    Death,  468 
Philosophers,  Greek,  bauishedlPonuBn'Mm,  what,  25,  52, 


from  Rome,  471.  Embassy 
of  Athenian  philosophers  to 
Rome,  472. 

Philosophy  at  Rome,  749,  seq. 

Fhraates,  forms  alliance  with 
Pompey,  636, 

Picenians,  16,  178.  Submit  to 
Rome,  250. 

Picentines,  who,  250. 

Picus,  a  Latin  god.  24. 

Pietas,  what,  22,  400. 

Pirseeus  taken  by  Sylla,  597. 

Pirates.     See  Cilician. 

Piso,  L.  Calpurnius  (Frugi), 
law  for  law  courts,  538. 

Piso,  friend  of  Catiline,  642. 

Piso,  L.  Calpurnius,  father-in- 
law  of  CsBsar,  658. 

Placentia,  colony,  290,  299. 
Repeopled  by  Lselius,  441. 

Plancus,  L.  Munatius,  710. 
Discontented  with  Octa- 
vian,  721. 

Plautus,  T.  Maccius,  comic 
poet,  511,  512. 

Plebeians,  42.  Admitted  to 
power  by  Servius  TuUius, 
47,  seq.  Misery  after  ex- 
pulsion of  Tarquins,  87,  seq. 
Obtain  tribunes  and  sediles, 
93,  94.  Elect  their  own 
tribunes,  100.  Admitted 
to  decemvirate,  115.  In- 
termarry with  patricians, 
129.  Admitted  to  military 
tribunate,  132.  To  qii8e.s- 
torship  and  senate,  133. 
Consulate  claimed  for  them, 
129,  157,  seq.  Obtained,  160. 
Admitted  to  both  consul- 
ships, 170.  To  dictator- 
ship, ib.  To  one  censorship, 
ib.  To  augurate  and  pon- 
tificate, 218.  Quarters  at 
Rome,  396.  Land  allotted 
to,  ib. 

Plebi-sclta,  obtain  force  of 
law  by  Valerio  -  Horatian 
law,  121.  By  Publilian  law, 
191. 

Plebs  or  Plebes.  See  Popu- 
lus. 

Pleminius,  Q.,  his  excesses 
imputed  to  Scipio,  360. 

Pleuratus,  joins  Romans  in 
2nd  Macedonian  War,  423. 

Po,  its  embankments,  10. 

Pollio,  C.  Asinius,  founds  first 
public  library,  696.  Hesi- 
tates between  Antony  and 
senate,  710.  Intercedes  for 
Virgil,  720.  Discontented 
with  Octavian,  721  ^ 


Fompeians,  rally  after  Phar- 
*1  salia,6H8.  Defeated  at  Thap- 
/  sus,  691.  Rally  in  Spain, 
J  693.  Defeated  at  Munda,  ib. 
i'ompeius,  Q.,  commands   in 

Spain,  491. 
Pompeius  Strabo,  Cn. ,  consul 
in  Social  War,  577,  579,, 
seq.  Law  for  enfranchising^ 
Transpadane  Gauls,  580.' 
Proconsul  in  Apulia,  588. 
Sent  for  by  senate  to  raise 
siege  of  Rome,  589.  De- 
feats the  enemy.  590. 
Death,  ib. 
Pompeius  Magnus,  Cn.,  son 
of  last,  joins  Sylla,  604.  De- 
feats Marians,  605.  Saluted 
imperator,  ib.  Successes 
in  Italy,  Sicily,  and  Africa, 
612,  617.  Receives  name 
of  Magnus,  617.  Extorts 
triumph  from  Sylla,  ib. 
Sent  against  Sertorius,  622. 
seq.  Cuts  oft"  remnant  of  the 
gladiators,  625.  Popular- 
ity, ib.  Consul  with  Cras- 
sus,  626.  Reforms,  626. 
Commands  against  pirates, 

635.  Supersedes  Lucullus, 

636.  Defeats  Mithridates, 
ib.  Receives  submission  of 
Tigranos,  ib.  Conquers  Sy- 
ria and  Judaea,  637.  Re 
turns  to  Pontus,  638.  Re 
gulates  East,  ib.  Returns 
to  Italy,  652.  Triumph,  652 
Coldness  to  Cicero,  653. 
Triumvirate  with  Caesar 
and  Crassus,  654.  Marries 
Julia,  656.  Ambiguous  con- 
duct, 657.  Permits  exile  of 
Cicero,  659.  Promotes  his 
recall,  663.  Visits  Caesar  at 
Lucca.  663,  666.  Consul 
with  Crassus,  666.  Obtains 
government  of  Spain,  ib. 
Julia  dies. 667.  Triumvirate 
dissolved,  669.  Sole  consul, 
671.      Political     prospects, 

,672.  Leaves  Rome,  676. 
'Leaves  Italy,  667.  Esti- 
ymate  of  his  conduct,  679. 
( Occupies  Dyrrhachium,  680. 
/Endeavours     to     separate 

Caesar  from  Antony,  682. 
TFoils  Caesar's  attempt  to 
\blockade  him,  ib.  Defeat- 
ed at  Pharsalia,  684.  Flight 
fto  Egypt,  and  murder,  685. 
X^haracter,  686. 
Pompeius,  Cn.,  eldest  son  of 

Pompey,  688,     Escapes  to 


PRIVILEOItTM. 


Africa,    689.      Thence     to 
Spain,  693.     His  end,  694. 


younger,  474.  Obtains  fa-,  Pompeius,  Sext.,  younger  son 
vourable  terms  for  Greece,  of  Pompey,  at  Lesbos  dur- 
479.  ~\  ing  Civil  War,  685.    Escapes 

/to  north  of  Spain,  694. 
/  Master  of  that  district,  710. 
I  Takes  possession  of  Sicily 
j  and  forms  powerful  navy, 

j  715.     In  vain  attacked  by 

I  Octavian,  ib.    Leagued  with 

'    Antony   against    Octavian, 

'  721.  Betrayed  by  Antony, 
722.  Cuts  off  corn-supplies 
from  Italy,  ib.  Received  as 
partner  of  triumvirs,  ib. 
Again  betrayed,  723.  De- 
feated by  Agrippa,  724. 
Death,  725. 

Pons  Subllcius,  37,  65,  65. 

Pontlflces,  31.  Number,  40. 
Increased  to  nine,  218. 

Pontine  Marshes,  Caesar's  plan 
for  draining,  695. 

Pontius,  C,  leader  in  2nd 
Samnite  AVar,  victory  in 
the  3rd  War,  and  death, 
214,  seq. 

Pontius,  C,  of  Telesia,  com- 
mands Samnites,  608. 

Popillius  Laenas,  C,  dictation 
to  Antiochus,  468. 

Poplifuga,  what,  173. 

Populus,  what,  29,  41,  47,  49, 
122. 

Porcius  Laeca,  P.,  126. 

Porsenna.  invasion  of  Rome, 
65.     Real  facts,  80. 

Possessores,  who,  521. 

Postliminium,  what,  493. 

Postumius,  L.,  his  embassy 
to  Tarentum,  235. 

Postumius  Regillensis,  M., 
stoned  to  death,  135. 

Postumius  Tubertus,  A.,  135. 

PrcefectHra  AnnoncB,  IM.  See 
Prefecture. 

Praeneste,  84.  Independence, 
174.  How  treated  after 
Latin  War,  193.  Head- 
quarters of  young  Marius, 
606.  Taken  by  Ofella,  609, 
611. 

Prcerogdtlva.     See  Centuria. 

Praetor,  name  given ,  origin- 
ally to  consuls,  63.  120. 
New  patrician  magistracy, 
160.  Age  of,  371.  Praetors 
at  close  of  Punic  Wars, 
372. 

Prcevaricatio,  what,  643. 

Prefect  of  city,  130. 

Prefectures,  252,  253. 

Princeps  Senatus,  title  of  Oc- 
tavian, 733. 

P-inclpes,  who,  188. 

Privernum,  struggle  against 
Rome,  196.    Prefecture,  253, 

Privilegium,  what,  125. 


INDEX 


76/ 


PE0C0N8TJL8HIP. 

Proconsulship,  institution  of, 
198.  Purposes  and  advan- 
tages, 375.  Abuse  of  ini 
proriaces,  393. 

Proletarii.  who,  47. 

Promontorium  Hermseum, 
260,  272. 

Promontorium  Pulcrum,  260. 

Proscription  of  Sylla,  611, 
Its  difference  from  the 
massacres  of  Marius,  592. 

Provence,  origin  of  name,  548 

Provinces,  387.  Sicily  first 
province,  280,  387.  Taxa- 
tion of,  390,  393.  Mode  of 
allotment  of,  539.  Under 
empire,  734; 

Provocare,  different  from  Ap- 
pel.lare,  126. 

Prusias  harbours  Hannibal, 
453.  Congratulates  senate 
after  Pydna,  469. 

Ptolemy  Soter,  413. 

Ptolemy  Philadelphus,  allied 
with  Rome,  249,  418. 

Ptolemy  Epiphanes,  under 
protection  of  Rome,  413. 

Ptolemy  Ceraunus  aids  Pyr- 
rhus,  239.     Slain,  244,  414. 

Ptolemy    Auletes,     expelled, 

664.  Spinther   ordered  to 
restore  him  not  by  force, 

665.  Restored    by    Gabi- 
nius,  685. 

Publicani,  who,  393. 

Public  land.  See  Ager  Pub- 
licus 

Public  opinion,  almost  power- 
less at  Rome,  393,  509. 

Publilius  Philo,  Q.,  his  law, 
191.  Engaged  in  2nd  Sam- 
nite  War,  201.    Consul,  204. 

Publilius  Volero,  law  respect- 
ing election  of  tribunes,  99. 

Pudlci  tia  patricia  and  plebeia, 
217. 

Pullarii,  who,  214,  277. 

Punic  Wars.  First,  origin  of, 
265.  Character  of,  267.  1st 
period,  267-271.  2nd,  271- 
276.    3rd,  276-280. 

Second  Punic  War,  1st 
period,  296-320.  2nd,  321- 
335.  3rd,  336-349.  4th, 
350-368. 

Third  Punic  War,481,  8eq. 

Pydna,  battle  of,  463. 

Pyrrhus  invited  to  Italy  by 
Tarentines,  235.  Lands  at 
Tarentum,  239.  Defeats 
Lsevinus,  241.  Proposes 
peace,  242.  Advances  into 
Latium,  ib.  Receives  Fa- 
bricius,  243.  Defeats  Ro- 
mans at  Asculnm,  244. 
Makes  peace  with  Rome, 
lb.  Sails  for  Sicily,  245. 
Returns  to  Italy,  ib.  Plun- 
ders temple  at  Locri,  246. 


Defeated  by  Curias  Dtiuta- 
tus,  ib.  Returns  to  Epirus : 
death,  247.  Speech  on 
leaving  Italy,  260. 


Quadrigarius,  Q.  Claudius, 
historian,  738. 

Qticestores  Classici,  or  Quaes- 
tors, creation  and  duties, 
133.  Number,  ib.  Age, 
371.  Numbers  and  duties 
of  quaestors,  372. 

Quoestures  Parricidii,  who, 
34,  133. 

QiMtuorviri,  258. 

Quinctius,  Kseso,  106. 

Quinqueremes,  first  built  by 
Romans,  269. 

Quinqiuvlri  Mensari,  169, 

Quirinal  Hill,  27. 

Quirlnus,  Sabine  name  of  Ro- 
mulus, 27,  28. 

Quirites,  name,  27.  Interpre- 
tation, 75. 


E. 

Rabirius,  C,  defended  by 
Cicero,  644. 

Ramnes  or  Ramnians,  30,  39 

Rape  of  Sabine  women,  26. 

Rasena  or  Rasenna,  original 
name  of  Etruscans,  16,  17, 

Rea.     See  Silvia. 

Reate,  18,  85,  177,  253. 

Regifugium,  63. 

Regillus,  lake,  battle,  68. 

Regulus,  M.  Atilius,  wins 
sea-fight  at  Ecnomus,  271 
Lands  in  Africa,  272.  Of- 
fers peace,  273.  Defeated 
by  Xanthippus,  ib.  Em- 
bassy and  death,  275. 

Religion  of  Rome  Sabine,  400. 
Its  nature  and  influence, 
401.   In  later  times,  749,  aeq. 

Remus.     See  Romulus. 

Reveimes  of  Rome,  389,  seq. 

Rex  Sacrorum  or  Sacrificu- 
lus,  63. 

Rhegium  revolts,  241.  Seized 
by  Decius  Jubellius,  ib. 
Never  submits  to  Hannibal, 
334. 

Rhodes,  republic  of,  414. 
Rhodians  force  Philip  to  fly 
from  Asia,  422.  Ill-treat- 
ment by  senate,  468. 

Rhone,  passage  of,  by  Hanni- 
bal, 299,  seq. 

Rights  of  Roman  citizens,  192. 
How  communicated  to  for- 
eigners, ib. 

Roads,  409.  Appian,222.  Fla- 
minian,  305.    ^^milian,  442. 

Roma  Quadrata,  what,  25. 

Romans,  their  character,  411.1 


Rome,  not  mentioned  by  any 
Greek  before  Aristotle,  18. 
Foundation,  25.  Descrip- 
tion, 52,  seq.  Power  under 
Tarquins,  80,  seq.  Position, 
81.  Rebuilt  irregularly 
after  burning  by  Gauls,  153. 
Relation  to  Italy  after  con- 
quest of  Peninsula,  251,  sey. 
After  Italian  franchise,  581 . 

Romulus  and  Remus,  birth, 
24.     Death  of  Remus,  2S. 

Romulus,  builds  Rome,  25. 
War  with  Sabines,  etc.,  26, 
27.  Death,  28.  Institu- 
tions, 29,  30.  Criticism  of 
his  story,  75. 

Rorarii,  who,  188. 

Rupilius,  P.,  finishes  first 
Slave  War  in  Sicily,  500. 
Laws  for  regulating  Sicily, 
501.  Chief  of  commission 
to  inquire  into  death  of  Ti. 
Gracchus,  528. 

Rural  population,  decay  of, 
505.  Form  strength  of 
party  of  Gracchus,  524. 

Rutilius  Rufus,  P.,  572. 


Sabellian  tribes,  16. 

Sabines,  of  Cures,  war  with 
Rome,  26.  Position  of 
country,  85.  Defeated  by 
Valerius  and  Horatius,  122. 
Sabines  of  Reate  and  Ami- 
temum,  177.  Conquered 
by  Curius  Dentatus,  225. 

Sacra  gentilicia,  35,  42. 

Sacranians,  18. 

Sacra  Via,  55. 

Sacriportus,  battle  of,  606. 

Saguntum,  293.  Taken  by 
Hannibal,  ib. 

Salii,  31. 

Sallentines,  15.  Attacked  by 
Lucanians,  232.  Submit  to 
Rome,  250. 

Sallustius  Crispus,  C.  (the 
historian),  ruler  of  Nu- 
midia,  692.  Character,  ib. 
Histories,  737. 

Salvius,  563. 

Samnites,  16.  Origin,  178. 
Four  cantons,  ib.  Samnite 
Wars,  first,  180, 181.  Causes 
of  second,  197,  seq.  Second 
or  Great  Samnite  War, 
199-208.  Third,  209-216. 
Fourth,  249.  Hirpinian 
and  Caudinian  join  Haimi- 
bal,  317.  Resolution  of,  in 
Social  War,  578.  Oppose 
Sylla,  607.  Defeated  before 
Rome,  609. 

Sardinia  subdued  by  Rome, 
285.  Reduced  by  Ti.  Grac- 
cljus,  "  Sardi  venales,"  4^ 


766 


INDEX. 


BAB8INA. 

Sarsina  taken,  250. 

Satire,  Roman,  515. 

Satricum,  colony  sent  to,  174. 

Saturnalia,  festival  of,  36. 

Saturnian  hill,  old  name  of 
capitoline,  26,  2T. 

Saturnian  metre,  403,  405. 

Situ  minus,  L.  Appuleius, 
league  with  Marius,  568. 
Murders  Nonius,  ib.  Tri- 
bune, ?'&.  Banishes  Metel- 
lus,  569.  Corn  -  law,  ih. 
Death,  570. 

Scsevola,  C.  Mucius,  66. 

Scsevola,  P.  Mucius,  consul, 
adviser  of  T.  Gracchus,  521. 

Scsevola,  Q.  Mucius,  augur, 
566. 

Scsevola,  Q.  Mucius,  pontifex, 
566.     Death,  607. 

Scaurus,  M.  J^milius,  charac- 
ter, 546.  Heads  commission 
for  inquiring  into  corrup- 
tion, 650.  Leads  moderate 
party  in  senate,  565.  At- 
tempts to  restore  judicial 
power  to  senate,  572.  At- 
tacked by  ultra-senatorial 
party,  574. 

Scipio,  L,  Cornelius  Barbatus, 
sarcophagus,  211. 

Scipio,  Cn.  Cornelius,  sent  to 
Spain,  301.  Successes,  319, 
334.    Defeat  and  death,  335. 

Scipio,  P.  Cornelius,  consul 
at  Hannibal's  invasion,  299. 
Lands  near  Marseilles,  ib. 
Returns  to  Italy,  301 .  De- 
feated on  Ticinus,  303.  On 
Trebia,  305.  Joins  brother 
in  Spain,  319.  Successes, 
ih.     Defeat  and  death,  335. 

Scipio,  P.  Cornelius  (Africa - 
nus),  son  of  last,  said  to 
have  saved  father  on  Tici- 
nus, 303.  Prevents  deser- 
tion after  Cannse,  316.  Pro- 
consul of  Spain,  351.  Cha- 
racter, 351,  seq.  Takes  New 
Carthage,  353.  "  Conti- 
nence of  Scipio,"  354.  De- 
clines sovereignty  of  Spain, 
ih.  Defeats  Hasdrubal, 
355.  Master  of  all  Spain 
except  Gades,  356.  Quells 
rebellion  in  Spain,  356,  357. 
Consul,  358.  Passes  into 
Sicily,  359.  Accused,  but 
triumphantly  acquitted, 
360.  Lands  in  Africa,  361. 
Besieges  Utica,  ih.  Cuts  off 
Carthaginian  and  Numidian 
armies,  362.  Defeats  Han- 
nibal at  Zama,  366.  Offers 
peace,  367.  Triumph,  368. 
Accompanies  brother  into 
Asia,  437.  Proposal  to 
make  him  dictator,  449. 
Fall    in    popularity,    450, 


BLAVB6. 


Impeached,    452.       Leaves 
Rome,  i6.    Rescues  brother, 
453.     Death  and  tomb,  ib.    ! 
Scipio,  P.  Cornelius  Africanus: 
(^milianus),  second  son  of 
JimiliusPauUus,  471.  Edu- 
cation and  friendship  withj 
Polybius,   474.       Accompa-' 
nies  Lucullus  to  Spain,  473. 
Views    a    battle     between 
Masinissa  and   Carthagini- 
ans,   482.      Consul    in  3rd 
Punic  War,    487.       Active 
measures,  488,  aeq.     Takes 
Carthage,  489.    Feelings  on  Senonians.     See  GauU. 
viewing  burning  city,  490.  Sentlnum,  battle  of,  213. 
Curses  it,  ih. ;  cf.  485.    Ha-  Septimius,  murderer  of  Pom 
bits,  493.     Censorship,  494. '     pey,  685,  686. 
Popularity,      ih.        Consul  Septimontium,  what,  26. 
again  for  Numantian  War,  Serranus.     See  Calatinus. 
ih.     Takes  Numantia,  495.  Sertorius,  Q.,  joins  Cinna,  589 
Marriage  to  Sempronia,  520.      Commands  at  siege  of  Rome 


regnum,  30.  Opened  to 
plebeians,  133.  Firmness 
after  battle  of  Trasimene, 
308.  Vacancies  filled,  376. 
Money  qualificatioh,  ih. 
Character,  ih.  Powers,  377. 
seq.  Increase  of  authority 
during  Punic  Wars,  .384. 
Closed  except  to  wealthy, 
448,  503.  Deprived  of  ju- 
dicial power,  538.  Made 
supreme  by  Sylla,  61.5. 
Filled  with  foreigners  by 
Csesar,  695. 


Opinion  on  death  of  Ti. 
Gracchus,  526,  529.  Fa- 
vours Italians,  529.  Breaks 
with  populace,  ib.  Refused 
command  against  Aristoni- 
cus,  ib.  Moves  transfer  of 
Agrarian  powers  to  con- 
suls, 531.  Takes  part  of 
Italians,  ib.  Death  and 
character,  532. 
Scipio,  L.  Cornelius  (Asiati- 
cus),  commands  against 
Antiochus,    437.        Defeats 


Syrians, 

called  for,  452.     Arrested 

453. 

Scipio  Nasica,  P.,  "  best  man 
at     Rome,    361.      Subdues 
Boian  Gauls,  441. 

Scipio  NasTca  (Corculum),  ac 
companies  PauUus  to  Tem- 
pe,  462.  Conquers  Dalma- 
tians, 471.  Opposes  de- 
struction of  Carthage,  482. 

Scipio  Nasica  (Serapio),  joins 
oligarchs,  494.  Heads  op- 
position to  Ti.  Gracchus, 
524.  Leads  senators  to  at- 
tack him,  525.  Dies  in  ex- 
ile, 528. 

Scribse,  or  Notaries,  221,  373. 

Sculpture  at  Rome,  407,  acq. 

Secessions  :  first,  92,  seq.  Se- 
cond, 119,  seq.  Third,  129. 
Fourth,  160.  Fifth,  182. 
Sixth,  226. 

Seleucus  NicStor,  413. 

Sellasia,  battle  of,  416. 

Sempronian  laws.  See  Chrac- 
chus. 

SemproniuB  Longus,  Ti.,  con- 
sul at  time  of  Hannibars 
invasion,  299.  Joins  Scipio 
at  Trebia,  304. 

Sena  Gallica,  234. 

Senate,  of  Romulus,  29,  40. 
Decurise  of,  during  inter- 


with  Cinna,  590.  Slaughters 
slaves,  591.  Prsetor  of 
Spain,  605.  Leaves  Spain, 
621.  Plan  of  retiring  to 
Fortunate  Isles,  ib.  Recall 
to  Spain,  ih.  Government, 
ih.  Foils  Metellus  Pius 
and  Pompey,  622.  Com- 
municates with  Mithri- 
dates,  622,  630.  Murdered 
by  Perperna,  623. 
Servilian  laws  of  Caepio  and 
Glaucia  distinguished,  566. 


438.  Accounts!  Servius  TuUius,  origin,  45, 
seq.  Institutions,  46,  seq. 
Walls,  53.     Death,  56. 

Setia,  colony  sent  to,  174. 

Ships,  Roman,  269,  274,  278. 

Sibylline  books,  289,  316,  501. 

Sicanians,  18. 

Siceliotes,  227. 

Sicily,  263,  seq.  Disputed  be- 
tween Syracuse  and  Cartha- 
ginians, ih.  Scene  of  first 
Punic  War,  267-281.  Ceded 
to  Rome,  280. 

Siculians,  16,  18. 

Sila,  wood  in  Bruttii,  269. 

Silvia,  Rea,  confounded  with 
Ilia,  23. 

Silvii,  kings  of  Alba,  23. 

Slaves,  few  in  early  times  at 
Rome,  218.  Increase,  219, 
398.  Enlisted  in  Hanni- 
balic  War,  323.  Barbarians 
natural  slaves,  397,  402. 
Slaves  of  city  and  country, 
398.  Condition,  ib.  Com- 
mon practice  of  enfranchis- 
ing, 399.  First  Slave- War 
in  Sicily,  497,  seq.  Vast 
numbers  sold  after  con- 
quests, 498.  Slave-trade, 
ih.  How  employed,  ih. 
Slaves  of  Damophilus  begin 
the  war,  499.  Consterna- 
tion at  Rome,  500,      Wftr 


INDEX. 


T.7 


SOCIAL. 

quelled  by  P.  Rupilius,  ib.  \ 
Second  Slave-War,  563,  seq.  ' 
Quelled  by  M'  Aquillius,i 
564.  Attempt  of  Csesar  to^ 
check  slave-labour,  696. 

Social  War,  575,  seq.  j 

Sophonisba,  given  to  Syphax, 
.359.     Her  fate,  '  63. 

Sora  taken  by  Samnites,  180.  j 
Recovered,  206.  Colony, 
208.  ! 

Spain,  conquest  by  Hamilcar,  [ 
29,  seq.  By  Scipio,  344, 
352,  seq.  Divided  into  two[ 
provinces,  443.  Pacified  by, 
Ti.  Gracchus,  445.  Span- 
iards appeal  to  senate,  472. 
Outbreak  of  Celtiberian 
War,  473.  ! 

Sparta,  condition,  415.  Joins, 
Achaean  League,  434. 

Sparta  cus,  insurrection  of,j 
623,  seq. 

Sparus,  what,  443.  | 

Spendius,  leader  of  Cartha- 
ginian insurgent  mercena-i 
ries,  283,  seq.  j 

Spoletum  defies  Hannibal,  j 
308. 

Spolia  Oplma  won  by  Ro-I 
mulus,  26.  ByCossus,  138. 
By  Marcellus,  290. 

Statuary.     See  Sculpture. 

Stipendium,  138. 

Stoic  philosophy,  at  Rome, 
509,  749.  j 

Suessa,  206. 

Suffets  of  Carthage,  262. 

Sulpicius,  P.,  tribune,  elo- 
quence, 583.  Agent  of  Ma- 
rius,  ib.     Death,  586. 

Sumptuary  laws,  471. 

Sun-dial,  first  at  Rome.  409. 

Superstition,  prevalence  of, 
at  end  of  republic,  750. 

Sybaris,  early  greatness,  18. 

Sylla,  L.  Cornelius  (Felix), 
early  life,  553.  Quaestor 
of  Marius,  ib.  Sent  to 
Bocchus,  554.  Brings  Ju- 
gurtha  to  Marius,  ib.  Lieu- 
tenant of  Marius  in  Cim- 
bric  War,  558.  Transfers 
services  to  Catulus,  561. 
Praetor,  571.  Splendid  lion- 
fight,  ib.  Governor  of  Cili- 
cia,  ib.  Reduces  Samnites, 
578.  Takes  Bovianum,  579. 
Rivalry  with  Marius,  582. 
Commands  against  Mithri- 
dates,  ib.  Marches  upon 
Rome,  584,  seq.  Occupies 
city,  585.  Difticulties,  587. 
Embarks  for  East,  588.  Be- 
sieges Athens,  597.  Defeats 
Pontic  generals  at  Chaeronea 
and  Orchomenus,  598,  seq. 
Interview  with  Archelaus, 
599.      Peace  with  Mithri- 


TAUEim.  TBEA8UBT. 

dates,     ib.      Message     to.Tauromeniura,  siege  and  cap- 


602.      Answer    of      ture  of,  by  Rupilius,  500. 

ib.  Sylla's  reply,  Taxation,  doubled  after  Can- 
603.  Lands  in  Italy,  ib.l  nae,  320.  How  managed, 
Defeats      Norbanus,      604.1     389. 

And   Scipio,  605.      Defeats  Teanum,  calls  in  Campanians 
young  Marius,  606.    Enters!     against       Samnites,       180. 
Rome,  607.     Attacks  Carbo'     Sylla's  victory  there,  827. 
at  Clusium,   ib.      Marches  ^Telamon,  battle  of,  289. 
to     meet     Samnites.     i6.  Ten  Tables.  See  Decemvirate. 
Marches  to  relieve  Rome,  Terentilius    Harsa,    C,   tri- 


bune, 112.  Law  for  dec«m- 
virate,  114. 
Terentius  Afer,  P.,  his  Adel- 
phi  performed  at  funeral 
of  ^milius  Paullus,  471. 
Account  of,  511,  seq. 


Critical  position,  609. 
Eventual  victory,  ib.     En- 
ters Rome  second  time,  ib. 
Barbarous  vengeance,  610. 
Adopts     name     of     Felix, 
611.     Proscription-lists,  ib. 
Perpetual      dictator,      613.  Termlnfilia,  32. 
Triumph,   ib.      Laws,  614,  Temi,  falls  of,  411. 
seq.     Consul  2nd  time,  617.  Teuta,  queen  of  the  lUyrians, 
Carelessness,   ib.       Retires!     war  with  Rome,  287. 
to  Puteoli,  618.      Mode  of  Teutones,  origin,  557.     Pour 
life,  619.     Death  and  cha-      into  Gaul,  559.     Pass  Ma- 
racter,  ib.  rius,    ib.      Annihilated    at 

Syphax,     entertains      Scipio      Aix,  560. 
and  Hasdrubal  Gisgo,  356.  Thapsus,  battle  of,  691. 
Forms  alliance  with  Scipio,  Theatres,    Greek,    234,    seq. 


ib.  Joins  Carthaginians, 
359.  Treacherously  sur- 
prised by  Masinissa,  362. 
Syracuse, '/29.  Republic  pro- 
claimed, 327.  Joins  Rome, 
ib.    Its  increase,  ib.      Be- 


Stone,  prohibited  at  Rome, 

514.     Chief  use  of,  5i5. 
Thermon,    sacked   by  Philip 

v.,   417.     Burnt  a  second 

time,  421. 
Thermopylae,  battle  of,  435. 


sieged   by   Marcellus,   327,  Thessalonica,    464.       Retreat 


seq.     Taken,  329. 
Syria,  condition  of,  413, 
Syrian  War,  432,  seq. 
Syrus,  P.,  Mimes,  740. 

T. 

Tabernoe  Novce  and  Veteres, 
45. 

Tanaquil,  39. 

Tarentum,  its  interest  in  2nd 
Samnite  War,  200.  Ancient 
grandeur,  228.  Account  of, 
230,  seq.  Treaty  with  Rome, 
232.  Breach  of  treaty  by 
Roman  fieet,  234.  Taren- 
tines  insult  Postumius,  2,35. 
Invite  Pyrrhus,  ib.  Submit 
to  Rome,  249.  Taken  by 
Hannibal,  331.  Recovered 
by  Fabius,  342. 

Tarpeian  hill,  26. 

Tarquinii,  city  of  Etruria,  89. 
War  with  Rome,  175. 

Tarquinius  Priscus,  comes  to 
Rome,  39,  Institutions,  40, 
seq.    Death,  45. 

Tarquinius  Superbus,  seventh 
king,  57.     Death,  69. 

Tarquinius,  Sextus,  takes 
Gabii,  60.  Rape  of  Lucre- 
tia,  61.     Death,  63, 

Tatius,  Titus,  26-28. 

TaurTni  (Gauls  of  Turin),  con- 
quered bj'  Hannibal,  303. 


of  Cicero,  659.  Head-quar- 
ters of  Pompey,  680. 

Thessaly,  republics  of,  430. 

Three,  prevalent  number  in 
Roman  legends,  23,  24. 
Partly  superseded  by  two, 
81,40. 

Thoas,  persuades  Antiochus 
to  invade  Greece,  434. 

Thurii,  defended  by  Rome, 
232.  Raises  statue  to  Fa- 
bricius,  234.  Destroyed  by 
Tarentines,  2r5.  Occupied 
by  Hannibal,  332. 

Tibur,  position  of,  84.  Joins 
Gatils,  175.  How  treated 
after  Latin  War,  193. 

Ticliuis,  cavalry  skirmish 
there  with  Hannibal,  303. 

Tifata,  mount,  occupied  by 
Samnites,  180.  Hannibal' s 
camp  there,  323.  Sylla  at- 
tacks Marians  there,  604. 

Tigra  nes,  595.  King  of  kings, 
631,  632.  Defeated  bv  Lu- 
cuUus,  632.  Submits  to 
Pompey,  636. 

Titles  or  Titians,  30,  39. 

"Toulouse  gold,"  557. 

Tragedy,  at  Rome,  514. 

Trasimene,  battle  there,  306. 

Treasures,  sacred,  used  in 
2nd  Punic  War,  342.  By 
Caesar,  677, 

Treasury,  389. 


768 


INDEX. 


Trebia,  battle  there,  304. 

Tiebonius,  C,  moves  to  con- 
fer prorinces  on  first  tri- 
umvirs, 666.  Legate  of  Cae- 
sar, 677.  Conspirator,  700. 
Takes  possession  of  Asia 
Minor,  715.     Death,  ib. 

Tresviri,  who,  258. 

Triarii,  who,  188. 

Tribes,  patrician,  29,  43,  seq. 
Of  the  city  and  country,  399. 

Tribes,  plebeian,  of  Servius, 
50.  Become  twenty-one, 
81.  Twenty-five,  155,  173. 
Twenty-seven,  174.  Twen- 
ty-nine, 193.  Thirty-one, 
197.  Thirty-three, -208.  Ex 


Usury,  condemned  by  Cato, 
Utica,  490. 


Vadimo,  battle  of,  233. 
Valerio-Horatian  laws,  121. 
Valerius  Antias,  Q.,  T38. 
Valerius   Corrus,    M.,  battle 
with  Gaul  and  origin  of  his 
name,  151.    Consul,  defeats 
Samnites,    180.       Dictator, 
182.     Engaged  in  2nd  Sam- 
nite  War,  200. 
Valerius   Flaccus,   L.,  patron 
and  friend  of  Cato,  450. 
tent  of  district  so  divided, [Valerius    Flaccus,  L.,  super- 
251.     Thirty-five,  286.    Al-{     sedes  Sylla  in  the  East,  598. 
tered  to  admit  Italians,  581.1     Murdered,  ib. 
Tribuni    aararii,     50,     390.  [Valerius  Flaccus,  L.,  princeps 
Supply  l-3rd  of  judices,  626.  j     senatus,  602,    Law  to  make 
Tnbuni  militarea   consulari      Sylla  dictator,  612.    Master 
potestate,  130.    Military  tri-l     of  the  horse,  613. 
bunate  divided  into   three, Valerius     Poplicola,    P.,    64. 
periods,    131,   seq.      Plebe-i     His  house,  306.  " 
ians,  when  elected,  132.        IValerius,  M.,  dictator,  92. 
Tribuni  niilitum,  or  legion-  Valerius   Potltus,   L.,   consul 

ary  tribunes,  182.  after  decemvirs,  120, 

Tribuni  plebis,  creation,  91,  Valerius     Lsevinus,    P.,    de- 
seq.    Number,  93.    Original      feated  by  Pyrrhus,  241. 
power,  93,  94.    Persons  pro- Valerius    Lsevinus,    M,,   sta 
tected,   94.       Increased    toj     tioned  at  Brundusium,  325. 
five,  elected  by  the  comitia 
tributa,  100.     Increased  to 
ten,    120.      Power    in    the 
time   of  the   Gracchi,  520, 
523, 541.   Tribunitian  power 
abolished    by    Sylla,    615. 
Restored  by  Pompey,  626. 
Appropriated  by  Octavian, 
733. 
Trlbus,  original  sense  of,  29. 
Tribu-tum,    property-tax    in 
war,  390.   Repaid,  391.    Le 


Finishes  war  in  Sicily,  330, 
337.  Proposes  patriotic 
loan,  33).  Refuses  to  name 
Fulvius  dictator,  .340.  Able 
government  of  Sicily,  344. 
Moves  rejection  of  peace 
with  Carthage,  365.  Sue 
cessful  war  against  Philip 
v.,  420.  Forms  league  with 
JEtolians,  ib.  Sent  back  to 
Greece  on  outbreak  of  2nd 
Macedonian  "War,  422. 

vied  but  once  after  battle  Varius  Rufus,  poet,  744. 

of  Pydna,  503,  710.  jVarro,   C.  Terentius,  consul. 


Triumviri  mensarii,  320.         i 

Triumviri  agri  dividendi,  520. 1 

Triumviri  rei  conatituendce,, 
title  of  Antony,  Octavian,' 
and  Lepidus,  712;  cf  654.   j 

Tubero,  Q.  ^lius,  532.  ! 

Tullianum,  prison,  36. 

TuUus  Hostilius,  third  king, 
a  Roman,  34.     Death,  36. 

Tunis,  taken,  272. 

Tunnel.    See  Emiasarium. 

Tusculum,  84. 

Twelve  Tables,  124-127. 

Tyrants,  228,  aeq. 


Umbrians,  16.     Call  in  Gauls, 
210.     Submit  to  Rome,  250. 


311.  Character,  ib.  Insists 
on  fighting  at  Cannae,  312, 
Escapes  to  Venusia,  314. 
Reception  by  senate,  317. 
Posted  at  Ariminum  to 
watch  Gauls,  346. 

Varro,  M.  Terentius,  life  and 
writings,  738. 

Varus,  leader  of  Pompeians 
in  Africa,  679,  689.  Es- 
capes to  Spain,  691,  693. 
Death,  694. 

Veil,  86.  Veientine  War  with 
Fabii,  109.  Tolumnius 
elected  Lar,  138.  Attempt 
to  assist  Fidenae,  ib.  Siege 
of  Veil,  139,  seq.  FaU  of 
Veil,  140.  Proposal  to  mi- 
grate thither,  defeated,  141. 


Second  proposal,  after 
burning  of  city,  153. 

Veldbrum,  54. 

Velia,  55,  396. 

Ventidius  Bassus,  P.,  triumph 
over  Parthians,  723. 

Venusia,  colony,  215.  Defies 
Hannibal,  309. 

Vercellae,  Cimbrians  annihi- 
lated there,  561. 

Verres,  C.  Cornelius,  plunder* 
military  chest,  608.  Im- 
peached by  Cicero,  627,  seq. 

Ver  sacrum,  what,  177. 

Vesta,  her  worship,  31. 

Vestal  virgins,  31,  40. 

Vestinians,  16,  178.  Allies  at 
Rome,  208. 

Vesuvius,  battle  of,  189. 

Veto  of  tribunes,  94. 

Vici  or  wards  of  city,  32. 

Villicus,  who,  398. 

Villius  Tappulus,  P.,  424. 

Vindex,  vindieias  dare,  118. 

Virgilius  Maro,  P.,  the  poet, 
recovers  his  patrimony,  720. 
His  life  and  writings,  744. 

Virginia,  legend  of,  117,  seq. 

Viriathus,  491.  His  shame- 
ful death,  492. 

Volunes,  323. 

Volscians,  16.  Country,  84. 
Take  many  Latin  towns, 
101.  Led  by  Coriolanus 
against  Rome,  104,  seq. 
Checked  by  Sp.  Cassius, 
109,  137. 

Vulsinii,  city  of  Etruria,  war 
with  Rome,  207,  210.  Re- 
newed, 233.  Taken  by  Ro- 
mans, 250.  Magnificent  re- 
mains, ib. 

Vulturnus,  river,  178. 

w. 

Wall  of  Servius  Tullius,  53. 

Wolf  and  twins,  image,  407. 

Women,  influence  on  man- 
ners, and  increasing  profli- 
gacy, 449. 


Xanthippus,  defeats  Regulus, 

273. 
Xanthus,  its  brave  resistanpe 

to  Brutus,  715. 

Y. 

Year,  lunar,  its  use  in  early 
times,  32.  Mode  of  correct- 
ing, 696.    Julian,  697. 


Zama,  battle  of,  365, 


^ev-^^ 


of 


Fisher's  Brief  History  of  the  Nations 

AND  OF  THEIR   PROGRESS   IN   CIVILIZATION 

By   GEORGE   PARK   FISHER,  LL.D. 
Professor  in  Yale  University. 

Cloth,  i2mo,  613  pages,  with  numerous  Illustrations,  Maps,  Tables,  and 
Reproductions  of  Bas-reliefs,  Portraits,  and  Paintings.      Price,  $1 .50 


This  is  an  entirely  new  work  written  expressly  to  meet 
the  demand  for  a  compact  and  acceptable  text-book  on 
General  History  for  high  schools,  academies,  and  private 
schools.  Some  of  the  distinctive  qualities  which  will  com- 
mend this  book  to  teachers  and  students  are  as  follows: 

It  narrates  in  fresh,  vigorous,  and  attractive  style  the 
most  important  facts  of  history  in  their  due  order  and 
connection. 

It  explains  the  nature  of  historical  evidence,  and  records 
only  well  estabhshed  judgments  respecting  persons  and 
events. 

It  delineates  the  progress  of  peoples  and  nations  in 
civilization  as  well  as  the  rise  and  succession  of  dynasties. 

It  connects,  in  a  single  chain  of  narration,  events 
related  to  each  other  in  the  contemporary  history  of 
different  nations  and  countries. 

It  gives  special  prominence  to  the  history  of  the 
Mediaeval  and  Modern  Periods,  —  the  eras  of  greatest 
import  to  modern  students. 

It  is  written  from  the  standpoint  of  the  present,  and 
incorporates  the  latest  discoveries  of  historical  explorers 
and  writers. 

It  is  illustrated  by  numerous  colored  maps,  genealogical 
tables,  and  artistic  reproductions  of  architecture,  sculpture, 
painting,  and  portraits  of  celebrated  men,  representing 
every  period  of  the  world's  history. 


Copies  of  Fisher's  Brief  History  of  the  Nations  will  be  sent,  prepaid,  to 
any  address  on  receipt  of  the  pi-ice  by  the  Publishers  : 


American   Book  Company 


New  York  ♦  Cincinnati  ♦  Chicago 

(124) 


Outlines  .of  General  History 

For  High  Schools,  Academies,  and  Normal  Schools, 
AND  FOR  Special  Students  and  General  Readers. 

By  frank  MOORE  COLBY,  M.A. 

Professor  of  Economics  in  New  York  University. 

Half  morocco,  12mo,  610  pages.     Illustrated      ....     $1.50 


This  General  History  possesses -certain  features  and  ad- 
vantages which  distinguishes  it  from  all  other  text-books  of 
its  class.  While  designed  primarily  for  use  as  a  text-book, 
it  presents  such  a  conspectus  of  the  history  of  the  whole 
world  as  admirably  adapts  it  for  the  use  of  special  students 
and  of  general  readers.  The  special  feature  which  char- 
acterizes the  book  most  is  the  interesting  style  in  which  it  is 
written,  the  story  from  beginning  to  end  being  told  simply 
and  clearly,  and  yet  in  a  most  attractive  manner.  The 
book  gives  in  brief  compass  a  comprehensive  outline  of 
the  history  of  the  whole  world,  but  a  larger  proportional 
space  is  given  to  mediaeval  and  modern  history  than 
in  most  other  text-books  in  recognition  of  the  relation  of 
those  later  periods  to  the  present  status  of  the  world's 
history.  To  this  end  also  the  great  events  of  the  nine- 
teenth century  are  especially  emphasized.  Throughout 
the  book  the  author  has  sought  to  point  out  the  signifi- 
cance of  events  so  that  they  should  clearly  explain  later 
historical  developments. 

The  book  is  well  supplied  with  useful  accessories.  The 
different  historical  phases  and  periods  are  shown  by  well 
designed  and  accurate  maps,  many  of  which  are  printed 
in  colors.  The  illustrations  are  numerous  and  finely 
executed.  These  include  portraits  of  the  world's  greatest 
historical  characters.  The  chapters  are  followed  by  brief 
summaries  for  reviews.  The  pronunciation  of  difficult 
proper  names  is  indicated  as  they  occur.  Dynastic  gene- 
alogies and  successions  are  given  in  convenient  tables. 
The  index  is  very  complete  and  well  arranged. 


Copies  sent,  prepaid,  on  receipt  of  the  price  by  the  Publishers  : 

American    Book    Company 

New  YorH  ♦  Cincinnati  t  Chicago 


Handbook  of  Greek  and  Roman  History 

By  GEORGES  CASTEGNIER,  B.S.,  B.L. 
Flexible  Cloth,  12mo,  110  pages      ....       Price  50  cents 


The  purpose  of  this  little  handbook  is  to  assist  the 
student  of  Greek  and  Roman  History  in  reviewing  subjects 
already  studied  in  the  regular  text-books  and  in  preparing 
for  examinations.  It  will  also  be  found  useful  for  general 
readers  who  wish  to  refresh  their  minds  in  regard  to  the 
leading  persons  and  salient  facts  of  ancient  history. 

It  is  in  two  parts,  one  devoted  to  Greek,  and  the  other 
to  Roman  history.  The  names  and  titles  have  been 
selected  with  rare  skill,  and  represent  the  whole  range  of 
classical  history.  They  are  arranged  alphabetically,  and 
are  printed  in  full-face  type,  making  them  easy  to  find. 
The  treatment  of  each  is  concise  and  gives  just  the  in- 
formation in  regard  to  the  important  persons,  places,  and 
events  of  classical  history  which  every  scholar  ought  to 
know  and  remember,  or  have  at  ready  command. 

Its  convenient  form  and  systematic  arrangement 
especially  adapt  it  for  use  as  an  accessory  and  reference 
manual  for  students,  or  as  a  brief  classical  cyclopedia  for 
general  readers. 


Copies  of  Castegnier' s  Handbook  of  Greek  and  Roman  History  will  be 
sent,  prepaid,  to  any  address  on  receipt  of  the  price  by  the  Publishers: 

American   Book  Company 

New  York  ♦  Cincinnati  ♦  Chicago 

("7) 


My  thology 

GUERBER'S  MYTHS  OF  GREECE  AND  ROME 

Cloth,  12mo,  428  pages.     Illustrated $1.50 

GUERBER'S  MYTHS  OF  NORTHERN   LANDS 

Cloth,  12mo,  319  pages.     Illustrated 150 

GUERBER'S  LEGENDS  OF  THE  MIDDLE  AGES 

Cloth,  12mo,  340  pages.     Illustrated 1.50 

By  H.  a.  GUERBER,  Lecturer  on  Mythology. 


These  companion  volumes  present  a  complete  outline 
of  Ancient  and  Mediaeval  Mythology,  narrated  with 
special  reference  to  Literature  and  Art.  They  are  uni- 
formly bound  in  cloth,  and  are  richly  illustrated  with 
beautiful  reproductions  of  masterpieces  of  ancient  and 
modern  painting  and  sculpture. 

While  primarily  designed  as  manuals  for  the  use  of 
classes  in  schools  where  Mythology  is  made  a  regular  sub- 
ject of  study  and  for  collateral  and  supplementary  reading 
in  classes  studying  literature  or  criticism,  they  are  equally 
well  suited  for  private  students  and  for  home  reading. 
For  this  purpose  the  myths  are  told  in  a  clear  and  charming 
style  and  in  a  connected  narrative  without  unnecessary 
digressions.  To  show  the  wonderful  influence  of  these 
ancient  myths  in  literature,  numerous  and  appropriate 
quotations  from  the  poetical  writings  of  all  ages,  from 
Hesiod's  ** Works  and  Days"  to  Tennyson's  ''Oenone," 
have  been  included  in  the  text  in  connection  with  the 
description  of  the  different  myths  and  legends. 

Maps,  complete  glossaries,  and  indexes  adapt  the 
manuals  for  convenient  use  in  schools,  libraries,  or  art 
galleries. 

Copies  of  the  above  books  7vill  be  sent,  prepaid,  to  any  address  on  receipt 
of  the  price  by  the  Publishers  : 

American   Book  Company 

New  York  ♦  Cincinnati  ♦  Chicago 

('35) 


English  History 


LANCASTER'S  MANUAL  OF  ENGLISH  HISTORY 

By  Edward  M.  Lancaster.     Revised  Edition.  .         .     $1.00 

This  work  is  designed  to  meet  the  wants  of  those  schools  whose 
limited  time  forbids  an  extended  course  of  study.  The  essential  facts  of 
English  history  have  been  given  as  briefly  and  clearly  as  possible,  and 
the  relation  which  one  event  bears  to  another  has  been  carefully  traced. 
In  the  new  edition  the  book  has  been  revised  and  enlarged,  and  the 
narrative  brought  down  to  the  present. 

GREEN'S  SHORT  HISTORY  OF  THE  ENGLISH   PEOPLE 

By  John  Richard  Green.  New  Edition,  revised  .  .  $1.20 
No  work  on  English  History  has  ever  met  with  such  prompt  and 
complete  success  with  all  classes  of  readers  as  this  one.  Its  originality 
of  method  and  interpretation,  with  its  vivid  and  picturesque  style,  makes 
it  exceedingly  popular  with  the  general  reader  and  at  the  same  time 
instructive  and  suggestive  to  the  student. 

HUME'S  STUDENT'S  HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND 

Revised,  cloth,  1 2mo,  834  pages $1.50 

This  work,  based  on  Hume's  History  of  England,  is  designed  and 
adapted  for  the  use  of  advanced  schools  and  for  private  students.  The 
new  edition,  revised  by  the  late  Professor  J.  S.  Brewer,  is  brought 
down  to  the  Treaty  of  Berlin  in  1878,  and  includes  the  corrections  and 
researches  of  recent  historians.  The  book  contains  numerous  colored 
maps  and  illustrations,  genealogical  tables,  and  many  important  docu- 
ments printed  in  full,  such  as  the  Petition  of  Right,  Bill  of  Right,  and 
other  historical  papers  ;  also  supplementary  notes  by  an  American  editor. 

THALHEIMER'S  HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND 

By  M.  E.  Thalheimer.  Cloth,  i2mo,  293  pages.  .  .  $1.00 
A  compact  volume,  comprehensive  in  scope,  but  sufficiently  brief  to 
be  compl.eted  in  one  school  term.  Its  statements  of  historical  facts  are 
based  upon  the  studies  of  the  most  recent  and  reliable  authorities.  The 
maps  are  superior  in  fullness,  accuracy,  and  beauty,  while  the  illustrations 
are  especially  planned  for  the  book. 

GUERBER'S  STORY  OF  THE  ENGLISH 

By  H.  A.  Guerber.   Cloth,  i2mo,  356  pages.   Illustrated.  65  cents 
An  elementary  text-book  in  English  History.      In  simple  language 

and  with  that  force  and  clearness  peculiar  to  all  her  writings,  the  author 

describes  in  the  form  of   attractive  stories  and  anecdotes,  the  leading 

events,  characters,  and  places  in  English  History. 


Copies  of  any  of  these  books  sent,  prepaid,  on  receipt  of  price. 

American    Book   Company 

New  York  ♦  Cincinnati  ♦  Chicago 


A  School  History  of  the  United  States 

By  JOHN  BACH  McMASTER 
Professor  of  American  History  in  the  University  of  Pennsylvania 

Linen,  12mo,  507  pages.     With  maps  and  illustrations     .  $1.00 


This  new  history  of  our  country  is  marked  by  many 
original  and  superior  features  which  v/ill  commend  it  alike 
to  teachers,  students,  and  general  readers.  The  narrative 
is  a  word-picture  of  the  great  events  and  scenes  of  Ameri- 
can history,  told  in  such  a  way  as  to  awaken  enthusiasm 
in  the  study  and  make  an  indelible  impression  on  the 
mind.  From  the  beginning  the  attention  of  the  student 
is  directed  to  causes  and  results,  and  he  is  thus  encouraged 
to  follow  the  best  methods  of  studying  history  as  a  con- 
nected growth  of  ideas  and  institutions,  and  not  a  bare 
compendium  of  facts  and  dates.  Special  prominence  is 
given  to  the  social,  industrial,  and  economic  development 
of  the  country,  to  the  domestic  life  and  institutions  of  the 
people,  and  to  such  topics  as  the  growth  of  inventions,  the 
highways  of  travel  and  commerce,  and  the  progress  of  the 
people  in  art,  science,  and  literature.  The  numerous 
maps  give  vivid  impressions  of  the  early  voyages,  explora- 
tions, and  settlements,  of  the  chief  military  campaigns,  of 
the  territorial  growth  of  the  country,  and  of  its  population 
at  different  periods,  while  the  pictures  on  almost  every 
page  illustrate  different  phases  in  the  civil  and  domestic 
life  of  the  people. 

Copies  will  be  sent,  prepaid,  on  receipt  of  the  price  by  the  Publishers.' 

American   Book   Company 

New  York  ♦  Cincinnati  ♦  Chicago 

(ii6) 


% 


IP*^ 


^HIS  BOOK  IS  DTTE^S^A,. 

STAMPED  beX'-^^^^ATi: 

"AV    AnI    TO  ^^:°  S°  CENTS  ON  T„//~^'-^^ 


''SB  20  1933 


ftB 


23  V 


REC'D  LD 

MAY  6    1959 


MAR  20  19341  REC'D  LD 

SEP  15   49\PR29  1961 


m  25 


ms 


29M. 


m 


^954  LU 


280ct'57IWf 
REC'D  LD 

OCT  ...  ,.... 


I 


^^  2l~50m-l,'3 


'///>) 


l^'d  Jef  /